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| Thread ID: 29362 | 2003-01-17 23:07:00 | Q - What was the first personal computer? | Babe Ruth (416) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 114771 | 2003-01-17 23:07:00 | OK then to all you PC aficionados out there - "What was the first personal computer?". Let's see what the discussion brings... The answer(s) should be interesting, and yes there is on the web THE answer to this question. Also no prize for the correct answer, which will be given (if not before) at 1300 NZDST. Cheers, Babe |
Babe Ruth (416) | ||
| 114772 | 2003-01-17 23:20:00 | i aint sure but i think it was someones name like Simon or something?...or am i way off?...just taking a guess here....i remember talking to someone and surfing the web about first computers..and microcomputers or processors...i looked on the web for the personal computer but dont seem to be doing it right but i found out something else...........the first computer to run microsoft software :D | csinclair83 (200) | ||
| 114773 | 2003-01-18 00:05:00 | Sinclair ZX80 Bye |
Peter H (220) | ||
| 114774 | 2003-01-18 00:24:00 | 10 fingers Interestingly enuff its still in common use |
BillGates (2238) | ||
| 114775 | 2003-01-18 00:29:00 | A Atari 600XL with 16k ram and a tape drive with 16k cartridge games chess,millipede, | kiwibeat (304) | ||
| 114776 | 2003-01-18 00:51:00 | well i think it depens on what a "personal computer" is defined as . . . . . . . ALTAIR 8800 - (1975) This computer was one of the first "home" computers ever made, it was sold as a kit, but for additional money, you could buy one fully assembled . It has no keyboard, the "program" has to be entered with the switches located on the front panel of the "computer", and as it doesn't have video output (yet), the result is displayed via LEDs . the first personal computer would be the APPLE 1 (1976) The story of the development of the Apple 1 has became a "legend" . Here it goes: Steve Wozniak, who worked for Hewlett-Packard at the time, wanted to build his own computer . He couldn't afford the Intel 8080 CPU (this CPU was very popular then, as it was used in the Altair 8800 & IMSAI 8080, but was pretty expensive) . He would have used the Motorola 6800 but it was also much too expensive . Finally he decided to build his computer around the MOS 6502 (which was pretty compatible with the Motorola 6800) . but if you want to get picky then the personal computer was made by ICL in 1981 In the early 70s, the British government whished an English computer company could compete with the world major manufacturers . Some years later, the ICL company became one of the larger manufacturer of computers in Europe and did really compete with U . S . companies . In 1980, before the ICL Personal Computer was born, the company met serious financial problems, the English government paid several million pounds and ICL asked the British RAIR CIE to provide the ICL-PC hardware . do i win??? |
robsonde (120) | ||
| 114777 | 2003-01-18 00:55:00 | Well more time has been asked for (and needed)... Cheers, Babe. |
Babe Ruth (416) | ||
| 114778 | 2003-01-18 00:56:00 | Probably you are thinking of a consumer item. Some say Apple I, rather than the kits (like the Altair which set the pattern of late delivery and great promises). You could even consider the Electronics Australia "Educ-8" which had a 6-bit word and 32 words of memory (upgraded to 256 before the series ended ... 1975?). But DEC beat them all in 1964. The PDP-8. It was the first computer costing less than US$10000. It fitted on a desktop. It was intended for a single user. (Though with a fully extended 32k word memory and a 32k word disk drive (and 20 teletypes) would serve 20 interactive users). |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 114779 | 2003-01-18 00:59:00 | The brain | antmannz (28) | ||
| 114780 | 2003-01-18 01:17:00 | Would that be Adam's or God's antmannz? I'm picking God's because he has the most posts on Press F1 therefore he must have been computing since before Adam wore short pants. Cheers Billy 8-{) :D |
Billy T (70) | ||
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