The machine that launched a thousand novelsToday Amstrad is best-known for its charismatic boss, Sir Alan Sugar, and has been sold to broadcaster BSkyB for £125m. But in the 1980s, it was responsible for home computing milestones.
The machine that launched a thousand novelsToday Amstrad is best-known for its charismatic boss, Sir Alan Sugar, and has been sold to broadcaster BSkyB for £125m. But in the 1980s, it was responsible for home computing milestones.
With its monochrome screen, strange-sized disk and off-grey/white plastic, the Amstrad PCW was not a machine built for aesthetic qualities.
With its monochrome screen, strange-sized disk and off-grey/white plastic, the Amstrad PCW was not a machine built for aesthetic qualities.
The computer - with the motherboard and other innards in the same box as the monitor - occupied a strange era, the 1980s, when it was obvious to most that computers were going to take over the world, but were doing a fairly slow job of infiltrating the average home.
The computer - with the motherboard and other innards in the same box as the monitor - occupied a strange era, the 1980s, when it was obvious to most that computers were going to take over the world, but were doing a fairly slow job of infiltrating the average home.
In this time before the internet, computers were mainly the preserve of the early adopter, the techie and the person with a lot of money to throw about.
In this time before the internet, computers were mainly the preserve of the early adopter, the techie and the person with a lot of money to throw about.
But Alan Sugar's PCW, nicknamed Joyce after his secretary and featuring either 256k or 512k memory, plugged the gap between the obviously moribund electric typewriter and the impossibly sophisticated PC.
But Alan Sugar's PCW, nicknamed Joyce after his secretary and featuring either 256k or 512k memory, plugged the gap between the obviously moribund electric typewriter and the impossibly sophisticated PC.
Digital Retro author and technology writer Gordon Laing says this niche was vital in the progression of home computing.
Digital Retro author and technology writer Gordon Laing says this niche was vital in the progression of home computing.
"It represented fantastic value at a time when an IBM compatible or a Mac would cost a comparative fortune - that's why they were so popular with students and authors. I'm guessing it went the way of all non-IBM compatibles. The fact is proper PCs became affordable."
"It represented fantastic value at a time when an IBM compatible or a Mac would cost a comparative fortune - that's why they were so popular with students and authors. I'm guessing it went the way of all non-IBM compatibles. The fact is proper PCs became affordable."
It was a complete dead end - they were glorified typewriters Barry FoxTechnology writer Everyone from small business owners to bedroom novelists fell in love with the PCW. Teachers wore baffled expressions and consulted the rulebooks as the children of PCW owners turned up with printed-out homework.
It was a complete dead end - they were glorified typewriters Barry FoxTechnology writer Everyone from small business owners to bedroom novelists fell in love with the PCW. Teachers wore baffled expressions and consulted the rulebooks as the children of PCW owners turned up with printed-out homework.
As well as a simple-to-operate word processing programme, Locoscript, one of the best qualities of the PCW was an apparent inability to crash. There were no egg-timers, just a green (or brown) rectangle, winking and waiting for you to type.
As well as a simple-to-operate word processing programme, Locoscript, one of the best qualities of the PCW was an apparent inability to crash. There were no egg-timers, just a green (or orange/brown) rectangle, winking and waiting for you to type.
The public response was enthusiastic, with sales of the PCW range, comprising the 8256, 8512, the 9-series and others, estimated to have been as high as 1.5 million.
The public response was enthusiastic, with sales of the PCW range, comprising the 8256, 8512, the 9-series and others, estimated to have been as high as 1.5 million.
Although it was primarily a word processor, and one with limited capabilities at that, the PCW had desktop publishing, art and even games.
Although it was primarily a word processor, and one with limited capabilities at that, the PCW had desktop publishing, art and even games.
As well as the text adventure games of the "use the sword to kill the ogre" type, there were also valiant efforts at more graphical games. These included Bounder - guide a tennis ball over a landscape fraught with danger - and Head Over Heels, an isometric platform game featuring two dogs, one able to jump high and fire doughnuts out of a gun, the other able to run fast.
As well as the text adventure games of the "use the sword to kill the ogre" type, there were also valiant efforts at more graphical games. These included Bounder - guide a tennis ball over a landscape fraught with danger - and Head Over Heels, an isometric platform game featuring two dogs, one able to jump high and fire doughnuts out of a gun, the other able to run fast.
Lorry driver market
Lorry driver market
With the benefit of hindsight, the Amstrad PCW marked both a technological backwater and an important milestone. Not one making it a seminal computer for today's buffs, but rather a landmark for the ordinary computer-illiterate punter.
With the benefit of hindsight, the Amstrad PCW marked both a technological backwater and an important milestone. Not one making it a seminal computer for today's buffs, but rather a landmark for the ordinary computer-illiterate punter.
"Alan Sugar's market was lorry drivers and their wives," technology writer Barry Fox says. "It was a complete dead-end. They were glorified typewriters.
"Alan Sugar's market was lorry drivers and their wives," technology writer Barry Fox says. "It was a complete dead-end. They were glorified typewriters.
"But they made life a lot easier for a lot of people, say for people to write a letter to their bank manager. They were terrific for that. It helped people get used to the computer."
"But they made life a lot easier for a lot of people, say for people to write a letter to their bank manager. They were terrific for that. It helped people get used to the computer."
And Laing says that he's in contact with people still using theirs.
And Laing says that he's in contact with people still using theirs.
With the 3-inch disks used by the PCWs now requiring specialist kit to be transferred onto modern media, the famous Amstrad machine has a curious legacy, says Fox.
With the 3-inch disks used by the PCWs now requiring specialist kit to be transferred onto modern media, the famous Amstrad machine has a curious legacy, says Fox.
"The problem was that it didn't have any easy way of connecting to anything else. I will bet there are a lot of people around the world with wonderful works of literature, half-written books and manuscripts, and letters and accounts sitting there trapped on these disks."
"The problem was that it didn't have any easy way of connecting to anything else. I will bet there are a lot of people around the world with wonderful works of literature, half-written books and manuscripts, and letters and accounts sitting there trapped on these disks."
