30 Aug
2023
30 Aug
'23
11:39 p.m.
On Wed, 30 Aug 2023, Wayne S wrote:
When s-100 machines came out, they were standalone.
The serial port was
for sending serial data not for a terminal. You would have to write some
software to use it with a terminal.
Of course.
To do anything with it, you needed some input and output.
Either a good front panel, or
a serial port plus software for a terminal, or
a keyboard input with software, plus a video board with software.
paper tape for storage, so as to not have to key in every program evey time, or
a tape drive, or
a disk drive.
By the end of the 1970s, computers were being sold with terminal or
keyboard/video hardware and software, and then disk drives and an
operating system. BASIC on paper tape, ROM, or disk, . . .
By the end of the 1970s, you did not need to be an electronics/comupter
hobbyist to buy and use a personal computer.
It became possible, without even a scope and soldering iron!
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com