It's a name that's legendary in the world of video games: Atari. But few people today remember that the former video game giant once made computers, too. For 15 years (1978 to 1993), Atari designed and produced four distinct lines of PCs: the 8-bit "Atari 800" line, the 16-bit ST line, the PC compatibles, and the 32-bit series.
Although Atari started off strong in the U.S. PC market, the company soon faltered in the face of shake-ups in the game industry (its core business) and stiff competition from IBM PC compatibles. In Europe, Atari held on to a niche of dedicated fans for years until finally shutting down its PC division in 1993. In the following slides, you'll see just about every production computer model that Atari ever released over that 15-year period.
When you're done, feel free to share memories of your favorite Atari computer in the comments.
Special thanks to the folks at Atarimuseum.de, who scanned many of the images used in this slideshow. All photos by Atari, except where noted.
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