In 1984 the market crashed.  With it, it took down dozens of fledgeling and establish home computer and videogame companies.  Oric went bust, Sinclair changed hands, Atari changed hands, and videogame systems such as the 2600, Intellivision and Coleco all but disappeared.  Most of this was caused by a huge over-saturation of both systems and software.  There was also a feeling in the UK that a fad had come and gone.  Kids that had initially justified a home computer to help with school now sounded a little incredulous.

Having lazed away a few childhood summers with my first home computers, I decided to take thing business of programming a little more seriously.  When I was 16 I enrolled at technical college, met my friend Mark, and learnt how a mini-computer costing hundreds of thousands of pounds seemed no more powerful than a microcomputer.  In fact, we both went out of our way to try and get dumb terminals to display some kind of pretty graphics.  Of course, to an outsider this could have resembled some kind of hacking and our attempts to lighten things up weren’t always met with enthusiasm.

It quickly became obvious we both shared a huge passion for videogames and graphics, and were really intrigued by the claims being made by Atari and Commodore for their new 16-bit machines.  For those that had grown up with an Atari 2600 console, or played with a VIC-20 or CBM-64, these new machines really represented a leap forward for both companies.

Atari’s ST hit Europe first, and had a huge push at the PCW Show in 1986.  This was a cathartic turning point for the industry.  The area of 8-bit was rapidly coming to an end, and newer 16-bit machines were promising to change everything - Apple had better watch out, these machines both had mice, GUIs, and WYSIWYG apps.  For kids weaned on cassette tapes, 8 colors, and less than 48k to program, it was an unbelievable step forward.

Of course, affording such a machine was not easy.  Both Mark and myself were extremely lucky through both family and corporate generosity to land a couple of Atari STs.

Earlier that year I’d written to Atari UK marketing

boss Bob Harding asking how best to get into the

business; especially when you’re a starving student

with no cash!  Mark had been twisting his Dad’s arm

to move up from his CBM-64 to the next big thing.

The Amiga was still in the wings, but Mark had his

sights on the Atari ST.  After all, Jack Tramiel,

who had been ousted from Commodore was the new man

at the halm at Atari.  “Business is War” was his mantra, we knew they were serious.

In the summer of 1986 Atari did get back to me.  I drove up to Slough on a miserable rainy day to meet with Mr. Harding.  I was overjoyed to learn they were going to cut us a break.  Ultimately this help allowed Mark and I to spend a little time tinkering and getting up to speed on the world of 16-bit.