Did you know Poland is the global epicenter for Atari computer nostalgia? Apparently, back in '80s and early '90s as the Soviet empire was crumbling, Atari computers were actually available at hard-currency stores in Poland and remained very popular even as decadent western consumers moved on to more modern machines.
Anywho, this legacy probably explains why it's a Polish engineer who has come up with an Atari recreation shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp. Built to the specifications of Atari's 8-bit computer line, which began in 1979 with the Atari 400 and 800 systems, the Atarino Pico is no mere emulator (like the Atari 400 Mini). Instead, it uses FPGA or field-programmable gate array chips to fully recreate the logic of the original system.
Reportedly (via Ars technica), the whole shebang, including 6502C processor, ANTIC, GTIA, POKEY, memory, video, and audio controllers fits onto a PCB measuring just two by 1.5 cm.
"It's not an exact replica. It's a system that behaves like an Atari, but can go beyond, allowing for new forms of retro-futuristic interaction," says the engineer responsible, Piotr "Osa" Ostapowicz. The "beyond" bit includes the ability to be integrated into custom keyboards and miniaturised cases and support physical drives, plus Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Enhanced graphics capabilities, meanwhile, include extended resolution modes and a display system that combines VGA, HDMI and 60 Hz refresh. There's also a co-processor that supports Scalable Vector Graphics or SVG up to 4K resolution. Oh, and the main processor runs at 31 MHz, a handy upgrade over the original Atari's mere 1.79 MHz.
While the nostalgia element is obviously strong, this tiny machine is meant to be more than just a retro device. "If someone wants to make a portable console, he has an open road. If someone wants to make an IoT system out of it, here you go," Ostapowicz says.
For me, it all brings back foggy memories of what was probably my first interaction with a computer fitted with a keyboard as opposed to a console. I was but a mere glint in the eye, no more than six. The machine in question even then wasn't the latest hardware and I am pretty sure on account of a very vague impression of a membrane keyboard, an Atari 400.
And yet, it played games that seemed wildly more advanced than the Atari 2600 with which I was much more familiar, an exotic machine of imponderable power and sophistication. No doubt its computational powers are so feeble in a modern context, even this postage-stamp sized Polish reboot is orders of magnitude larger than would be necessary should a custom chip be created with the Atari's capabilities.
After all, you can buy a chip measuring just over 1mm square with a fully functional Arm CPU these days which would presumably blow away an Atari processor that can trace its origins back to 1979. But I still marvel at how far computing has come and what's possible these days not from major corporations and their engineering might, but a motivated hobbyist using off-the-shelf kit.
In an age where technology has so many negative connotations, be that the impact of social media or AI slop, the Atarino is a welcome reminder of a more innocent and optimistic age.
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