The MITS Altair was the first
8080 based kit microcomputer. It was first introduced
in the January, 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine as
a construction project. The reaction to the Altair was
un-expected by either the magazine or by MITS who designed it.
Although not the first available microcomputer , it was the
start of the industry.
The Imsai 8080 developed by
IMS Associates, was designed to use the same bus structure as
the Altair 8800 with interchangeable circuit boards. The Imsai
8080 however was much better built, had a more powerful
power supply, and front panel. It supplanted the Altair A model
as the standard S-100 Bus computer. The Imsai was the
first for a complete line of micros built by this company.
The M6800 Computer kit from
South West Technical Products Company used the Motorola 6800
processor and the SS-50 bus structure. Much less expensive
than the S-100 bus computers and much simpler to build, the
M6800 became very popular. In addition SWTPC provided a complete
family of peripherals kits at very low cost. The software for
the M6800 was excellent and very inexpensive.
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The SOL-First 8080 Desktop microcomputer
Processor Technology
company designed and sold a full line of boards for the S-100
computers. In 1977 they designed the SOL Computer which
used most of their circuit boards. The SOL had a video terminal
built-in, only requiring a video monitor. In a very attractive
case with walnut wood sides, the SOL became a very popular computer
that influenced the design of future computers. Pro. Tech
did not provide a low cost floppy disk system so users turned
to North Star for their disk storage.
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Apple II The micro that made it into business
and homes .
The Apple II
was the first true"personal computer" it was factory built,
in-expensive and easy to learn and use. Provided with the most
extensive set of software and low cost floppy disks, the
Apple II was also the first personal computer capable of color
graphics and easy modem operation.. Development of
the Visicalc spreadsheet program created a business tool that
made adoption of Apple II a regular part of business.
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TRS-80 (Trash 80), The most popular home computer
Radio Shack's TRS-80 selling for
about $500 complete with video monitor and BASIC took the personal
computer market by storm. Using a fast Z-80 processor
it use a cassette recorder for program and data storage. Later
models incorporated disk drives and more memory. the Model III,
housed in one case became the most popular personal computer
in schools and homes rivaling the Apple II. Radio Shack
also built other types of personal computers including the first
practical laptop, the Model 100.
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Atari 800- The machine that won the color graphics race
The Atari Models 400 and 800
were considered the best personal computers for games and color
graphics. They had a very large family of game software, but
not much business software. Lack of good disk and peripheral
support cased these machines to have a short life.
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Commodore 64- Breaking the price barrier
The Commodore 64 was the best-selling
personal computer of all time. It had a large memory capacity,
low cost floppy disks and peripherals and color graphics. It
could use a TV for a monitor and there was all the software
anyone could want. Commodore in a price war with
Texas Instruments, reduced the prices of the C-64 as low as
$260 and more of them were sold than any computer in history.
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Texas Instruments TI 99-4
The
Texas Instruments 99-4A used a TI 16-bit processor and was an
excellent graphics computer. It lacked easy expansion
capabilities and required proprietary software.
After engaging in a price
war with Commodore, TI stopped production and sold out below
$100 per computer
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Heath- Desktop with built-in floppy and monitor
The Heath Desktop
was one of the first computers designed as complete desktop
machines including monitor, floppy disks and keyboard. Heath
made a full line of computers and was later bought by Zenith.
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Morrow- Powerful S-100 Z80 Computer using CP/M
The Morrow
computer was one of last powerful Z-80 powered S-100 computers.
Representative of the designs supplanted by the IBM PC, this
machine was sold as a complete system including a video terminal
and printer.
It ran the CP/M operating system
and the MP/M multi-user operating system.
The Morrow Company was a leading
supplier of disk systems for CP/M computers.
