Pear II - we proudly announce the arrival of the computer you have been waiting for

This advert is a brazen attempt to sell an Apple II clone machine, but unlike <a href="phot_002">Franklin's Ace 1200</a>, had the extra "beyond the call of duty" feature of even naming the machine and company after another not altogether dissimilar fruit, as well as giving it the same "II" model number, and a stripey-fruit logo. 

At the time, before Apple clamped down on them, there were several rip-offs as well as legitimate licensed clones on the market.  Certainly, the specification of the Pear II seems to support this, with a 6502 processor and a Z80 on an add-in card, just like the Apple II. 

It came with 32K RAM, expandable to 96K, had 40 columns x 24 rows on-screen display and had 14 expansion slots. 

It was supplied with BASIC (also like the Apple II) but could also run COBOL if a Z80 card was installed[source: "Fresh fruit", Computing Today, September 1981, p. 9]. 

[picture: PEARCOM_updated_prac_dec81.webp|The swiftly-revised Pearcom micro, no longer called the Pear II. From PRAC, December 1981]

Not surprisingly, the Netherlands-based Pearcom company was soon "persuaded" to change the name of its machine, with an update to the advert appearing in December 1981's PRAC showing the machine now being called simply the Pearcom and being positioned as a "computer frame", whatever that is.

Even the company logo was changed to something that wasn't based on some sort of fruit shape.

And quite what an oil lamp - which appears in both adverts - had to do with selling computers is not clear, but it retailed for £1,100 - about [[1100|1981]] in [[now]] money.

