In the early days of home computers, the mere ability to work with a machine in your own home, far away from the requirements and constraints of mainframes, was an idea that sold itself. It was irrelevant whether or not the resulting work at any lasting purpose. As the machines themselves were often underpowered, this irrelevance came in very handy.

Advances in the industry lead to machines with sound, graphics, and other features, which lent themselves to the ultimate demonstrations of the usefulness of these new appliances: games.

However, the huge potential for being games machines was quickly overshadowed by a more lucrative idea: being purchased and used by business and industry.

Alongside full-page ads about the amazing games and entertainment a customer could get, came ads lauding the potential for use by businesses: spreadsheets, word processors, databases, and inventory tracking. This button-down tie-wearing aspect of the home computer revolution has done nothing but grow in the decades since.

This collection presents the business case for home computers, providing many of the best-selling and not so best-selling business related software available to users from the 1970s and 1980s. By experiencing firsthand what the interface and potential of the software was, it is possible to get perspective on how far innovation has brought us. It also demonstrates the unique problem facing the makers of the software: how to show its strength and potential when its user interfaces seemed anything but.

This is by no means a comprehensive collection of all business software for home computers - currently it is focused on the Apple II family of computers, as well as the Atari 800. Over time, this collection will expand out to many more platforms and types of business software.

Please note: There is currently no way to save data entered into these programs. Please do not use them for your financial planning or dissertations.

Some highlights of this collection include: