Interact Home Computer

Interact Home Computer

Late-model Interact Model One with mechanical keyboard (U.S. government asset tag applied)
Also known as	The Interact Family Computer, Interact Model One Home Computer
Developer	Interact Electronics Inc.
Type	Home computer
Release date	1978; 46 years ago (1978)
Introductory price	$449.99
Units sold	Thousands sold
Media	Built-in cassette recorder (1200 Bps)
Operating system	Microsoft BASIC V4.7 or EDU-BASIC (loaded from tape)
CPU	Intel I8080 @ 2.0 MHz
Memory	8 KB RAM
Display	17 x 12 text in eight colors, 112 x 78 graphics in four colors
Sound	SN76477 (one voice, four octaves)
Input	Keyboard

The Interact Home Computer (also called The Interact Family Computer^[1][2]) is a 1978 American home computer made by Interact Electronics, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan.^[3][4][5] It sold under the name "Interact Model One Home Computer".^[6] The original Interact Model One computer was designed by Rick Barnich and Tim Anderson at 204 E. Washington in Ann Arbor, then moving to the Georgetown Mall on Packard St. in Ann Arbor.

Interact Electronics Inc was a privately held company that was funded by Hongiman, Miller, Swartz and Cohn, a law firm out of Detroit. The President/Founder of Interact Electronics Inc was Ken Lochner, who was one of the original developers of the BASIC language based out of Dartmouth College. Ken had started Interact Electronics Inc after founding the successful computer time-sharing company Cyphernetics in Ann Arbor, which was purchased by ADP in 1975.

The Interact Model One Home Computer debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago in June 1978, at a price of US$499 (equivalent to $2,000 in 2019). Only a few thousand Interacts were sold before the company went bankrupt in late 1979.^[6] Most were sold by the liquidator Protecto Enterprizes of Barrington, Illinois, through mail order sales. It was also sold at Highland Appliance in the Detroit area, Newman Computer Exchange in Ann Arbor, and Montgomery Wards in the Houston, TX, area.

The computer didn't come with any operating system, but Microsoft BASIC V4.7 or EDU-BASIC (supplied with the computer) could be loaded from tape.^[4][7][8][6]

Probably the most successful application available for the Interact was a program called "Message Center".^[9] With it, a store could program a scrolling message which appeared on a TV screen (such as advertisements, or a welcome message to guests).

Although it was mostly a game machine (with games such as Showdown, Blackjack and Chess),^[10][11] users could also create their own programs using the BASIC computer language. Customers began hooking up the Interact to control everything from lights in their house, doors, windows, smoke detectors, to a Chevrolet Corvette.^{[citation needed]}

Later on the design was sold to a France company, Lambda Systems, and re-branded as the "Victor Lambda" for the French market.^[12][13]

Technical specifications

• CPU: Intel i8080, 2.0 MHz
• Memory: 8K RAM, expandable to 16K RAM; 2K ROM
• Keyboard: 53-key chiclet
• Display: 17 x 12 text; eight colors, 112 x 78 graphics, four colors
• Sound: SN76477 (One voice, four octaves)
• Ports: Television, two joysticks
• Built-in cassette recorder (1200 Bps)
• PSU: External AC transformer
• 1980 price: US$300 (equivalent to $900 in 2019)^[14]

References

External links

• old-computers.com page for Interact
• interactfamilycomputer.com

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