User:Mwagner84/ComputerSmarts

ComputerSmarts was a console-based computer system which was produced by Connor Electronics in 1987 for children ages 6-12. It was designed to be primarily used in conjunction with 50 minute interactive VHS tapes which would guide the user through different exercises in language arts. The console would connect to the VCR through an analog cable plugged into the "Audio Out" port. This allowed the video to communicate with the console through the use of audio tones which the computer translated into instructions to prompt the user with specific information.

ComputerSmarts Console
The console featured a standard QWERTY keyboard with sets of keys color-coded to aid in typing exercises. It featured a slot for ROM cartridges to be inserted. When the unit was turned on without a cartridge or VCR, the user could select from several pre-programmed games including a calculator and a music synthesizer.

When first developed, the unit had a flip-up LCD display which was used to give information to the user during play. It was redesigned so the display was integrated into the main unit. In the videos and some early instruction manuals, the prototype with flip-up display is shown.

Video Lesson Cassettes
There were several VHS videos made for ComputerSmarts. Most were part of the Word Mystery series. They featured two alien puppets named Beek and Rains and their teacher DJ, which was an artificially intelligent computer program who was housed inside a TV monitor. They traveled around the planet in a clubhouse which served as their spaceship which seemed to be nothing more than a cardboard box. In each installment, they would use their ComputerSmarts consoles to learn about typing, sentance structure, paragraph composition, punctuation, word types, and alphabetical order. Users were prompted throughout the video to type words or letters as instructed by the characters. At the end, they are scored by the console on their performance.

The videos were produced by Chicago-based Kinetics Group, Ltd., directed by J. Ried Paul, written by Rick Oliver, and featured music by Tullio and Rans Music, Mark Ohlsen and Elliot Delman. All of these companies are defunct including Connor Forest Industries, Inc., the parent company of Connor Toy Corporation, which in turn was the parent of Connor ELectronics.

Characters: While Beek and Rains were puppets who appeared in all of the videos along with DJ, each installment also featured live-action characters, most of which were portrayed by Jamie Baron and Joan Schwenk. These additional characters differed in each video, with Baron and Schwenk playing several characters each, but a few characters made appearances in multiple installments. Jamie Baron's Colonel Bragg character was the only live-action character to appear in all of the videos.

Word Mysteries:
 * Word Mystery 1: In Search of the Ultimate Sentence - Sentance structure with proper use of subject, predicate and punctuation.
 * Word Mystery 2: The Plot of the Possessive Pronoun - Singular and plural possessive nouns and pronouns with all important adjectives.
 * Word Mystery 3: The Caper of the Compounding Characters - Compound subjects, compound predicates, and paragraph structure.
 * Word Mystery 4: The Victory of Victor Verb - Helping verbs, adverbs, and the past tense or irregular verbs.

Math Skills:
 * Math Skills 1: The Power of Tens

Learning Game Cartridges
These were ROM Cartridges that contained expanded games that could be played on the ComputerSmarts unit without the need for a VCR.


 * Mathematics 1: Mission Addition
 * Mathematics 2: Subtraction Action
 * Mathematics 3: Harnessing Number Power
 * Mathematics 4: Pulling Numbers Apart