Introduced in 1983, the Coleco Adam was a home computer and an expansion of ColecoVision, which was largely a toy and video game manufacturer.
Although The Coleco Adam is not generally considered to be one of the more significant early computers, those of us who owned one loved it. The Coleco Adam was my first computer. In 1983, I was the secretary-treasurer of the Grace Brethren Church in Anaheim, California, and the church had purchased a Coleco Adam for my use. I was hooked and, within a few days, I had put down my $700 and purchased one of my own.
Overall, the Adam didn't sell very well. Although it was heavily advertised, with Alan Alda of MASH as its spokesperson, the Adam wasn't on the market long, and it marked the end of Coleco's venture into the computer market. Released in October of 1983, it was discontinued in January of 1985.
Although I hadn't maneuvered my way around anything more technologically complicated than an electric typewriter before my introduction to the Coleco Adam, I found it to be amazingly simple to learn my way around it. I suppose it helped that it booted, not to a command line, but to a word processor. Rather than stored in ROM, the BASIC (SmartBASIC) interpreter of the Coleco Adam was available on either a cassette. Although the CP/M operating system was available as an option, it shipped with something known as the Elementary Operating System OS kernel and the 8kb OS-7 ColecoVision operating system. The computer had no hard drive but used both cassettes and cartridges. Later, a floppy drive became available for it.
The Adam shipped with a few game cartridges, but I wasn't particularly interested in them. Both in my position in the church and as a college student, I found plenty of use for its word processor functions, but what really had me excited was the included book on SmartBASIC programming. As I was new to computers, I hadn't yet become aware that programming was supposed to be too complicated for the average guy, so I did it, and it wasn't that hard. Programming in SmartBASIC was tedious but easy, and I am grateful that my introduction to the computer revolution was not overwhelming.
The experts will disagree, but I had more fun with my Coleco Adam than I did with my next computer, a Tandy 1000 SX.
An odd thing about the Coleco Adam was that the power supply was connected to the printer so, whether or not you were planning on printing anything, the printer had to be connected and working or nothing would work.
This category is dedicated to the Coleco Adam computer. Websites or pages with significant information on the Coleco Adam are appropriate for this category.
Recommended Resources
Free for use by anyone, the Adam Archive is a repository of archives, including software, relating to the Coleco Adam. The included archives are in the DSK, DDP, ROM, PDF, or ZIP format, and include ADE patched software, blank media, CPM and TDOS, chipsets, EOS, new software, technical data and documents, user’s guides, cheat sheets, manuals, reference cards, newsletters, magazine articles, and many other resources. Visitors are invited to upload new files for consideration.
http://www.adamarchive.org/
Adam Ware: Adam Family Computer Software
Adam Ware features programs for the Coleco Adam computer system, some of which are free for download, while others are for sale. Available programs are sorted into categories for commercial software, Adam Ware utilities and programs, VDD/emulator collections, emulator, and public domain - user-contributed. Details are available for each, including whether they are available on a 5.25” disk or downloadable as images, for those with an emulator. Contacts are also available.
http://www.adamware.us/
Adam: The ColecoVision Family Computer
The home page for the Coleco Adam computer and Adam News Network (A.N.N.), a monthly disk-based newsletter includes a variety of information and resources relating to the Coleco Adam, including a catalog listing hardware, peripherals, supplies, games, software, and other products for the Coleco Adam. Other resources include tips, tricks, and hints for the cartridge games that shipped with the computer and other games that were created for use with the Adam.
http://ann.hollowdreams.com/
As a sub-forum of the AtariAge online forum, the forum discusses topics related to the ColecoVision game console and the Coleco Adam computer. Registration is required for participation, but anyone may view forum contents. Registered members may introduce new topics and take part in ongoing discussions. Topics include programming, games, and collectors databases and computer tracking, as well as restoration topics, peripherals, games, software, and expansions.
https://atariage.com/forums/forum/115-colecovision-adam/
Maintained by Justin M. Salvato, a collector of vintage computers, this site is dedicated to his first computer, the Coleco Adam, also his favorite. Offering information, insights, period advertisements, and reminiscences about the Adam, as well as the software and hardware related to this vintage computer system. Using a blog format, articles are posted in chronological order, with the most recent on top. Several videos are also available, along with contacts.
https://colecoadam.wordpress.com/
Dedicated to the Coleco Adam Family Computer System, this page part of a ColecoVision tribute site. Several photographs are put forth, along with information about expansion modules, Adam technical manuals, an Adam software list from 1987 which includes the games, utilities and programs, accessories, and disk programs, diagrams, and photos of the Coleco computer prototype, the features of the Coleco Adam SD drive, compatible with all existing Adam computers, an informational wiki.
http://www.colecovision.dk/adam.htm
Console5 offers repair and upgrade products for do-it-yourself vintage game console owners. This section of its product catalog includes parts for the Coleco Adam, including Game PCB: Delta, Adam PCB: Gamma, cassette drives, keyboards, Compuwriter printer, and power supplies, which may be purchased as a part of a kit, as well as floppy drives. Other resources include schematics of components of the main unit and data storage devices, full-size schematics and a service manual.
https://console5.com/wiki/Coleco_Adam
SacNews: Adam Family Computer System
The site features PDF copies of Expandable Computer News, a bi-monthly magazine published by Sage Enterprises from March/April 1984 to January/February 1988, covering other era computers as well as the Coleco Adam, as well as PDFs of several other Adam newsletters, such as ADAM’S Alive, ADAM’S Bytes, AUGment, Coleco Nation, ColecoVision Experience, Family Computing, and newsletters from various ADAM user groups. Contemporary news and events are also featured.
http://www.sacnews.net/adamcomputer/
SmartBASIC - A Coleco Adam Forum
Similar to Applesoft BASIC, SmartBASIC was the programming language that shipped with the Coleco Adam Family Computer System. Powered by phpBB forum software, the online discussion forum requires registration for participation, although not to view forum content. Topics include the programming language as well as ColecoVision and the Coleco Adam computer, memory consoles, printers, data and disk drives, emulators, memory cards, power supplies, and links to Coleco Adam resources.
http://www.smartbasic.net/
