Class of the 90's: First Steps

The First Steps bundle is a cheaper version of the Amiga 500 Class of the 90's bundle, launched several months later. It continued the educational theme, featuring Deluxe Paint 2, Deluxe Print and a number of other titles aimed at the first time computer buyer. A video was also packaged, but the content is currently unknown.

The First Steps package arrived just a few months after the launch of Atari's own Family Curriculum bundle. Several Amiga magazines speculated it was a direct attack on Atari's efforts to move into the educational market. However, this was rejected by Commodore spokesperson, Andrew Ball:

"irrespective of whether Atari had or had not (released the Family Curriculum), once our costs had been recouped, we would have passed reductions on to the end user."

Although many magazines recognised the Atari as Commodore's nearest competitor, in retrospect the First Steps package may have been an aborted attempt to challenge Acorn's dominance of the education market in the UK. Commodore was widely used the educational market in the late 1970s when they sold the PET to high schools. Although the Amiga had limited use in schools, colleges and universities, it did not gain widespread use.

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