Computer Expansion Boxes of the 1980s and 90s
A Brief History
Why upgrade a personal computer or game console internally — when instead you can externally attach ungainly boxes! And as a bonus, use up more desk space!
No mere peripherals, these extenders were meant to change your whole computing / gaming experience — whether they succeeded is another question.
Mattel
Nicknamed the Blue Whale, the “Keyboard Component” was a major promised upgrade for the Mattel Intellivision console. Intellivision started back in 1977, with the first games programmed by Caltech summer interns.
The Keyboard Component was far beyond a keyboard and had some impressive features:
contained 16K of shared dynamic RAM and its own 6502 processor to handle I/O functions. Special programs were available on cassettes. The built-in tape deck featured a sophisticated block-addressable cassette interface; an audio track could be synchronized with a program and its graphics. With the provided microphone, parts of the audio track could be re-recorded and played back under program control. A cartridge port allowed standard Intellivision games to be played without removing the Master Component, and a printer port allowed output to a 40-column thermal printer.
