The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments in 1979 and 1981, respectively. The TI-99 series competed against home computers such as the Apple II, TRS-80, Atari 400/800, and VIC-20.
TI-99/4A
TI-99/4A
Peripheral Expansion Box or PEB
Late period, cost-reduced version of the TI-99/4A with beige case
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.
Children playing Paperboy on an Amstrad CPC 464 in 1988
The often sprawling nature of a well-outfitted home computer is evident with this Tandy Color Computer 3.
The computers Byte (magazine) retrospectively called the "1977 Trinity" (L-R): Commodore PET 2001-8, Apple II, TRS-80 Model I.
Mary Allen Wilkes working on the LINC at home in 1965; thought to be the first home computer user
