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Math Tutor 1 |
As the name implies, Math Tutor 1 is your basic "mathematics done on a computer just because we could" program. Almost every computer in the 70's and 80's had one of these programs (even the Atari 2600), and they all have one thing in common. They suck! Did any kid actually increase his math skills by using one of these programs?
In all fairness, the VideoBrain does a pretty decent job of displaying the math problems. The user can choose between addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and how many problems they want to try. The VideoBrain either shows a congratulation message after successfully solving a problem, a message of encouragement if the user gets a problem wrong, or shows the answer to the problem.
The only downside to the cartridge (other than being a math program) is that the VideoBrain's awkward keyboard makes it difficult to type the answer in time. There's no row of numbers at the top of the screen, or a numeric keypad towards the side, instead the numbers are situated towards the top left of the keyboard making in a strange formation. Why VideoBrain decided to do this is anyone's guess.
Math Tutor was produced from 6-16-78 to 3-2-79 and had a production run of 2,943 cartridges making it fairly common as far as VB cartridges go and was one of the last cartridges still being produced (along with Vice Versa, Wordwise 2, and APL/S) when VB ceased manufacturing in March of 79.
