# HomePak

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HomePak
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/HomePak.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePak
> Source revision: 1342831164
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Infobox software
| name                   = HomePak
| logo                   = <!-- Image name is enough -->
| logo alt               = 
| screenshot             = <!-- Image name is enough -->
| caption                = 
| screenshot alt         = 
| collapsible            = 
| author                 = [Russ Wetmore](/source/Russ_Wetmore)
| developer              = [Batteries Included](/source/Batteries_Included_(company))<br>[Ariolasoft](/source/Ariolasoft)<ref name=davison/> (EU)
| released               = {{Start date and age|1984}}
| discontinued           = 
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date    = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| programming language   = [Action!](/source/Action!_(programming_language))
| operating system       = 
| platform               = [Atari 8-bit](/source/Atari_8-bit), [Apple II](/source/Apple_II), [Commodore 64](/source/Commodore_64) [/ 128](/source/Commodore_128), [PCjr](/source/IBM_PCjr)
| size                   = 
| language               = 
| language count         = <!-- Number only -->
| language footnote      = 
| genre                  = 
| license                = 
| alexa                  = 
| website                = <!--{{URL|example.org}}-->
}}

'''HomePak''', published in 1984 by [Batteries Included](/source/Batteries_Included_(company)), is an integrated application written for the [Atari 8-bit computers](/source/Atari_8-bit_computers) and  ported to the [Commodore 64](/source/Commodore_64), [Commodore 128](/source/Commodore_128), [IBM PCjr](/source/IBM_PCjr), and the [Apple II](/source/Apple_II), as  well as for early [Macintosh](/source/Macintosh) ("The Mac HomePak").<ref>{{cite journal |title=News & Products: New Products From Batteries Included |journal=Compute! |date=July 1986 |issue=74 |page=117 |url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue74/news_and_products.php}}</ref> It includes a word processor (HomeText), database (HomeFind), and terminal communications program (HomeTerm). HomePak was designed by [Russ Wetmore](/source/Russ_Wetmore) (who previously wrote the game ''[Preppie!](/source/Preppie!_(video_game))'') for Star Systems Software, Inc. The Commodore 128 version was ported by Sean M.&nbsp;Puckett and Scott S.&nbsp;Smith.

The Atari 8-bit version of HomePak is implemented in the [Action!](/source/Action!_(programming_language)) programming language from [Optimized Systems Software](/source/Optimized_Systems_Software).<ref name="chadwick1985">{{Cite book |title=Mapping the Atari |last=Chadwick |first=Ian |publisher=Compute! Publications, Inc. |year=1985 |isbn=0-87455-004-1 |location=Greensboro, North Carolina |pages=v-vi |chapter=Author's Preface To The Revised Edition |chapter-url=http://www.atariarchives.org/mapping/revisedpreface.php}}</ref>

==Reception==
''[Ahoy!](/source/Ahoy!)'' warned "don't expect more than you pay for", stating that while HomeText was "quite nice" and HomeTerm was "wonderful," HomeFile was "very disappointing. Anyone who needs to use the [database](/source/database) for even a mildly sophisticated operation will be frustrated and confused ... a total mess".<ref name="schleimer198504">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_16_1985-04_Ion_International_US#page/n81/mode/2upwwt | title=HomePak | work=Ahoy! | date=April 1985 | accessdate=27 June 2014 | author=Schleimer, Rachel | pages=82–83}}</ref>

In a review of the HomeTerm portion of the package, Ron Luks wrote in a 1984 review for ''[ANALOG Computing](/source/ANALOG_Computing)'', "A superb terminal program is rare indeed, but in my collection of over two dozen Atari terminal programs, I have two or three that meet the "superb" criteria. Only one, however, can be the best. Hometerm is, quite simply, the best."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luks |first1=Ron |title=HOMETERM |journal=ANALOG Computing |date=December 1984 |issue=25 |url=http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an25/hometerm.htm |archive-date=2004-12-31 |access-date=2005-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041231031839/http://cyberroach.com/analog/an25/hometerm.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In a 1986 ''[Page 6](/source/Page_6)'' review, the author had technical problems using HomeTerm in the UK.<ref name=davison/> He called HomeFind, "elegant, friendly and very easy to use," and wrote that HomeText, "might even tempt me away from my trusty old [Atariwriter](/source/AtariWriter)."

==Legacy==
With Sparky Starks, Wetmore co-authored a similarly styled Atari 8-bit application called HomeCard. It was advertised as an "electronic filing box" and "intelligent [Rolodex](/source/Rolodex)." HomeCard was published by [Antic Software](/source/Antic_Software) in 1985.<ref name="hc_antic">{{cite journal|title=HomeCard advertisement|journal=Antic|date=July 1985|volume=4|issue=3|page=26|url=https://archive.org/details/1985-07-anticmagazine/page/n25}}</ref>

==References==
<references>

<ref name=davison>{{cite journal |journal=Page 6 |last1=Davison |first1=John S. |issue=23 |date=September 1986 |title=Review: Homepak |url=http://page6.org/archive/issue_23/page_32.htm}}</ref>

</references>

{{Word processors}}

Category:Word processors
Category:Apple II software
Category:Atari 8-bit computer software
Category:Commodore 64 software
Category:1984 software

{{business-software-stub}}
{{WordProcessor-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [HomePak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePak) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePak?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.