Computer Dealer Demos: Selling Home Computers with Bouncing Balls and Animated Logos

Author

Wasiak, Patryk

Author_Institution

Inst. for Cultural Studies, Univ. of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland

Volume

35

Issue

4

fYear

2013

fDate

Oct.-Dec. 2013

Firstpage

56

Lastpage

68

Abstract

Computer dealer demos, such as Boing Ball for the Commodore Amiga, were used to impress trade show audiences and retail customers. Dealer demos, such as those used by Commodore International, Atari, and Apple, illustrate how the home computer was socially constructed as a consumer commodity through the interdependent activities of software companies and user communities rather than simply through the marketing strategies of the hardware industry.

Keywords

DP industry; marketing; Apple; Atari; Boing Ball; Commodore Amiga; Commodore International; animated logos; bouncing balls; computer dealer demonstration; consumer commodity; hardware industry; home computers; marketing strategies; software companies; user communities; Advertising; Computers; History; Home computing; Marketing and sales; Advertising; Computers; History; Home computing; Marketing and sales; advertisement; computer graphics; demonstration; history of computing; home computer; marketing; user community;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1058-6180

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MAHC.2013.16

Filename

6545276