January 30, 2026
FCC fights & a paper-burning printer
The Home Computer Hybrids
Fans spar over Apple’s FCC edge, metal-box PCs, and a printer that burns paper
TLDR: Article charts how “home computers” tried to bridge PCs and consoles as console games sold in the millions while computer hits scraped tens of thousands. Comments explode over FCC interference rules, UK vs. US shielding drama, and glorious retro war stories—plus a “usb mouse discovered” meme for dessert
Retro history lesson? More like a comment cage match. While the article walks us through the rise of early “home computer” hybrids and the wild sales gap between computer games (tens of thousands) and console smashes like Atari’s E.T. (millions), the crowd zeroed in on a spicier subplot: radio noise rules. One commenter insists Apple’s early win was meeting U.S. FCC interference limits—rules meant to stop gadgets from messing with radios—hinting that compliance gave Apple a secret boost. Across the pond, a Brit chimes in that the beloved BBC Micro had “no shielding whatsoever,” and when it tried to hit the U.S., it needed a giant metal box inside. Cue the “regulation made it clunky—and doomed” drama.
Adding to the spectacle, an engineer literally checked in “live” from an EMI test lab (that’s electromagnetic interference) saying the piece was on point, turning the thread into a reality show for nerds. Nostalgia rolled hard too: one user flexed their Atari 400 college setup and a printer that literally burned letters into paper—peak retro hardcore. And because it’s the internet, a drive-by “usb mouse discovered” gag became the running meme. The community mood? Half history class, half conspiracy corner, all wrapped in metal shields and hot takes
Key Points
- •Softalk’s 1980 retailer-survey list for Apple II software showed VisiCalc at the top and 22 of 30 entries as games, spanning CRPGs, adventures, and arcade titles.
- •A 1982 Computer Gaming World publisher survey reported top disclosed sales of 35,000 units (K-RAZY Shoot-Out), with strong showings from Zork, Temple of Apshai, The Wizard and the Princess, Wizardry, and Ultima.
- •Compared to computer games, early 1980s console hits routinely sold in the hundreds of thousands or millions; Atari’s 1982 E.T. sold nearly two million copies.
- •The pursuit of this larger market drove creation of mass-market “home computers” combining computer programmability with console-style cartridges, enabled by custom integrated circuits and corporate-scale engineering.
- •Atari’s origins (as Syzygy Engineering by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney) and Magnavox’s 1972 Odyssey (conceived by Ralph Baer) mark early milestones in home video game systems; Atari assigned Al Alcorn an early engineering project.