website/content/museum/interact-home-computer-system.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Interact Home Computer System	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1979	Intel 8080 A	name image company company_name specs tabs photos adverts hardware emulators links docs comments software oc_id source Home Computer System /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_system_s2.jpg /companies/interact Interact label value NAME Home Computer System label value MANUFACTURER Interact label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1979 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1979 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None (EDU-BASIC on cassette tape) label value KEYBOARD QWERTY, chicklet keyboard 53 keys label value CPU Intel 8080 A label value SPEED 2 MHz label value RAM 8 or 16 KB label value ROM 2 KB label value TEXT MODES 17 chars. x 12 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES 112 x 78 in 4 colors label value COLORS 8 label value SOUND 1 voice, 4 octaves label value SIZE / WEIGHT 46.3 (W) x 26.5 (D) x 10 (H) cm / 5.8 kg label value I/O PORTS 2 joystick sockets, TV output label value BUILT IN MEDIA Tape recorder (1200 bauds) label value POWER SUPPLY External AC transformer label value PERIPHERALS 32 KB RAM card, stringy floppy drive label value PRICE 300$ (USA, 1980) photos adverts hardware software emulators links docs title subtitle text image LARGE VIEW /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_system_s3.jpg title subtitle text image RIGHT SIDE /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_system_s1.jpg title subtitle text image LEFT SIDE Notice the external power transformer and the empty connector location. In fact the main board featured neither parallel nor serial port. /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_leftside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP The 'chicklet' keyboard was really impractical for intensive typing. /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_keyboard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #1 Thanks to its really efficient protection against magnetic shields, the Interact was FCC and UL approved.\ **(1)** Keyboard connector\ **(2)** Power supply connector\ **(3)** Reset and power switch connector\ **(4)** Cassette drive connector /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_inside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #2 **(1)** Joystick DB9 connectors\ **(2)** SN 76477 sound generator\ **(3)** Intel 8080A processor\ **(4)** 2 KB ROM chip. A second ROM socket is available\ **(5)** RF TV modulator\ **(6)** 16 KB RAM chips - 8 x Mostek 4115 /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_inside_s2.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #3 RAM chips close-up /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_inside_s3.jpg title subtitle text image ORIGINAL INTERACT MODEL Thanks to [http://hectorvictor.free.fr/](http://hectorvictor.free.fr/) for this picture. /media/museum/photos/interact_homecomputer_1.jpg title subtitle text image INTERACT LABEL Thanks to [http://hectorvictor.free.fr/](http://hectorvictor.free.fr/) for this picture. /media/museum/photos/interact_homecomputer_label_1.jpg title subtitle text image SOFTWARE CASSETTES Original Interact and MicroVideo software cassettes.\ Among the MicroVideo cassettes:\ • EZEDIT program editor\ • 16K diagnostic tape\ • Microsoft 8K fast graphics BASIC\ • Level II BASIC /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_cassettes_s1.jpg title subtitle text image ORIGINAL INTERACT PACKING /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_package_s1.jpg title subtitle text image THE BOX /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_box_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MANUALS Interact owner's guide and Microsoft 8K BASIC manual sold separately by MicroVideo. /media/museum/photos/interact_model1_basicmanual_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD OVERLAY This is the chicklet keyboard overlay used for the “Compute-A-Color” paint program. /media/museum/photos/interact_computeacolor_overlay.jpg title subtitle text image MECHANICAL KEYBOARD This is an original Interact with an optional mechanical keyboard from MicroVideo added later. /media/museum/photos/interact_computers_mech-keyboard.jpg title subtitle text image INTERACTION NEWSLETTER Three issues of this 'Newsletter Detroit Interact Group' were published during the first semester of 1980 /media/museum/pubs/interact_model1_fanzine_s1.jpg title subtitle text image SALES CATALOG In this catalog, NEWMAN COMPUTER EXCHANGE from Ann Arbor sold various Interact packages, from $44.95 for an incomplete and inoperative 8K model, to $299.95 for a 16K system along with 30 software cassettes and a complete documentation including the service manuals set. /media/museum/pubs/interact_model1_brocker_s1.jpg title subtitle text image US ADVERT FROM PROTECTO taken from Popular Science nov. 1980 /media/museum/pubs/interact_computer_protecto-pub_nov1980.jpg title subtitle text image THIS IS IT The numeric keypad was of course optional, and you had to modify/hack the Interact keyboard to connect it. /media/museum/hardware/interact_numkeypad_1.jpg title subtitle text image CONNECTOR The numeric keypad was of course optional, and you had to modify/hack the Interact keyboard to connect it. This is the hacked connector. /media/museum/hardware/interact_numkeypad_2.jpg title url platform text DCHector http://dchector.free.fr/ Windows Excellent Interact/Hector emulator ! title url platform text James the Animal Tamer's Interact Emulator http://www.geocities.com/emucompboy/ Windows James stroke again and developped a partially working Interact emulator title url text Hector! L'ordinateur personnel français http://hectorvictor.free.fr/ French website dedicated to Hector / Victor Lambda computers title url cover text BASICALLY SPEAKING /media/museum/docs/interact_basically_speaking.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_basicaly-speaking.jpg [**BASICALLY SPEAKING**](/media/museum/docs/interact_basically_speaking.pdf)written by Micro Video  compiled/archived by oldcomputers.net\  type of document : PDF\  size : 9 Mb\  source : [oldcomputers.net](http://oldcomputers.net/) title url cover text INTERACT SERVICE MANUAL /media/museum/docs/interact_service_manual.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_service-manual.jpg [**INTERACT SERVICE MANUAL**](/media/museum/docs/interact_service_manual.pdf)written by Interact  compiled/archived by oldcomputers.net\  type of document : PDF\  size : 20 Mb\  source : [oldcomputers.net](http://oldcomputers.net/) title url cover text INTERACT SCHEMATICS /media/museum/docs/interact-schematics.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_computer_schematics_pdf-cover.jpg [**INTERACT SCHEMATICS**](/media/museum/docs/interact-schematics.pdf)written by Interact  compiled/archived by Ed Anuff\  type of document : PDF\  size : 29 MB title url cover text LEVEL II BASIC LANGUAGE /media/museum/docs/level_ii_basic.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_basic-levelii.jpg [**LEVEL II BASIC LANGUAGE**](/media/museum/docs/level_ii_basic.pdf)written by Interact  compiled/archived by oldcomputers.net\  type of document : PDF\  size : 23 Mb\  source : [oldcomputers.net](http://oldcomputers.net/) title url cover text INTERACT NETWORK NEWSLETTER - VOL.1 - N°1 # i-1.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact-network-newsletter_vol1-1.jpg **INTERACT NETWORK NEWSLETTER - VOL.1 - N°1**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 2,4 Mb\  source : www.old-computers.com title url cover text INTERACT NETWORK NEWSLETTER - VOL.1 - N°2 # i-2.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_network-newsletter_1-2.jpg **INTERACT NETWORK NEWSLETTER - VOL.1 - N°2**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 3,8 Mo\  source : www.old-computers.com title url cover text MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.2 - N°1 # ram pages - vol ii-1.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_network-newsletter_2-1.jpg **MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.2 - N°1**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 2,8 Mb\  source : www.old-computers.com title url cover text MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.2 - N°2 # ram pages - vol ii-2.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_micro-video_ram-pages_vol2-2.jpg **MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.2 - N°2**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 6 Mb\  source : www.old-computers.com title url cover text MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.3 - N°1 # ram pages - vol iii-1.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_micro-video_ram-pages_vol3-1.jpg **MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.3 - N°1**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 5,3 Mb\  source : www.old-computers.com title url cover text MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.3 - N°2 # ram pages - vol iii-2.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/interact_micro-video_ram-pages_vol3-2.jpg **MICRO VIDEO RAM PAGES - VOL.3 - N°2**\ written by Micro Video Corporation  compiled/archived by Olivier Boisseau (www.old-computers.com)\  type of document : PDF\  size : 5,2 Mb\  source : www.old-computers.com author date text Chuck Yount (United States) Thursday 17th December 2020 I had an Interact in the late 70s/early 80s. I wrote a side-scrolling shooter game in assembly language (actually, directly in machine language) that I sold to MicroVideo, and it was sold in their catalogs maybe a year before they stopped supporting the Interact. The game was similar to a popular arcade game (maybe Defender?) but it had a fantasy-based theme instead of a space setting. I don''t remember the name of the game, though. Anyone have an old catalog from ancient history? author date text Bruce Koldys Monday 14th May 2018 I have an operating Interact with many original documentations and software tapes. Always on the lookout for another functioning Interact\ My very first computer back in the day author date text Brenda Manix (Greenville Ohio ) Tuesday 31st May 2016 I have one of the original Enteract home computer systems still in original box . would like to sale it..my husband passed away..but kept it all these years.. author date text Bill Dennis (Ann Arbor, MI) Wednesday 14th November 2012 I worked for Newman Computer Exchange when our company brought in-house thousands of these in pieces and hired the interact employees to assemble and repair them. We sold a lot of these and each included an assortment of cassette tapes containing various topics. Most were games to compete with the Commodore Pet. That was 1980 and into 1981. We all wanted one but could not get any deal so we rummaged through the dumpster and built our own from marginal parts.FUN! author date text Larry Cook (USA) Wednesday 20th June 2012 I have one of these, gathering dust. The BASIC tape no longer loads, but I don''t feel it''s a hardware failure. If anyone has a good tape, or is willing to give mine a good home, let me know. author date text Bill (NC / USA) Friday 18th November 2011 I used the Atari joysticks after the Interact joysticks wore out (on Boot Hill of all things) and instead of rewiring them, we used the Atari joysticks upside-down. author date text Dennis Sunde (United States) Tuesday 9th August 2011 My story is just like many of yours. I got this when I was 15, upgraded the keyboard, and wired in the Atari 2600 controllers. Some games I wrote were published in the newsletter. Since I had the only word processor in college, I made a lot of friends. I guess you could say it changed my life, because I still work as a programmer. author date text Cary Brandt (Usa) Saturday 23rd July 2011 This was my very first computer. I would have to honestly say, changed my life. An amazing little machine. I learned a lot from it. Wish I still had it on display in my home. Many memories of installing the rs-232 interphase and upgraded keyboard, adding a modem (old school phone coupler). Reconfiguring the pins on the cables. What an adventure for a 13 year old. Long live Protecto Enterprises! - Cary author date text Bob Clark (USA) Thursday 7th July 2011 I got one of these from Protecto Enterprizes, with the raised black keys. I later bought the real keyboard from MicroVideo. I noticed that the plugs on the joysticks were the same as the ones on our Atari 2600 video game, but that it worked backward. I discovered that you could move around a few wires inside the Atari sticks and make them work on the Interact, which was much better than the Interact sticks. I wish I still had it. author date text Chuck Yount (USA) Monday 30th May 2011 I owned an Interact in 1980 (I was 15). I actually wrote a video game similar to the Defender arcade game, and I sold it to Interact for a whopping $200 and some software. I developed a second game a year later and sent it to Interact for evaluation, but they returned it with a letter saying they were going out of business. author date text Cliff Chism (USA) Sunday 14th January 2007 I bought an Interact Model R from Protecto Enterprises, I believe. It was so long ago. I added a few upgrades back then, including the Microsoft Basic and a chess program. I don't know if this memory is accurate or not... I had a problem with the tape loading on the Microsoft Basic program and called the company (at that time, an unknown). I believe I spoke with a guy named Bill. Could it have been Gates? I just don't know. I also got the RAM upgrade and installed it, myself. I had a lot of fun with my first computer. And, it seemed so much more advanced than the Altair... with it's RF modulator and all... author date text Billy Radius (Canton, MI) Friday 1st December 2006 The Interact was my first computer, living down the road from Ann Arbor I visited the office several times to get another tape drive and software. I just got a MINT Interact on Ebay with many tapes. I am looking for a copy of MicroVideo Basic if anyone has one. Also do you archive your tapes, if so what is the best kind of cassettee to use? thnks in advance author date text Roger Blake (USA) Saturday 18th November 2006 Like many others here, the Interact was my first home computer. I purchased mine from a "Protecto Enterprizes" ad in the back of a Popular Science magazine around 1980, and used the machine to teach myself first BASIC and then Machine Language/Assembly Language programming. In fact the first piece of software that I actually got paid for developing was written first on the Interact in BASIC, then ported over to an Apple II. My first experience in using online commerce was ordering stuff through Compuserve's store using my Interact and a 300-baud acoustic modem. 25+ years later I'm still working in the computer industry, so you can definitely say the Interact "changed my life!" My original Interact still works, and has the keyboard upgrade, 32K RAM upgrade, and serial port from Micro Video. I have quite a few tapes. They are mostly games, but also some utilities and even the Forth programming language. I did manage to lose my Level II BASIC tape somewhere along the way. I also have a second Interact inherited from a friend who passed away years ago, that one is a stock 16K system with chicklet keyboard. (It unfortunately does not work, just displays garbage on the screen when powered up. Probably bad RAM chips.) author date text Rob Harrington (USA) Wednesday 13rd September 2006 The Interact was my first computer and introduced me to programming. I remember writing programs in BASIC and machine language. While I'm sure i would still have got into the world of high tech eventually, I have to say after 22 years of working with computers, this is where it all started for me. author date text Bonefish Sam (USA) Sunday 12th February 2006 This was my first computer. I got it secondhand with a bunch of tapes, and even then (probably 1982) is seemed ancient. I still think about the horrible keyboard I had to use while I learned BASIC, and how, when you'd load a program, it would play the audio from the tape out the TV speaker. What a horrible sound. And before it would load a program it would load a 'video banner', basically a splash screen that took three times longer to load than the program itself. I remember really liking the Star Trek game, and 'Music Maestro' music composition program, and programming the weird oscillators to make crazy sounds. This machine made the really respect the prowess of the Vic-20 I got later. author date text Chris Quinn (USA) Wednesday 4th January 2006 The Interact was my first store-bought personal computer. At about age 12, I used it to learn BASIC, which I used to create my own primitive versions of then-popular video games like Missile Command and Space Invaders. Interact's documentation included schematic diagrams which permitted me to design my own controllers to replace the included joysticks. I still have it boxed up in my basement somewhere (complete with the 32K RAM and keyboard upgrades). Someday I'll plug it in and see if it still runs. It would be interesting to see what's on those old cassette tapes. author date text Ed Anuff (Berkeley) Friday 12th August 2005 Protecto Enterprises advertised these as the model "R" 16K RAM computer in Popular Science starting in November of 1980 and continuing through till the end of 1981 until they ran out of inventory and started selling the APF Imagination Machine. The original price was $299 which dropped to $229 by the end of 1981. My father bought me one as my first computer and we used it for about six months before moving on to an Apple II. author date text Terence Groening (USA) Tuesday 21st June 2005 My family had both an Interact and an Atari 800 (both apparently coming out in 1979). I noticed under the Atari 800 that there was a display list interrupt that you could use to display 128 colors at once. It turns out the Interact had a similar trick to display all 8 colors at once. It may not have been as useful, though, as the only program I saw implementing it could only seem to show 8 fat horizontal bands of color on screen, rather than a "fancy" graphic. author date text James Tamer (Greater Pasadena, CA, USA) Tuesday 5th April 2005 There's a partially working emulator on my website\ www.geocities.com/emucompboy\ The emulator zip file has a dozen or so of the software packages that were available in a bundle deal from Micronics. I have one of these computers myself, a 16K model.\ The computer has no real text mode; it's all graphics.\ There's no sound chip per se. There are several registers which turn on oscillators, and can feed one oscillator output through another. The emulator does not emulate sound.\ There's actually 16 colors, not 8. Only four colors can be on the screen at once, and there're some restrictions on that.\ Give the emulator a try, and write me! author date text K.C. Budd (Atlanta, GA) Tuesday 29th March 2005 Oh wow. This was my first computer, in 1979. I was five. My dad bought it from someone at DuPont, where he worked. I learned basic from that ugly orange book and started programming it. We also played several games on it - our family favorite was a space invaders clone. We absolutely hated that chicklet keyboard, but I endured it because it was the only computer I had. Thanks for the memories! author date text Jerry Reno (USA) Wednesday 15th December 2004 You need to find one of the *original* Interacts; they had a even worse keyboard (flat grey chiklets, rather than the fancy raised black ones). Take a look at the Micronique Victor Lambda screen shots; these are almost all MicroVideo games that were localized for French: "Asteroides" - "Hot Rocks", the snapshot is the title sequence of the earth exploding into the radioactive asteroids for you to destroy... "Le Donjon Hante" - "Mazes and Monsters", an excellent 3D dungeons-and-dragons sort of game "Glouton" - "Packrat" "Bombardement" - I don't remember the English name, but the goal was to drop the bomb so it got past the white "armor" on the building "Les Envahisseurs" - "Alien Invaders" "Grenouille" - "Wing It", the English version had a butterfly, rather than a frog, presumably for copyright reasons. I think Concentration, Bombardement, and Hangman/Le Pendu were the original Interact games. author date text Robert N. Schaub (USA) Tuesday 13rd April 2004 I purchased one of these machines in 1980 from MicroMart and used it for several years. Cost at that time was about $300. It was "upgraded" with true button keypad. Used mainly for game playing, although it could do some other things in BASIC. /software/breakthrough-also-known-as-le-mur-de-briques 1004 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230401010105/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1004 2023-04-01

The Interact computer had a very short life in USA. It had only just got in production when the Interact Co. of Ann Arbor MI, went bankrupt. Several thousand machines were produced though. Some of them were sold by Protecto Enterprizes of Barrington, IL, the liquidator, but the main part was sold by MicroVideo, also of Ann Arbor. Protecto bought lots of back-of-the-magazine ads for years, always printed with "WE LOVE OUR CUSTOMERS".

The Interact shipped with 2 joysticks, a built-in tape recorder, a TV RF modulator and 2 KB of ROM. Everything, including BASIC, must be loaded from tape. A little trivia: The tape unit did include an erase head, but it was not connected! Tapes had to be erased on a regular cassette recorder before being reused. Another surprising feature is that the "1" key is after the "0" key at the far right of the keyboard. Thus the row is starting from 2 and finishing by 1... See explanation in the "Read more" page.

MicroVideo supported the machine for two years, 1979-80, making some hardware expansions (32K RAM card and stringy floppy drive), replacing the original minimalist EDU-BASIC language with a Microsoft 8K graphic version, and even publishing 3 issues of 'Interaction', a newsletter of the Detroit Interact Group.

The Interact computer finally vanished from the US market in late 1980. However, a French company bought the rights of the machine and started to sell the Interact under Victor Lambda name in French market. See the rest of the story here.

For five years, several improved sequels of the Interact, called Hector, were launched in France. The last version, the Hector MX, featured high resolution graphics and 4 built-in languages!

If you got tapes for the Interact or Victor Lambda (or Hector/Victor), please contact us. We are trying to save all programs released for this computer before there are lost forever.