Jupiter Ace 1982 Tapestry

The Jupiter Ace was a small computer system developed by the English computer company, Jupiter Cantab, founded by Richard Altwasser and Steven Vickers, both of whom had worked on the ZX Spectrum. Named after the early British computer, the Pilot ACE, the Jupiter Ace utilized the Forth programming language instead of the more common BASIC. Sales were slow, with only around 5,000 units sold before the company closed. The machine struggled to gain acceptance due to its use of Forth, limited published software, poor case design, and small initial memory. Additionally, its tile-based monochrome graphics were inferior to competing machines' pixel-based color graphics. Forth, while being structured and powerful, was considered difficult to learn.