At 09:31 AM 1/11/98 -0800, you wrote:
>> first personal computer (I think I know that one)
>own research you will tend to agree. Some will argue that the Apple ][
I think you mean the Apple 1.
>> first portable computer
>
>Again, same problem. Define "portable". Allison carted, what was it, a
>PDP-8 across a bridge some years ago. She got funny looks, but she
>"ported" her computer elsewhere. However, I believe this one goes to the
>IBM 5100. However, did I hear grumblings of something portable pre-dating
>even the 5100? Like something from HP in the early 70s?
I think if you consider the 5100 a portable, then so should you consider the
PDP-8. The 5100, while more *convenient* to move, perhaps, than, say, an
Altair, is hardly all that portable. It's listed as 50lbs (a stretch even
for me) and has no handle. You tell me how that's a portable? (It's much
like a TRS-80 Model III, only flatter. I think the III is lighter though.)
I vote for the STM Baby.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 01:39 PM 1/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>When did the Sphere-1s start shipping? My boards have 1975 dates on them.
>The Sphere-1s were also integrated systems, with a standard setup having
>the 6800 CPU board, a video board, 16K RAM, and a serial interface board.
Haddock says 1975, no month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
>>> first personal computer (I think I know that one)
>>
>>output" then that would be the Sol-20 from 1976. This was first proposed
>
> I think the credit on this one has to go to the IBM 5100 again. It was
>released in 1975.
Sol-20 -- introduced April, 1975
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 06:51 AM 1/11/98 -0600, you wrote:
>What are the firsts?
Here are my guesses...
>first portable computer
Probably the STM Systems BABY! 1, ca. 08/1976
>first laptop
MCM Computers System 700, Model 782 APL, ca. 12/1977
>first GUI
Xerox whatevertheycalledit?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 11:13 PM 1/10/98 -0500, you wrote:
>a 'Zorba CPM' (some sort of Kaypro clone, apparently). All was in good, if
>
>When I go back tomorrow, I'm going to try to pick up the HP IPC, Kaypro
>2000, and DG One I saw. (:
AAaaarrrggghhh! I *really* want an HP IPC! And a Kaypro 2000! And a
Zorba! I think if I didn't already have a DG One, I'd have to come up there
and steal them from y'all.... 8^)
Btw:
Modular Micros Zorba 7
7" CRT
2 410K floppies
22lbs
In prod. by '84
$1595
Modular Micros Zorba 2000
9" CRT
2 820K Floppies
(10M HD avail)
25 lbs.
in prod. by '84
~$2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 10:41 PM 1/9/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Look at how fast a CP/M system can be up and running Wordstar, compared to
>a Win95 system running Word97.
About 3 seconds on my Starlet. 8^)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
>those "encryption standards" last summer.... wiped out any chance of brain
>activity in DC, outside of businesses....
Was there any brain activity before that? 8^)
Well, one thing that is often forgotten is that the internet (or arpanet or
something) was developed so that the US DOD could have a computer network
that wouldn't die if one node when down. Which, of course, can be used
against the feds, should they try and censor things.
There's no reason I couldn't set up a server in a closet which, at a
special, pre-arranged time, would call a server in, say, Portland to pick up
the mail that was collected by calling a server in vancouver, etc. (Anyone
ever heard of Fido?)
Unfortunately, we (in the US) would lose a lot of what has made the 'net
indispensable for a lot of people. Singapore censors stuff coming in via
the mail (dunno about the 'net); we might very well end up the same way, if
they really screw things up (cut off from the freedom-loving world.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
Hi,
I saw an advert in the latest issue of Scientific American for
an upcoming special about archiving digital data to appear on
PBS. It is supposed to show on the 13th (tomorrow) and alas
I don't have the magazine with me here and I cannot recall what
the show title is - or even whether it is part of a regular series.
At any rate I thought folks on this list would be interested so
go out and check your local listings.
Peter Prymmer
<Don't know about that one, but the PDP-8/i was available in a (rarely see
The PDP-8i was pretty big and heavy. The 8e smaller and lighter but the
tiny one was the 8m as it didn't have as many slots nor the heavier power
supply needed to power it, it was shorter in depth. The 8m was in the 50
pound range as I remember.
Allison
Hi everybody. First off, let me ask- does anyone else have a Model II?
I've been working on mine recently and I can't get it to work. When I got
it the CRT was loose and rattling around the case and the power and reset
switches were broken apart. I got these things sorted out and powered it
up to get a screen filled with hash. It seems to roll around the screen
and no characters are visible, just hash.
I put a test clip on the Z80 and found very little activity. The only pin
toggling is the clock. All of the address, data, and most of the control
bus lines and either low or (apparently) tri-stated. I checked the BUSRQ*
line to see if maybe something was asking for the bus and it was high.
The BUSAK* output is low, however. Shorting NMI* to ground has no effect
whatsoever. After it's been on for a while, turned off and right back on
again, the screen remains blank.
I changed out the Z80 for a known good one with no effect. I happened to
note, however, that the computer generates lots of TVI, and the pattern
changes during reset.
If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most welcome. Also, if
anyone has any schematics for this thing, that would help too.
(Alternatively, if you know that a certain part is the same as the Model
I, III, or 4, let me know as I have the schematics and working examples of
these.)
Richard Schauer
rws(a)ais.net