Inside the Atari 800

It's the 30th anniversary of this 8-bit PC classic. We celebrate the occasion as we always do, by tearing the product apart and showing you the pieces.

Here we see a close-up of the BASIC programming language cartridge sitting in the Atari 800's left cartridge slot. The 800 also had a right cartridge slot, but this slot received very little use throughout the system's run. The original purpose of the right cartridge slot was simply to extend the functionality of a cartridge plugged into the left slot. Joe Decuir, one of the 800's designers, says, "We envisioned being able to have a mother cartridge and extensions of that mother cartridge. It never happened."

Only a handful of commercial cartridges--mostly programming utilities--used the right slot, whereas all primary cartridge software used the left slot. Subsequent versions of the Atari 8-bit computer line omitted the right cartridge slot altogether.

4 of 16
VIEW ALL THUMBNAILS

Most Popular

Tethering tutorial: How to use your iPhone as a modem
Capacitive vs resistive touchscreens
How to pick the right size TV for your living room
LCD vs plasma vs LED TVs buying guide
The next Xbox reveal: What to expect from the Xbox 720

Best Deals on PCWorld

Networking, Wireless & VoIPView all »
NotebooksView all »
TabletsView all »
Mobile PhonesView all »
Printers & ScannersView all »

rhs_login_lockSign up to PC World Today for the latest news, reviews and galleries from PC World Australia.