Editing Amstrad PCW (section)

==Impact==
In 1986, John Whitehead described the Amstrad PCW as "the bargain of the decade",<ref name="Whitehead1986ElecOfficSys" /> and technology writer Gordon Laing said in 2007, "It represented fantastic value at a time when an [[IBM PC|IBM compatible]] or a [[Apple Mac|Mac]] would cost a comparative fortune."<ref name="Rohrer2007Nostalgia">{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6925963.stm|title=Nostalgia for a techno cul-de-sac |last=Rohrer  |first=F.
|date=1 August 2007|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=2009-05-01
}}</ref> At its [[United Kingdom]]  launch in September 1985,<ref name="LaingDigitalRetroPCW" /> the basic PCW model was priced at £399 plus [[value added tax]],<ref name="Forester1989PersonalComputing">{{cite book|last=Forester|first=T.|title=High-tech society|publisher=MIT Press|year=1989|pages=143|chapter=Personal Computing|isbn=0-262-56044-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gqgb946KPfQC&q=amstrad+pcw&pg=PA143|access-date=2009-05-01}}</ref> which included a printer, [[word processor]] program, the [[CP/M]] [[operating system]] and associated [[Utility software|utilities]], and a [[BASIC]] [[Interpreter (computing)|interpreter]].<ref name="Whitehead1986ElecOfficSys" /> Software vendors quickly made a wide range of additional applications available, including accounting, [[spreadsheet]] and [[database]] programs, so that the system was able to support most of the requirements of a home or small business.<ref name="Whitehead1986ElecOfficSys" />

Shortly afterwards the [[Tandy 1000]] was introduced in the UK with the [[MS-DOS]] operating system and a similar suite of business applications and became the only other IBM-compatible personal computer system available for less than £1,000 in Britain. At the time the cheapest complete systems from [[Apricot Computers]] cost under £2,000 and the cheapest [[IBM PC]] system cost £2,400. Although competitors' systems generally had more sophisticated features, including colour [[Visual display unit|monitor]]s, Whitehead thought the Amstrad PCW offered the best value for money.<ref name="Whitehead1986ElecOfficSys" />

In the US the PCW was launched at a price of $799, and its competitors were initially the [[VideoWriter|Magnavox VideoWriter]] and [[Smith Corona PWP]], two word-processing systems whose prices also included a screen, keyboard and printer. The magazine ''Popular Science'' thought that the PCW could not compete as a general-purpose computer, because its use of non-standard 3-inch [[floppy disk]] drives and the rather old [[CP/M]] operating system would restrict the range of software available from expanding beyond the [[spreadsheet]], typing tutor and cheque book balancing programs already on sale. However, the magazine predicted that the PCW's large screen and easy-to-use word processing software would make it a formidable competitor for dedicated word processors in the home and business markets. The system was sold in the US via major stores, business equipment shops and electronics retailers.<ref name="PopularScienceNov1986" />

The PCW redefined the idea of "best value" in computers by concentrating on reducing the price, which totally [[Disruptive innovation|disrupted]] the [[personal computer]] market.<ref name="PalmerEtAlTimeAndTech">{{cite book
|last=Palmer|first=R.|author2=Cockton, J.|author3=Cooper, G.|title=Managing marketing|publisher=Elsevier|year=2007|pages=274
|chapter=Time and technology|isbn=978-0-7506-6898-9
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iudVqLPFmTEC&q=amstrad+pcw&pg=PA274|access-date=2009-05-01
}}</ref> The low price encouraged home users to trade up from simpler systems like the [[ZX Spectrum]], whose sales had passed their peak. According to ''Personal Computer World'', the PCW "got the technophobes using computers".<ref name="TedlowJonesMassMarketing">{{cite book|last=Tweedale|first=G.|editor=Tedlow, R.S. |editor2=Jones, G.|title=The Rise and Fall of Mass Marketing|publisher=Routledge|year=1993|pages=144–145|chapter=Mass market in computers|isbn=0-415-07573-4|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7t8OAAAAQAAJ&q=amstrad+pcw&pg=PA144|access-date=2009-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2007/07/a-little-bit-of.html |title=A little bit of IT history goes with Amstrad |publisher=Personal Computer World' |access-date=2009-05-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705195916/http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2007/07/a-little-bit-of.html |archive-date=2008-07-05 }}</ref> In the first two years over 700,000 PCWs were sold,<ref name="Osborne2007RememberingPCW" /> gaining Amstrad 60% of the UK home computer market,<ref>{{cite book
|last=King|first=A.|title=The End of the Terraces|publisher=Continuum International|year=2002|pages=121
|chapter=The New Directors|isbn=0-7185-0259-0
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kBaOkPg8z0C&q=amstrad+pcw&pg=PA121|access-date=2009-05-01
}}</ref> and 20% of the European personal computer market, second only to IBM's 33.3% share.<ref name="Forester1989PersonalComputing" /> Having gained credibility as computer supplier, Amstrad launched IBM-compatible PCs, once again focussing on low prices,<ref name="PalmerEtAlTimeAndTech" /> with its [[PC1512]] surpassing the IBM PC on performance and beating even the Taiwanese [[Clone (computing)|clones]] on price.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hawkins|first=W.J.|date=January 1987|title=Clone beater|journal=Popular Science|pages=24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwEAAAAAMBAJ&q=amstrad+pcw&pg=PA24|access-date=2009-05-01}}</ref> Amstrad became the dominant British personal computer company, buying all the designs, marketing rights and product stocks of [[Sinclair Research Ltd]]'s computer division in April 1986,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/28/news.htm|title=Sir Clive Sinclair resigns from the home computer market|date=May 1986|publisher=[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]|access-date=2009-05-01}}</ref> while Apricot later sold its manufacturing assets to [[Mitsubishi]] and became a software company.<ref name="TedlowJonesMassMarketing" />

In the PCW's heyday the magazines ''8000 Plus'' (later called ''PCW Plus'') and ''PCW Today'' were published specifically for PCW users.<ref name="Langford2009LimboFiles" /><ref name="Gee1996AliveTLC" /> In addition to the usual product reviews and technical advice,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Langford|first=D.|date=March 1988|title=Mythical but true|journal=8000 Plus|volume=19|url=http://www.ansible.co.uk/ai/pcwplus/pcwp1988.html|access-date=2009-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725100907/http://ansible.co.uk/ai/pcwplus/pcwp1988.html|archive-date=2008-07-25|url-status=dead}}</ref> they featured other content such as articles by [[science fiction]] writer and software developer [[Dave Langford]] on his experiences of using the PCW.<ref name="Langford2009LimboFiles">{{cite book|last=Langford|first=D.|title=The Limbo Files|publisher=Cosmos Books|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8095-7324-0|url=http://ansible.co.uk/books/limbo.html|access-date=2009-05-02| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090505221000/http://ansible.co.uk/books/limbo.html| archive-date= 5 May 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

By 1989, {{nowrap|1.5 million}} units had been sold.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Japan: The Next Wave |magazine=[[New Computer Express]] |date=31 August 1989 |issue=43 (2 September 1989) |page=7 |url=https://archive.org/details/NewComputerExpress043/page/n6}}</ref> When the PCW line was retired in 1998, 8&nbsp;million machines had been sold.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amstrad.com/products/archive/index.html|title=Amstrad Products Archive|publisher=Amstrad Limited|access-date=2009-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509185726/http://www.amstrad.com/products/archive/index.html|archive-date=2008-05-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>  ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' estimated in 2000 that 100,000 were still in use in the UK, and said that the reliability of the PCW's hardware and software and the range of independently produced add-on software for its word processing program were factors in its continued popularity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Maybury|first=R|date=6 January 2000|title=The windowless wonder|journal=The Daily Telegraph|pages=6–7|url=http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=93736AN&q=amstrad+pcw&uid=1400988&setcookie=yes|access-date=2009-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223143541/http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=93736AN&q=amstrad+pcw&uid=1400988&setcookie=yes|archive-date=23 February 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><!-- ***********
Daily Telegraph says 1.5M sold. Probably counts UK only.
********** --> Laing says the PCW line's downfall was that "[[IBM PC compatible|proper PCs]] became affordable".<ref name="Rohrer2007Nostalgia" /> IBM, Compaq and other vendors of more expensive computers had reduced prices drastically in an attempt to increase demand during the [[recession]] of the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=J.L.|author2=Martin, F.|title=Strategic management|publisher=Cengage Learning EMEA|pages=684|chapter=Strategy Implementation|isbn=1-84480-083-0|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INy2SHeqMhwC&q=amstrad&pg=PA685|access-date=2009-05-02|year=2005}}</ref> In 1993 the PCW still cost under £390 while a PC system with a printer and word processing software cost over £1,000.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Perry|first=R.|date=26 November 1993|title=PCW defies silicon snobs|journal=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/computers-pcw-defies-silicon-snobs-roland-perry-designer-of-amstrads-millionselling-word-processor-defends-it-against-the-sneers-of-its-detractors-1506799.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102074925/http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/computers-pcw-defies-silicon-snobs-roland-perry-designer-of-amstrads-millionselling-word-processor-defends-it-against-the-sneers-of-its-detractors-1506799.html |archive-date=2012-11-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=2009-05-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Willmott|first=N.|date=17 December 1993|title=Computers: High street sales take off|journal=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/computers-high-street-sales-take-off-nigel-willmott-looks-at-the-systems-and-prices-on-offer-in-the-main-retail-store-chains-1468010.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102091148/http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/computers-high-street-sales-take-off-nigel-willmott-looks-at-the-systems-and-prices-on-offer-in-the-main-retail-store-chains-1468010.html |archive-date=2012-11-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=2009-05-06}}</ref> However, after adjustment for [[inflation]] the retail price of a [[multimedia]] IBM-compatible PC in 1997 was about 11% more than that of a PCW 8256 in 1985, and many home PCs were cast-offs, sometimes costing as little as £50, from large organisations that had upgraded their systems.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cuthell|first=J.P.|author2=Cullingford, C.|author3=Crawford, R.|year=1997|title=Patterns of computer ownership|journal=Computer Education|issue=86|pages=13–23|url=http://www.hud.ac.uk/ITsec/roger%20professional/ownership.pdf|access-date=2009-05-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117090401/http://www.hud.ac.uk/ITsec/roger%20professional/ownership.pdf|archive-date=2010-11-17}} Also available at [http://www.virtuallearning.org.uk/changemanage/digital_kids/Cyborg%20kids.pdf virtuallearning.org.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120002508/http://www.virtuallearning.org.uk/changemanage/digital_kids/Cyborg%20kids.pdf |date=2008-11-20 }}</ref>