Intellivision Demo Tape- 1979

[+JasonlikesINTV]

It did, but Mattel bought them back, limiting the number remaining in the wild. Those who wanted to keep them were required to sign off releasing Mattel from any future support for the component.

 

Returned keyboard components got modified to allow programming at Mattel's INTV office.

 

I have a vintage gaming guide that says that only 4000 or less of the keyboard components were produced and most were recalled. Of course the guide has no pics or pricing.

[atarilovesyou]

It's almost a bit depressing to see that this kind of flat-out deception in marketing was evident from the very beginning of video games. Just look at that French learning program. I used something in the early 2000s that used a lot of the ideas seen in the video; readbacks, recording, all that stuff. You just KNOW they couldn't have done that with an Intellivision back then, and that having something functional would be light-years away.

 

Voice-control...man, I can only imagine what they were thinking! The Halcyon Laserdisc system boasted the same type of technology, when all it could really do was function as a glorified on/off switch. Yet the marketers knew what people wanted and what bait to dangle, lol.

 

My biggest disappointment was the whole virtual reality movement of the early 90s...just never happened, but if you were to read those magazines back then, they'd have you believe that we'd all have our own little virtual reality docking bays in our bedrooms before 1995!...lol.

[+DZ-Jay]

It's almost a bit depressing to see that this kind of flat-out deception in marketing was evident from the very beginning of video games. Just look at that French learning program. I used something in the early 2000s that used a lot of the ideas seen in the video; readbacks, recording, all that stuff. You just KNOW they couldn't have done that with an Intellivision back then, and that having something functional would be light-years away.

 

Voice-control...man, I can only imagine what they were thinking! The Halcyon Laserdisc system boasted the same type of technology, when all it could really do was function as a glorified on/off switch. Yet the marketers knew what people wanted and what bait to dangle, lol.

 

My biggest disappointment was the whole virtual reality movement of the early 90s...just never happened, but if you were to read those magazines back then, they'd have you believe that we'd all have our own little virtual reality docking bays in our bedrooms before 1995!...lol.

 

Can someone confirm what were the actual features of the software being shown? I know that the images were mocked-up, but what about the functional aspect? How much of that is actually real?

 

As far as I know, the software for the Keyboard Component was rather sophisticated, and the computer tape control allowed for some fancy stuff.

 

-dZ.

Edited April 22, 2012 by DZ-Jay

[catsfolly]

It's almost a bit depressing to see that this kind of flat-out deception in marketing was evident from the very beginning of video games. Just look at that French learning program. I used something in the early 2000s that used a lot of the ideas seen in the video; readbacks, recording, all that stuff. You just KNOW they couldn't have done that with an Intellivision back then, and that having something functional would be light-years away.

 

Voice-control...man, I can only imagine what they were thinking! The Halcyon Laserdisc system boasted the same type of technology, when all it could really do was function as a glorified on/off switch. Yet the marketers knew what people wanted and what bait to dangle, lol.

 

My biggest disappointment was the whole virtual reality movement of the early 90s...just never happened, but if you were to read those magazines back then, they'd have you believe that we'd all have our own little virtual reality docking bays in our bedrooms before 1995!...lol.

 

Can someone confirm what were the actual features of the software being shown? I know that the images were mocked-up, but what about the functional aspect? How much of that is actually real?

 

As far as I know, the software for the Keyboard Component was rather sophisticated, and the computer tape control allowed for some fancy stuff.

 

-dZ.

 

The "Conversational French" program was released (in the keyboard component test market). You can see what it looked like in this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsT7ZI4ikU

 

There was no "voice control". A normal cassette tape had 4 tracks: 2 tracks were used in stereo in one direction, when the tape was flipped over, the other two tracks were used to play stereo in the other direction.

 

The Intellivision tape drive used all 4 tracks in one direction. One track could be used to play narration, one could be used to download program or data code (while the narration was playing), and one track could be used to record and play back audio under program control ( I forget what the other track was for...)

 

So, the program could play rich audio straight from the cassette while showing graphics on the screen (higher resolution graphics than the regular Intellivision due to video circuits in the keyboard). The program could ask the user to repeat a sentence, automatically record the user's speech on the cassette, and then play back the original audio and the user's voice so the user could compare the sound.

 

So those features actually worked, although audio cassettes were never designed for these kinds of workouts, so maybe it was never very reliable (and certainly not speedy by modern standards...)

[+DZ-Jay]

It's almost a bit depressing to see that this kind of flat-out deception in marketing was evident from the very beginning of video games. Just look at that French learning program. I used something in the early 2000s that used a lot of the ideas seen in the video; readbacks, recording, all that stuff. You just KNOW they couldn't have done that with an Intellivision back then, and that having something functional would be light-years away.

 

Voice-control...man, I can only imagine what they were thinking! The Halcyon Laserdisc system boasted the same type of technology, when all it could really do was function as a glorified on/off switch. Yet the marketers knew what people wanted and what bait to dangle, lol.

 

My biggest disappointment was the whole virtual reality movement of the early 90s...just never happened, but if you were to read those magazines back then, they'd have you believe that we'd all have our own little virtual reality docking bays in our bedrooms before 1995!...lol.

 

Can someone confirm what were the actual features of the software being shown? I know that the images were mocked-up, but what about the functional aspect? How much of that is actually real?

 

As far as I know, the software for the Keyboard Component was rather sophisticated, and the computer tape control allowed for some fancy stuff.

 

-dZ.

 

The "Conversational French" program was released (in the keyboard component test market). You can see what it looked like in this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsT7ZI4ikU

 

There was no "voice control". A normal cassette tape had 4 tracks: 2 tracks were used in stereo in one direction, when the tape was flipped over, the other two tracks were used to play stereo in the other direction.

 

The Intellivision tape drive used all 4 tracks in one direction. One track could be used to play narration, one could be used to download program or data code (while the narration was playing), and one track could be used to record and play back audio under program control ( I forget what the other track was for...)

 

So, the program could play rich audio straight from the cassette while showing graphics on the screen (higher resolution graphics than the regular Intellivision due to video circuits in the keyboard). The program could ask the user to repeat a sentence, automatically record the user's speech on the cassette, and then play back the original audio and the user's voice so the user could compare the sound.

 

So those features actually worked, although audio cassettes were never designed for these kinds of workouts, so maybe it was never very reliable (and certainly not speedy by modern standards...)

 

Actually, that's quite impressive. And you're right about the reliability. Reading the market and costs analysis from Papa Intellivision's records, show that there was quite a high rate of returns due to defects. It's too bad, though, for I think it would have fulfilled some of the application promises made by micro-computers later on.

 

-dZ.

[BillyHW]

How exactly did the master component actually interface with keyboard? Was there an expansion port on the bottom or something?

[cparsley]

Wonder if you could do a mp3 or some other codec file interfaced with a Keyboard Component to get it to run software today instead of having to rely on the cassette.

[BillyHW]

Expandable to 8MB...yeah right!

 

http://papaintellivision.com/pdfs/KeyboardComponentOwnersBook.pdf

[atarilovesyou]

Expandable to 8MB...yeah right!

 

http://papaintellivi...tOwnersBook.pdf

 

What an awesome instrucion manual, lol!...hey, I gotta hand it to them: for 1979, they really were pushing the envelope, I think!

 

I pity the poor fool who would have made any financial decisions based on his Intellivision charts!

[+DZ-Jay]

Wonder if you could do a mp3 or some other codec file interfaced with a Keyboard Component to get it to run software today instead of having to rely on the cassette.

 

I read somewhere that Joe Zbiciak was working on a long term project to emulate the Keyboard Component in software, though I've never heard of the this since. I wonder if he ever plans on doing it.

 

Joe?

 

-dZ.

[+DZ-Jay]

Expandable to 8MB...yeah right!

 

http://papaintellivi...tOwnersBook.pdf

 

That statement is in the "System Specifications" section, and just means that the processor could address that many words. It wasn't intended to mean that you could just plug in an expanded module for 8MB. Indeed, such a module would have been more expensive than the computer itself!

 

-dZ.

[BillyHW]

I know what it means and it's a crock of shhhhhhhh...ugar. Such a module would have probably been more expensive than all the keyboard components they ever built, put together.

 

I have to say that the keyboard component is also quite possibly the ugliest piece of electronics ever created.

[+DZ-Jay]

I know what it means and it's a crock of shhhhhhhh...ugar. Such a module would have probably been more expensive than all the keyboard components they ever built, put together.

 

Are you arguing the fact that the technical specifications of the CPU allow it to address 8 MB of memory? Because it is true.

 

Nobody except you is insinuating that the Keyboard Component was going have 8 MB of memory. Do you not understand what "System Specifications" are for? They detail the specifications of the system.

 

-dZ.

[BillyHW]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find.

 

 

Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

[BillyHW]

Does anyone know if they ever came out with the printer for this thing? Do any exist?

[atarilovesyou]

I was wondering what the typing program would be used for if there wasn't a printer....then again, I'm pretty sure home typewriters were still selling like hotcakes.

[+DZ-Jay]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find.

 

 

Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

 

It wasn't so much false advertisement as you are claiming it to be. First you deride the computer-controlled tape drive and suggested that it was fake, and someone then mentions that it was real. Then you focus your ridicule in voice-control (which wasn't really claimed by the original video), and then it's something about 8 MB of memory, as if the manual was suggesting that the machine had that.

 

The Keyboard Component was an impressive piece of hardware for its time. Indeed, part of the problem was that it was stretching the limitations of the hardware in a way that did not make it commercially viable or cost-effective.

 

The original video posted in the thread was a marketing prop created before the software was finished--it was intended to convey the features of the upcoming product, not to suggest that it cured cancer or travelled through time.

 

We all love a bit of fun, but your comments are a bit rude and spiteful.

 

-dZ.

Edited April 23, 2012 by DZ-Jay

[+DZ-Jay]

Does anyone know if they ever came out with the printer for this thing? Do any exist?

 

Yes, I believe there was a printer. It was later re-branded for the Aquarius computer.

[BillyHW]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find. Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

It wasn't so much false advertisement as you are claiming it to be. First you deride the computer-controlled tape drive and suggested that it was fake, and someone then mentions that it was real. Then you focus your ridicule in voice-control (which wasn't really claimed by the original video), and then it's something about 8 MB of memory, as if the manual was suggesting that the machine had that. The Keyboard Component was an impressive piece of hardware for its time. Indeed, part of the problem was that it was stretching the limitations of the hardware in a way that did not make it commercially viable or cost-effective. The original video posted in the thread was a marketing prop created before the software was finished--it was intended to convey the features of the upcoming product, not to suggest that it cured cancer or travelled through time. We all love a bit of fun, but your comments are a bit rude and spiteful. -dZ.

 

Part of charity is not taking offence where no offence was intended.

 

There was much in that video that was false advertising. The tape drive in the video was fake. The computer screenshots in the video were fake. I did not even mention voice control.

 

Mattel was taken to court over their false advertising over the keyboard component...and lost. It's part of history. I can laugh at the 80s...why can't you?

 

Now will you be able to let things go and not escalate this further?

[atarilovesyou]

They were taken to court over this keyboard thing?...wow, got any good links to more info?

[BillyHW]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision#Keyboard_Component

[+DZ-Jay]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find. Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

It wasn't so much false advertisement as you are claiming it to be. First you deride the computer-controlled tape drive and suggested that it was fake, and someone then mentions that it was real. Then you focus your ridicule in voice-control (which wasn't really claimed by the original video), and then it's something about 8 MB of memory, as if the manual was suggesting that the machine had that. The Keyboard Component was an impressive piece of hardware for its time. Indeed, part of the problem was that it was stretching the limitations of the hardware in a way that did not make it commercially viable or cost-effective. The original video posted in the thread was a marketing prop created before the software was finished--it was intended to convey the features of the upcoming product, not to suggest that it cured cancer or travelled through time. We all love a bit of fun, but your comments are a bit rude and spiteful. -dZ.

 

Part of charity is not taking offence where no offence was intended.

 

There was much in that video that was false advertising. The tape drive in the video was fake. The computer screenshots in the video were fake. I did not even mention voice control.

 

Mattel was taken to court over their false advertising over the keyboard component...and lost. It's part of history. I can laugh at the 80s...why can't you?

 

Now will you be able to let things go and not escalate this further?

 

Just to be clear, they were taken to court because they promised to release the Keyboard Component as part of a full fledged computer system, and people bought the Intellivision Master Component with that intention. The Keyboard Component kept being constantly delayed, so the FTC accused them of it being "vapor-ware."

 

It was a real product, it was in development, it did work--it was just not cost-effective. They produced about 4000 of them and sold them at a loss to appease the complaints, and eventually released the ECS module to relieve the FTC suit. (Now, that ECS module--that's a travesty of crap, if you ask me!)

 

The problem was not "false advertisement" because it was a fake, the problem was that they over-promised what they could provide at an acceptable cost. The machine was promised at around $500.00, but the cost of materials was around $800.00--and that was using cheap components that made it unreliable.

 

It was indeed a fine piece of engineering and, attached to the Master Component system, it made for a very powerful computer system--especially when you considered it was built in 1979. It just could not be sold at $500.00 as promised without taking Mattel Electronics down financially. They kept iterating to bring the costs down, hence the delays.

 

The first video you saw was a concept video showing what the device could do. It had mocked-up screens, but the functional capabilities shown was actually what the real Keyboard Component did.

 

I do not take offense at you poking fun at the 80s. What I find objectionable is that you seem to ridicule the history for the very wrong reasons, ignoring facts, while nit-picking things out of context. It's sad, because it shows that the context and the full story of that history has been lost.

 

Now, if you prefer to just use vulgar language to ridicule whatever you please without context or reason, then I'm done in this thread and I won't bother you again. I thought I would share some historical facts and details that you seemed to have missed, but I guess that is not appreciated.

 

-dZ.

Edited April 23, 2012 by DZ-Jay

[Tempest]

Simmer down everyone. I don't think there was any offense intended.

[catsfolly]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find.

 

 

Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

Yes. There were two expansion ports at the back of the keyboard component.

 

8 k of address space was allotted to each port. Also, the software in the keyboard could send a bank select number to the port to select different "pages" or "banks" of memory. The bank select number was a 10 bit number, which allowed for 1024 different banks. 1024 x 8k = 8 megs of memory. So, it was possible for the keyboard component to address 8 meg of memory if an 8 meg memory expansion port had been built.

 

It was not vaporware - the port was there and it worked.

 

Did Mattel ever build such a memory cartridge? No.

Did they have a plan to build one? Probably not.

Could anyone besides Bill Gates have afforded one if they did? Probably not.

But the Keyboard component could handle it.

 

The only thing the port was used for, as far as I know, is the basic cartridge. The basic cartridge only had 1 or 2 pages of memory though, not 1024...

[BillyHW]

I'm not arguing anything. I'm laughing and poking fun at early 80's false advertising and vaporware. The video was a riot what with the fake tape drive and computer screens. For some reason you seem to be taking it personally, and I don't know why. It's just an Intellivision dude. We're all having fun here. BTW, I'm looking at the Apple Store now to see if they are claiming expandability to 16 exabytes of memory for the iMac. I'll let you know what I find. Did they even provide any mechanism by which you could expand the memory at all?

It wasn't so much false advertisement as you are claiming it to be. First you deride the computer-controlled tape drive and suggested that it was fake, and someone then mentions that it was real. Then you focus your ridicule in voice-control (which wasn't really claimed by the original video), and then it's something about 8 MB of memory, as if the manual was suggesting that the machine had that. The Keyboard Component was an impressive piece of hardware for its time. Indeed, part of the problem was that it was stretching the limitations of the hardware in a way that did not make it commercially viable or cost-effective. The original video posted in the thread was a marketing prop created before the software was finished--it was intended to convey the features of the upcoming product, not to suggest that it cured cancer or travelled through time. We all love a bit of fun, but your comments are a bit rude and spiteful. -dZ.

 

Part of charity is not taking offence where no offence was intended.

 

There was much in that video that was false advertising. The tape drive in the video was fake. The computer screenshots in the video were fake. I did not even mention voice control.

 

Mattel was taken to court over their false advertising over the keyboard component...and lost. It's part of history. I can laugh at the 80s...why can't you?

 

Now will you be able to let things go and not escalate this further?

 

Just to be clear, they were taken to court because they promised to release the Keyboard Component as part of a full fledged computer system, and people bought the Intellivision Master Component with that intention. The Keyboard Component kept being constantly delayed, so the FTC accused them of it being "vapor-ware."

 

It was a real product, it was in development, it did work--it was just not cost-effective. They produced about 4000 of them and sold them at a loss to appease the complaints, and eventually released the ECS module to relieve the FTC suit. (Now, that ECS module--that's a travesty of crap, if you ask me!)

 

The problem was not "false advertisement" because it was a fake, the problem was that they over-promised what they could provide at an acceptable cost. The machine was promised at around $500.00, but the cost of materials was around $800.00--and that was using cheap components that made it unreliable.

 

It was indeed a fine piece of engineering and, attached to the Master Component system, it made for a very powerful computer system--especially when you considered it was built in 1979. It just could not be sold at $500.00 as promised without taking Mattel Electronics down financially. They kept iterating to bring the costs down, hence the delays.

 

The first video you saw was a concept video showing what the device could do. It had mocked-up screens, but the functional capabilities shown was actually what the real Keyboard Component did.

 

I do not take offense at you poking fun at the 80s. What I find objectionable is that you seem to ridicule the history for the very wrong reasons, ignoring facts, while nit-picking things out of context. It's sad, because it shows that the context and the full story of that history has been lost.

 

Now, if you prefer to just use vulgar language to ridicule whatever you please without context or reason, then I'm done in this thread and I won't bother you again. I thought I would share some historical facts and details that you seemed to have missed, but I guess that is not appreciated.

 

-dZ.

 

When did I "just use vulgar language", exactly?