The beginnings of the personal computer industry History of personal computers

1 beginnings of personal computer industry

1.1 simon
1.2 ibm 610
1.3 olivetti programma 101
1.4 mir
1.5 datapoint 2200
1.6 kenbak-1
1.7 micral n
1.8 xerox alto , star
1.9 ibm scamp
1.10 ibm 5100
1.11 altair 8800
1.12 homebrew computer club
1.13 other machines of era

the beginnings of personal computer industry

the “brain” [computer] may 1 day come down our level [of common people] , our income-tax , book-keeping calculations. speculation , there no sign of far.

simon

simon project developed edmund berkeley , presented in thirteen articles series issued in radio-electronics magazine, october 1950. although there far more advanced machines @ time of construction, simon represented first experience of building automatic simple digital computer, educational purposes. in 1950, sold us$600.

ibm 610

the ibm 610 designed between 1948 , 1957 john lentz @ watson lab @ columbia university personal automatic computer (pac) , announced ibm 610 auto-point in 1957. although faulted speed, ibm 610 handled floating-point arithmetic naturally. price tag of $55,000, 180 units produced.

olivetti programma 101

first produced in 1965, programma 101 printing programmable calculator described in advertisements desktop computer . designed , produced italian company olivetti pier giorgio perotto being lead developer. olivetti programma 101 presented @ 1965 new york world s fair. on 44,000 units sold worldwide; in cost @ launch $3,200. built without integrated circuits or microprocessors, used transistors, resistors , condensers processing, programma 101 had features found in modern personal computers, such memory, keyboard, printing unit, magnetic card reader/recorder, control , arithmetic unit. hp later copied programma 101 architecture hp9100 series.

mir

the soviet mir series of computers developed 1965 1969 in group headed victor glushkov. designed relatively small-scale computer use in engineering , scientific applications , contained hardware implementation of high-level programming language. innovative feature time user interface combining keyboard monitor , light pen correcting texts , drawing on screen.

datapoint 2200


1970: datapoint 2200.

released in june 1970, programmable terminal called datapoint 2200 earliest known device bears significant resemblance modern personal computer, screen, keyboard, , program storage. made ctc (now known datapoint) , complete system in small case bearing approximate footprint of ibm selectric typewriter. system s cpu constructed variety of discrete components, although company had commissioned intel develop single-chip processing unit; there falling out between ctc , intel, , chip intel had developed wasn t used. intel released modified version of chip intel 8008, world s first 8-bit microprocessor. needs , requirements of datapoint 2200 therefore determined nature of 8008, upon successive processors used in ibm-compatible pcs based. additionally, design of datapoint 2200 s multi-chip cpu , final design of intel 8008 similar 2 largely software-compatible; therefore, datapoint 2200, practical perspective, functioned if indeed powered 8008, making de facto microcomputer.

kenbak-1

the kenbak-1, released in 1971, considered computer history museum world s first personal computer. designed , invented john blankenbaker of kenbak corporation in 1970, , first sold in 1971. unlike modern personal computer, kenbak-1 built of small-scale integrated circuits, , did not use microprocessor. system first sold us$750. around 40 machines ever built , sold. in 1973, production of kenbak-1 stopped kenbak corporation folded.

with 256 bytes of memory, 8-bit word size, , input , output restricted lights , switches, kenbak-1 useful learning principles of programming not capable of running application programs.

micral n

the french company r2e formed 2 former engineers of intertechnique company sell intel 8008-based microcomputer design. system developed @ institut national de la recherche agronomique automate hygrometric measurements. system ran @ 500 khz , included 16 kb of memory, , sold 8500 francs, $1300us.

a bus, called pluribus, introduced allowed connection of 14 boards. boards digital i/o, analog i/o, memory, floppy disk available r2e. micral operating system called sysmic, , later renamed prologue.

r2e absorbed groupe bull in 1978. although groupe bull continued production of micral computers, not interested in personal computer market, , micral computers confined highway toll gates (where remained in service until 1992) , similar niche markets.

xerox alto , star


1973: xerox alto

the xerox alto, developed @ xerox parc in 1973, first computer use mouse, desktop metaphor, , graphical user interface (gui), concepts first introduced douglas engelbart while @ international. first example of today recognized complete personal computer.

in 1981, xerox corporation introduced xerox star workstation, officially known 8010 star information system . drawing upon predecessor, xerox alto, first commercial system incorporate various technologies today have become commonplace in personal computers, including bit-mapped display, windows-based graphical user interface, icons, folders, mouse, ethernet networking, file servers, print servers , e-mail. included programming language system called smalltalk.

while use limited engineers @ xerox parc, alto had features years ahead of time. both xerox alto , xerox star inspire apple lisa , apple macintosh.

ibm scamp

in 1972-1973 team led dr. paul friedl @ ibm los gatos scientific center developed portable computer prototype called scamp (special computer apl machine portable) based on ibm palm processor philips compact cassette drive, small crt , full function keyboard. scamp emulated ibm 1130 minicomputer in order run apl\1130. in 1973 apl available on mainframe computers, , desktop sized microcomputers such wang 2200 or hp 9800 offered basic. because first emulate apl\1130 performance on portable, single-user computer, pc magazine in 1983 designated scamp revolutionary concept , world s first personal computer . prototype in smithsonian institution.

ibm 5100

ibm 5100 desktop computer introduced in september 1975, 6 years before ibm pc. evolution of scamp (special computer apl machine portable) ibm demonstrated in 1973. in january 1978 ibm announced ibm 5110, larger cousin. 5100 withdrawn in march 1982.

when pc introduced in 1981, designated ibm 5150, putting in 5100 series, though architecture wasn t directly descended ibm 5100.

altair 8800


>1975: altair 8800

development of single-chip microprocessor gateway popularization of cheap, easy use, , personal computers. matter of time before 1 such design able hit sweet spot in terms of pricing , performance, , machine considered altair 8800, mits, small company produced electronics kits hobbyists.

the altair introduced in popular electronics magazine article in january 1975 issue. in keeping mits s earlier projects, altair sold in kit form, although relatively complex 1 consisting of 4 circuit boards , many parts. priced @ $400, altair tapped pent-up demand , surprised creators when generated thousands of orders in first month. unable keep demand, mits sold design after 10,000 kits had shipped.

the introduction of altair spawned entire industry based on basic layout , internal design. new companies cromemco started supply add-on kits, while microsoft founded supply basic interpreter systems. after number of complete clone designs, typified imsai 8080, appeared on market. led wide variety of systems based on s-100 bus introduced altair, machines of improved performance, quality , ease-of-use.

the altair, , clones, relatively difficult use. machines contained no operating system in rom, starting required machine language program entered hand via front-panel switches, 1 location @ time. program typically small driver attached paper tape reader, used read in real program. later systems added bootstrapping code improve process, , machines became universally associated cp/m operating system, loaded floppy disk.

the altair created new industry of microcomputers , computer kits, many others following, such wave of small business computers in late 1970s based on intel 8080, zilog z80 , intel 8085 microprocessor chips. ran cp/m-80 operating system developed gary kildall @ digital research. cp/m-80 first popular microcomputer operating system used many different hardware vendors, , many software packages written it, such wordstar , dbase ii.

homebrew computer club

although altair spawned entire business, side effect had demonstrate microprocessor had reduced cost , complexity of building microcomputer interest build own. many such hobbyists met , traded notes @ meetings of homebrew computer club (hcc) in silicon valley. although hcc relatively short-lived, influence on development of modern pc enormous.

members of group complained microcomputers never become commonplace if still had built up, parts original altair, or in terms of assembling various add-ons turned machine useful system. felt needed all-in-one system. out of desire came sol-20 computer, placed entire s-100 system – qwerty keyboard, cpu, display card, memory , ports – attractive single box. systems packaged cassette tape interface storage , 12 monochrome monitor. complete copy of basic, system sold us$2,100. 10,000 sol-20 systems sold.

although sol-20 first all-in-one system recognize today, basic concept rippling through other members of group, , interested external companies.

other machines of era

other 1977 machines important within hobbyist community @ time included exidy sorcerer, northstar horizon, cromemco z-2, , heathkit h8.