History Of The Microcomputer Revolution
Many people think that the term "clones" is unique to microcomputers - but like
many other things that were handed down by the mainframe marketplace - this
also came from the mainframe world. The actual mainframe term was PCM - which
stood for Plug Compatible Mainframe - meaning you could unplug an
IBM mainframe and hookup up a clone computer - Amdahl was one of the
clones - and run your IBM software fine - for
a lot less money actually.
The success of Intel's new
microprocessors and Ed Robert's world's first Altair
microcomputer kit didn't go unnoticed by their rivals. Some
Intel engineers jumped ship and started their own company -
Zilog - which produced a competing microprocessor - the
Z80. This chip was software compatible with the
Intel chip - meaning it could run any software designed for the
Intel - but it was more powerful and more adaptable to computer
applications.
Ed Roberts tried desperately to promote his computer
while he had an exclusive product. His company,
MITS, had its staff travel around the country promoting the Altair
computer in a large camper they called the Mits-mobile. But in just several
months - other companies began building microcomputers - this time for business
people to use. One of these early companies produced a computer called the
IMSAI 8080 - which used the same Intel
processor as the Altair computer. But the makers of the
IMSAI computer included a keyboard, computer screen, and floppy disk
drives - all things that business people would need. The original Altair
computer had none of these fineries and had originally been targeted at
hackers. Another early microcomputer had the strange sounding name of
Sol, which stood for Solomon - known for wisdom.
Ed Roberts even came out with another microcomputer
kit which used a Motorola 6800 processor - named the Altair 680 - but again
this was a hobbyist kit, and the marketplace was headed in another direction.
And Ed Roberts was better at inventing an industry
than actually working in it. He tried to demand that stores which sold his
computers wouldn't carry any other competing brands - but by this time the tide
had turned - and there were other, better computers to choose from.
Other people came up with their own version of Basic - after all - the source
code was accessible and in the public domain. This included dialects like Tiny
Basic, Basic-E, Cbasic and others. By 1977 several large companies had entered
into the marketplace; including Commodore - with its
Commodore Pet computer - Personal Electronic Translator; Radio Shack
with its either loved or hated TRS-80
- known as the Trash-80, and some very tiny but ambitious companies - including
one run by some California kids who called their computer the ridiculous name
of
Apple. We'll talk about them later in this series.
Microcomputer clubs sprung up across the country- again - a tradition started
with mainframe computers. The first recorded computer hackers supposedly were a
club at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
with the unlikely name of Tec Model Railroad Club. Their interests soon
switched from model railroads to the early mainframe and minicomputers of the
1950's and 60's. One very famous later microcomputer club evolved out of
California's Silicon Valley. They called themselves the Homebrew Computer Club
and many now famous computer people attended these early meetings.
If this sounds like a wild and disjointed period in microcomputer evolution -
it was - because anyone could buy all the parts needed for a computer literally
off-the-shelf, find plans on how to build one, and even find some software to
run, or write their own programs in Basic.
But there actually was a need for some standardization in this emerging
industry, so that programs on one computer could be run on another. And this
could only be attained by some kind of a universal operating system that would
allow it to happen. And once again, next week we'll
find out about still another Washington State connection in the microcomputer
revolution.
For Raw Bytes, this is Frank Delaney
Copyright © 1995 MTA Micro Technology Associates
Frank Delaney
928 E. Thurston Spokane, WA 99203 (509) 624-7286/7230
Raw Bytes Computer News - KPBX FM 91.1 National Public Radio
In computer news this week (March 22, 1995):
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