Coleco Adam

Not even offering a free $500 scholarship with this system could save it from failing! (Pictured here is the standalone version)

## Tech Specs

### OS

* OS-7 ColecoVision with EOS (Elementary Operating System) kernel
* CP/M 2.2 (optional)
* SmartBASIC via cassette

### CPU

Main CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz
 Support Processors: x3 Motorola 6801 @ 1 MHz (memory & I/O, tape, and keyboard control)

### Memory

RAM: 64 kB
 Video RAM: 16 kB
 ROM: 32 kB

### Storage

x2 on-board Digital Data Pack tape drives
 Coleco Adam Disk Drive (optional)
Coleco Adam Memory Console + Disk Drive (3.25 inch Flex Diskette, unreleased)

### Graphics

Texas Instruments TMS9928A* 256 × 192 resolution
* 32 sprites

### Sound

Texas Instruments SN74689AN (a rebranded version of the TMS9919 as used in the TI-99/4A)* 3 voices
* White noise

### Connectivity

x3 Internal slots
 x1 Cartridge slot
 62.5 kbits/sec half-duplex AdamNet serial bus
 ColecoVision-type expansion port

The **Adam** was a home computer manufactured by Coleco, in two forms, as a standalone system and as Expansion Module #3 for the ColecoVision video game console.

## Why it both Failed and was Crummy

1. The power supply was placed *in the printer*, and if the printer is not available or if it malfunctioned, the computer would simply not work. **That is a major design flaw!**
2. The Adam generates an electromagnetic surge upon startup that could wipe any disks or tapes in or near it. **Just imagine working on a book report with the Adam and poof! All your hard work has gone to waste, if you got careless, that is!**
	* Not helping things one little bit, is that the earlier manuals instructed the user to **put the tape in the drive before turning the computer on!** That being said, later printings of the manual warn against leaving the tape in the drive, but it was too little too late at that point.
3. The proprietary dual Digital Data Pack tape drives, though faster and have a higher capacity than the audio cassette drives used by competing computers, were unreliable and defective. **In other words, they were pieces of junk!**
	* They also weren't as fast as floppy disk drives.
4. Because of constant delays in the development process of the system, Coleco kept missing the promised shipping dates for the Adam. **Such incompetence!**
5. Software developers who received technical information on the Adam from Coleco had to agree to an **extremely restrictive license**. Coleco demanded the right to inspect and demand changes in their software, as well as forcing them to destroy inventories of software if Coleco revoked the license, and prohibited them from publicly criticizing Coleco in any way. **This was an unfair prospect.**
6. SmartWriter and SmartBASIC (the early version of it in particular) were buggy pieces of software.
	* Once put into Word Processor mode, SmartWriter could not get back into its typewriter mode without the system having to be rebooted. It also had a bug in which a blank line prints as a line and a half, with each page getting progressively worse until pages start spilling off the paper and lines become lost.
	* The aforementioned early version of SmartBASIC had quite a few bugs. For example, each time a program was LISTed, a blank space was added to any and all DATA statements. Eventually they would grow long enough to exceed the maximum line length and get dropped, leaving the user to constantly have to re-type the lines to fix them.

## Gallery

The Adam as the ColecoVision Expansion Module #3
## Trivia

* Even though the Adam had failed, it gained a cult following with a community of people who still use it to this day.

## External Links

* Wikipedia article
* Module 3 Adam at ColecoVision Zone

## References

1. ↑ https://forums.atariage.com/topic/299463-why-did-coleco-scrap-the-original-sgm-in-favor-of-the-adam/page/3/#comment-4424288