HomePak

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| name = HomePak

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| author = Russ Wetmore

| developer = Batteries Included
Ariolasoft (EU)

| released = {{Start date and age|1984}}

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| programming language = Action!

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| platform = Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Commodore 64 / 128, PCjr

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HomePak, published in 1984 by Batteries Included, is an integrated application written for the Atari 8-bit computers and ported to the Commodore 64, Commodore 128, IBM PCjr, and Apple II.{{cite journal |title=News & Products: New Products From Batteries Included |journal=Compute! |date=July 1986 |issue=74 |page=117 |url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue74/news_and_products.php}} It includes a word processor (HomeText), database (HomeFind), and terminal communications program (HomeTerm). HomePak was designed by Russ Wetmore (who previously wrote the game Preppie!) for Star Systems Software, Inc. The Commodore 128 version was ported by Sean M. Puckett and Scott S. Smith.

The Atari 8-bit version of HomePak is implemented in the Action! programming language from Optimized Systems Software.{{Cite book |title=Mapping the Atari |last=Chadwick |first=Ian |publisher=Compute! Publications, Inc. |year=1985 |isbn=0-87455-004-1 |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |pages=v-vi |chapter=Author's Preface To The Revised Edition |chapter-url=http://www.atariarchives.org/mapping/revisedpreface.php}}

Reception

Ahoy! warned "don't expect more than you pay for", stating that while HomeText was "quite nice" and HomeTerm was "wonderful," HomeFile was "very disappointing. Anyone who needs to use the database for even a mildly sophisticated operation will be frustrated and confused ... a total mess".{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_16_1985-04_Ion_International_US#page/n81/mode/2upwwt | title=HomePak | work=Ahoy! | date=April 1985 | accessdate=27 June 2014 | author=Schleimer, Rachel | pages=82–83}}

In a review of the HomeTerm portion of the package, Ron Luks wrote in a 1984 review for ANALOG Computing, "A superb terminal program is rare indeed, but in my collection of over two dozen Atari terminal programs, I have two or three that meet the "superb" criteria. Only one, however, can be the best. Hometerm is, quite simply, the best."{{cite journal |last1=Luks |first1=Ron |title=HOMETERM |journal=ANALOG Computing |date=December 1984 |issue=25 |url=http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an25/hometerm.htm}}

In a 1986 Page 6 review, the author had technical problems using HomeTerm in the UK. He called HomeFind, "elegant, friendly and very easy to use," and wrote that HomeText, "might even tempt me away from my trusty old Atariwriter."

Legacy

With Sparky Starks, Wetmore co-authored a similarly styled Atari 8-bit application called HomeCard. It was advertised as an "electronic filing box" and "intelligent Rolodex." HomeCard was published by Antic Software in 1985,{{cite journal|title=HomeCard advertisement|journal=Antic|date=July 1985|volume=4|issue=3|page=26|url=https://archive.org/details/1985-07-anticmagazine/page/n25}} not Batteries Included.

References

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{{cite journal |journal=Page 6 |last1=Davison |first1=John S. |issue=23 |date=September 1986 |title=Review: Homepak |url=http://page6.org/archive/issue_23/page_32.htm}}

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Category:Word processors

Category:Apple II software

Category:Atari 8-bit computer software

Category:Commodore 64 software

Category:1984 software