A Tool and Toy for the Home
From the mid-1970s, hobbyists purchased microcomputers for home use. By the early 1980s, these were sufficiently reliable and inexpensive to attract large numbers of consumers. These computers could not only calculate but served a wide array of other purposes.
The Hilke Family’s Commodore 64, 1982
Museum educator D. D. Hilke used this personal computer while writing her dissertation. Her sons used it for science fair projects. The same machine could also be used for playing games and doing home accounting. A television set served as the monitor.
Gift of D. D. Hilke
Educational software for the Commodore 64, around 1984
With appropriate software, Commodore 64 users could study subjects ranging from reading to typing to astronomy.
Gift of Daniel Kunz
Electronic Games
Some devices were designed entirely for personal entertainment.
Simon, 1978
After seeing the arcade version of Touch Me, Ralph Baer decided he could improve upon the game. He changed the notes to the four notes sounded by a bugle, designed the game to be portable, and named it for the game “Simon Says.” Simon was an instant success.
Gift of Ralph H. Baer
Little Professor calculator, around 1978
This colorful electronic calculator, made by Texas Instruments, shows arithmetic problems. A correct answer prompts another problem on the eight-digit display. An error delivers the message "EEE."
Gift of John B. Priser
Atari Touch Me, 1978
This is the handheld version of an arcade game first released in 1974. The device produced a series of sounds that the player repeated by pushing corresponding buttons. The number of tones in the sequence increased after each answer.
Gift of John B. Priser
Turtle Bridge electronic game, around 1982
Nintendo published a series of handheld electronic games called Game & Watch; this is one of them. A player used a line of five virtual turtles (each of which may move) as stepping stones to transfer baggage from one side of a river to the other. Once a package reached a partner on the other side, the player returned to the home bank to fetch the next package.
Gift of John B. Priser
