At the End of the Rainbow
The Identity Crisis of the Atari 8-Bit Computer
$86.30
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
24 November 2026
Summary
The shifting identity of the Atari 8-bit family, and how a single platform can provoke a universal debate about the purpose of computing.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Atari became synonymous with arcade gaming, producing iconic games such as Pong and Asteroids. Yet the company’s ambitions extended beyond games and consoles. In 1979, Atari launched its first 8-bit computer-a platform initially designed as a console before its release into the market as a computer. This am…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262054690 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262054698 |
| Author: | Pawel Grabarczyk |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 24 November 2026 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
| Series: | Platform Studies |
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Critics Review
ENDORSEMENTS
“A fun and meticulous history, At the End of the Rainbow shows us how Atari’s 8-bit computers were adopted in surprising, different, and previously untold ways, in North America, in Poland, and around the world.”
—Jesper Juul, author of Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer
“Just when you think Atari has been done to death, At the End of the Rainbow shows you how much is left to learn. Focusing on the company’s often overlooked 8-bit computer family, this is a savvy exploration of what was at stake for Atari in its worldwide effort to carve out a space for itself in the home computer wars of the 1980s.”
—Laine Nooney, author of The Apple II Age: How the Computer Became Personal
“What is At the End of Rainbow? Grabarczyk’s book is a pot of gold, scanning the horizons of Atari’s hazy 8-bit computing histories, from the firm’s Sunnyvale origins to its hidden pasts in socialism and South America.”
—Alex Wade, author of The Pac-Man Principle: A User’s Guide to Capitalism
Pawel Grabarczyk
Paweł Grabarczyk is an Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and the University of Lodz. His work bridges analytic philosophy and game studies. He is the author of Directival Theory of Meaning.
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