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Period: to
TIME SPAN OF CMPUTERS
COMPUTER MILESTONES OVER THE PAST 40 YEARS -
MITS Altair 8080
It was the start of the industry. t is over 20 years since the debut of the Altair 8800 computer in the pages of Popular Electronics Magazine, but everyone connected with it tells a completely different story. Truly, "Success has many fathers." -
M6800 Computer kit
The M6800 Computer kit from South West Technical Products Company used the Motorola 6800 processor and the SS-50 bus structure. The software for the M6800 was excellent and very inexpensive. -
Apple 1
On April Fool’s Day in 1976, they introduced their first system, an encased circuit board known as the Apple I (previous computers consisted of circuit boards and switches which produced flashing lights) and sold for $666.66 at the local electronics store. -
SOL First 8080 Desktop
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. -
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. -
The Apple II
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. -
Atari Model 400 and 800
Considered to be 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. -
TRS-80
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. -
LISA
Development of the Lisa started in 1978, It included the Motorola 6809E processor, 64KB of RAM and monochrome graphics fitting a 256x256 pixel display. -
Commodore 64
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. -
Apple IIe (third apple PC)
The Apple IIe, the most popular and best-selling of all Apple II models, followed in 1983. Enhancements included faster chipsets, dual disk drives, improved graphics and memory capacities of 128KB (expandable with external cards to a whopping 1MB). Other models which came afterwards included the Apple IIc (1984), IIgs (1986) and IIc Plus (1988), and each featured improved chipsets, memory, and greater processing speed than its predecessors. -
Texas Instruments 99-4A
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 -
The Health Desktop
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. -
Morrow Powerful Computer S-100 Z-80
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. -
iMac
Apple II and Macintosh computers came back with a roar in 1998 with the elegant all-in-one iMac, priced at $999.00 and designed much like the original Macintosh case in clear plastic and trimmed in translucent shades of blue or red. The sleek unit was accompanied by a smaller mouse and keyboard. The new design utilized SCSI and Apple desktop bus (ADB) ports. An iMac portable would follow in 1999, using the same clear white and translucent design adopted by the iMacs.
