Byte · The Small Systems Journal
Computer Games
December 1981, Volume 6, Number 12

Flipping through this issue of Byte magazine gives you a terrific snapshot of what the computer industry was like in the early 80s. What's special too about this issue is that it focused on "computer games." I know that today, the gaming industry is huge. Believe it or not, I do not play computer games. Well, just to clarify, I only play computer games (XBox and GameCube) with my kids. I never play any games on my own. Below are some of the memorable facts of the early 80s.

You paid how much for that system?
One of the first things you will notice about the 80s is that the computer systems were very expensive. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that computers back then had only a small fraction of the power of todays systems.

Measured in MEGA-bytes, not GIGA-bytes
How much hard drive storage do you run at home? I have at least 500 GB of storage spread across various PCs. That's not much by todays standards. How do you backup your data? I don't have any sort of tape drive, I no longer burn backups to CD-Rs nor do I burn backups to DVDs anymore either, I just pick up a couple of large 200+ GB HDs and backup to hard drives instead. My backup HD in an external USB enclosure easily fits in my safe deposit box at the bank.

Today, cost per GB is about $0.25 or $0.30. What were hard drive storage prices back in the 80s? You won't believe it!

Apples ruled!
Okay, I'll admit that I am partial to the Apple ][+. If 6502 machine language, call -151, 80-column cards, 16 MB expansion cards, Z-80 CP/M cards and Beneath Apple DOS mean anything to you, you do not need to read further, we're on the same page. If those phrases sound foreign to you, read on!

Sure, that's "portable" if you're Arnold Schwarzenegger
I complain about my 7 pound Dell Inspiron 9300 being too heavy. Well, back in the 80s, I could have spent 50% more to purchase the classic Osborne 1 with a fraction of the CPU power, memory and disk (actually, floppy disk) storage not to mention having the added feature of building your biceps.

Classic games
Back in the day I played my share of computer games. The simplest of blocky graphics combined with 16 colors and some beeps and buzzes here and there were enough to keep a simple mind like mine and millions of others occupied for hours.

More amazing 80s
Check these out!