[HN Gopher] The Home Computer Hybrids
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       The Home Computer Hybrids
        
       Author : cfmcdonald
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2026-01-25 16:06 UTC (5 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (technicshistory.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (technicshistory.com)
        
       | buescher wrote:
       | The fact that the Apple II met the new FCC requirements was a
       | major competitive advantage for Apple, and there have been rumors
       | over the years about how that happened. The higher emissions
       | allowance was why you saw the big shift from monsters like the
       | Atari 800 (heavy cast metal frame, aluminum or pot metal) and
       | Commodore PET to lighter chassis like the Atari XL series and the
       | Commodore VIC-20 and C64.
        
         | EvanAnderson wrote:
         | The old FCC Standards kneecapped Atari. I think Atari would
         | have had a much showing against Apple had they not had to have
         | the heavy and expensive cast box inside every 400/800 and the
         | increased cost for "smart" peripherals versus "dumb" slots.
         | Those Atari machines are arguably more technically advanced and
         | capable than the Apple II. The cost of FCC compliance drove up
         | the price and hurt their market share.
         | 
         | I've always thought the whole Apple / aftermarket RF modulator
         | trick was a bit underhanded.
        
           | flomo wrote:
           | When I was a kid, I had a green screen Apple, and I wish I
           | knew about 3rd party RF modulators. (It didn't work with an
           | Atari-style modulator.) I never saw a setup like that, so I
           | wonder how common they really were.
        
             | kwertyoowiyop wrote:
             | It was the typical way to connect a TV to an Apple. I used
             | one before I bought a monitor.
        
       | goopypoop wrote:
       | usb mouse discovered
        
         | EvanAnderson wrote:
         | Joe DeCur, primary architect of the Atari SIO bus, was involved
         | in the design of USB. Some of his Atari-era notebooks helped
         | kill a patent troll who was trying to extract rents from
         | everybody using USB.
        
       | octorian wrote:
       | And I'm reading this article while sitting at an EMC/EMI test
       | facility monitoring the test for one of my products. Certainly an
       | interesting, and somewhat on-topic, read.
        
       | LeoPanthera wrote:
       | The UK did not have emissions regulations at the time, and the
       | most popular computer of the early 80s in the UK, the Acorn BBC
       | Micro, had no shielding whatsoever.
       | 
       | Acorn wanted to break into the US market, and so they had to
       | redesign the computer with a massive metal box inside the outer
       | plastic case.
       | 
       | Their attempt to launch in the US was a huge failure, and most of
       | those computers were shipped back to the UK and "unconverted" to
       | be resold in their home market.
       | 
       | But they didn't remove the metal box. So Brits could always tell
       | when they had an ex-US BBC Micro because it weighed twice as much
       | and had a huge metal box inside it.
        
         | NetMageSCW wrote:
         | Seems strange no one came up with spraying the inside of the
         | case with a metallic shielding layer of paint, as some later
         | products eventually did.
        
           | cfmcdonald wrote:
           | Author of the OP here. The "spray" technique was known in the
           | early 80s, if not earlier. It's mentioned in Michael
           | Tomczyk's "Home Computer Wars":
           | 
           | > The solution came in several forms. One way was to embed
           | ferrite balls in the plastic case. Another way was to spray
           | the inside of the case with a metal coating. But the best way
           | was to encase the offending electronics in a small metal box
           | inside the case, which is what was done with the VIC-20. [0]
           | 
           |  _Why_ a metal box is the best way, he doesn 't say and I
           | don't know. My best guess is that it was more
           | effective/reliable at passing the tests.
           | 
           | [0]: https://archive.org/details/the-home-computer-
           | wars/page/205/...
        
       | NetMageSCW wrote:
       | I had an Atari 400 as the first computer I bought myself, which I
       | upgraded to a "real" (if small) keyboard that replaced the
       | membrane keyboard. I took it to college and used it with a
       | printer and the Action! cartridge editor to write papers. (My
       | printer was a carbon electrode arc printer that burned marks into
       | regular paper, producing a soft brownish print.)
        
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