Computers made between the 70s and the early 90s

42 pointsby altern8over 9 years ago

20 comments

leocover 9 years ago

It really should include the 1965 Olivetti Programma 101 <a href="http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/interface/object/programma-101-computer/" rel="nofollow">http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/interface/object/programma-1...</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programma_101" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programma_101</a> , probably the first desktop computer and apparently so similar to the first in the HP desktop-calculator series that HP lost a court case <a href="http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/interface/object/hp-9100a-programmable-calculator-computer/" rel="nofollow">http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/interface/object/hp-9100a-pr...</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard_9100A" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard_9100A</a> ; the Programma's industrial design is also unmistakble Olivetti. The MCM/70 is another interesting early computer, a desktop/luggable Intel 8008 APL microcomputer which got to market before the IBM 5100, in 1973: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCM/70" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MCM/70</a> <a href="http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/physical-object/2008/04/102689996.01.01.lg.JPG" rel="nofollow">http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/physical...</a> . The Datapoint has a weird claim to fame: the Intel 8008 was designed for it, but in the end Datapoint went ahead and implemented the same instruction set in TTL instead.EDIT: It's also missing the Dulmont Magnum (alias Kookaburra) <a href="http://www.rugged-portable.com/history-portable-computers-rugged-bias/kookaburra-pc-dulmont-magnum-1983/" rel="nofollow">http://www.rugged-portable.com/history-portable-computers-ru...</a> , an Australian clamshell laptop which may have scooped the GRiD Compass (the claimed release and marketing dates for the Magnum are all over the place). The linked page mentions some other early-'80s clamshells too.

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bitwizeover 9 years ago

Ah, the good old TI-99 series. I had the TI-99/4A and compared to its rivals like the Commodore 64, it was junk. To do anything cool with it you had to buy the bulky, expensive Peripheral Expansion Box. The TI-99 did make history in two ways:* giving us the term "sprite" in the computer graphics sense. Such things were called different things on different platforms: "player-missile graphics" on Atari, OBJs on Nintendo, MOBs on Commodore. The designers of the TMS9918/9918A chip which the TI-99s used, named movable graphics "sprites" after the way they floated above the textual-grid display; and TI Extended BASIC provided a CALL SPRITE command.* providing the first ROM-cartridge lockout system in a dick move that would later be copied by Nintendo and every other console manufacturer. The 1983 "beige" rerelease of the 99/4A would not boot unlicensed cartridges (though cassette- or disk-based games would still run).

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orangepenguinover 9 years ago

There have been many comments that this is well presented? I think it's interesting, but mostly unreadable. The text over images is hard to read, and there are places where text is actually partially behind an image... not good.

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Syssiphusover 9 years ago

Didn't see the Acorn Archimedes [1].[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes</a>

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AA6YQover 9 years ago

Missing machines from DEC, Data General, Interdata, Burroughs, Univac, Amdahl, Magnusson, Four Phase, Tandem, Symbolics, Rational, MassPar, Convex, Sun, Apollo, Control Data, Cray, Prime, Scientific Data Systems, Xerox, Wang, Computer Automation, General Automation, Microdata, etc.Not even close...

iMarkover 9 years ago

For some reason this skips the 80's for me - it jumps from 1980 to 1990.[edit] Ah - it picks up the 80's again after 1992.

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ajrossover 9 years ago

Needs a better Apple I picture. That was a kit computer sold as a PCB only. The photo is of someone's wooden enclosure, which was not the Apple product.

sevensorover 9 years ago

This is very well presented! However, I was hoping to see minis too. Micros were just a side-light during the 70s.

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akbar501over 9 years ago

Nicely done.IMO, could be improved by going back to the 1950's when there was visual and physical separation of a computer's components. The physical separation of storage vs. processing really drives home the point of how a well designed should look (granted that today's well designed system requires separation of components in software vs. hardware).

ChuckMcMover 9 years ago

Heh, I've owned a number of those over the years :-). The author would do well to go back and either fix the timeline (it skips around) or change the navigation options.They don't mention a number of interesting computers, like the Digital Group Z80 series, or DEC's attempts and CP/M + MS-DOS computers. Of course a complete catalog would be a lot of work and quite the labor of love.What I really like most is that between 1972 and 1984 computers were all over the map in terms of shapes and sizes and what not, then we hit the "beige box" era where eveything looked like a beige box, from minicomputer to microcomputer. With Apple's emphasis on design we now have people experimenting with all sorts of form factors and I find that much more appealing.

afsinaover 9 years ago

Oric Atmos seems to be missing. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oric" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oric</a>

KineticTroiover 9 years ago

Really cool, I remember working on many of these. Others I still would like to try out someday.

yodsanklaiover 9 years ago

Slightly off-topic, are there good computers museums where you can see these machines?

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iblaineover 9 years ago

Shit started to get real when the Amiga 4000 came out. Right about then 5.25" floppys & hard drives were becoming main stream.

edanuffover 9 years ago

Very well presented. I still have a couple of these in my collection. It's amazing to think about all of these home computer startups that were founded and went bust in the late seventies and early eighties - there's hundreds listed at <a href="http://www.old-computers.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.old-computers.com/</a>. I'd have loved to see their investor pitches and business plans. I'm sure they all thought they were #2 behind Apple.

kubiiiiover 9 years ago

Anyone remember a pre PC era computer with a "touch screen" and a printer built into the screen?

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TickleSteveover 9 years ago

No NeXT cube??

dunhamover 9 years ago

I'm surprised they have my Interact on there. I thought it was a fairly rare machine.

protomythover 9 years ago

Nice, but to add to the list of missing, I submit the TRS-80 Model 100.

kyrreover 9 years ago

i prefer this version: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJON-nUg4eA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJON-nUg4eA</a>