Atari was a monumental undertaking in the 70's and when you factor in inflation the original selling price was close to $700 per unit. That's ironic considering that right now people are complaining that the new PS5 costs $700.
Given that it was so expensive I have to stand back in awe at the fact that almost everyone I knew had one which is pretty damn special since very few of the people I knew, including my own family, were wealthy people. Too bad Atari really screwed the pooch on being a force in the gaming world in the next 2 decades. They has such a huge head start on everyone else and I guess they just got lazy!