Hello, my name is Alan and this is the story of my life with the Atari.¢¢ It is Christmas 1985 and I am being left behind by the revolution in computer technology, or so Tomorrows World and the papers keeps telling me.¢ I need a home computer, but which one shall I get? Looking about the shops I see that several clearance offers are available.¢ The Tandy Color Computer is only 16k, that one is ruled out. The Commodore Plus 4, with its built in software, is interesting. But it's the Atari 800XL that seems to have the best overall package of hardware and software at the right price.¢ OK. Having made my decision, I then got what seemed to be the last Atari available in Runcorn, as my hands on experience began with helping the Currys assistant to repack the last unit, which was the display model.¢ Having got it home, I picked up the manual and got a shock. It was a small booklet masquerading as a manual. The Introduction to Programming cassette was also quickly gone through. So that took care of BASIC. The other tapes provided kept me amused for longer.¢ Then I discovered the Atari User mag by chance. At last some real info, things were looking up. I even found I had rev.C BASIC on board and avoided problems I didn't even knew existed.¢ However I also discovered that I was not going to be a programming genius. In fact it took me a great deal of effort just to type in and debug the programs.¢ So what about commercial software? No problem. The local outlets had tons... for other computers! But only a few Mastertronic titles for the Atari. Some of which made watching paint dry seem exciting. And the tapes took so long to load. If only I could afford a disk drive to speed things up.¢ In the end I lost interest altogether and the Atari ended up stowed away under my bed, forgotten and unloved.¢ Fast forward to Autumn 1992. Reading the small ads in the local rag, I spot an Atari system for sale with a 1050 drive. Making enquiries, I discover that the computer is broken, but the drive and software is too good to miss.¢ Good news eh! Well not altogether, as my own XL, after its long rest, soon decided to become unreliable, and eventually had to be replaced with a second hand unit I picked up very cheaply. It was soon joined by a printer to complete the set up.¢ Now, having put together a working system, I discover that the Atari is, officially speaking, as dead as a Dodo or a Dragon, or even a Video Genie. Anyone remember that? ¢ And, as I am still a novice programmer I have to rely on the Public Domain and all the dedicated Atarians out there that keep the flag flying. This article forms part of my small contribution to that effort. It was written with T:Edit from TGR01.¢ There are a million stories out there in Atari land. This has just been one of them. It could be your turn next. So do John a favour and drop him a line OK!¢
