Around the World with the Sorcerer of Exidy

In an analysis of international computer user group newsletters, the authors explore locative dimensions of the use and reception of the Exidy Sorcerer microcomputer. They find that while user groups began with a hyper-local focus, they rapidly acquired regional and international readers with their editors entering into formal networks of reciprocal exchange to share content that was in perpetually short supply. This international growth often came at a cost to newsletter founders and brought them into contact with the challenges of international communication in the pre-Internet era. By design, the Sorcerer’s specialised programmable graphics architecture made graphics “as easy to use as text,” and the archive reveals how users exploited this technical affordance to undertake word processing and microcomputing in languages other than English.