{"id":350,"date":"2015-03-28T12:14:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-28T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.historyofpersonalcomputing.com\/?p=350"},"modified":"2015-03-28T12:14:56","modified_gmt":"2015-03-28T16:14:56","slug":"texas-instruments-ti-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/historyofpersonalcomputing.com\/wordpress\/texas-instruments-ti-99\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Instruments TI-99"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Texas<\/a>
Texas Instruments TI-99\/4A<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Texas Instruments has always been a leader in microprocessor technology. After a few years as a top manufacturer of electronic calculators using their custom microprocessor technology, and a foray into minicomputer systems using their 16-bit TI-990 processors, Texas Instruments decided to throw its hat into the ring of the home computer market in 1979 with the TI-99 computer system<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listen to our podcast episode about the TI-99 computer here<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

History<\/h3>\n

The first TI-99 was called the TI-99\/4. It had a chicklet style keyboard that looked more like Texas Instruments calculator buttons than an actual typewriter style keyboard. Outside of its odd keyboard, It\u2019s features were comparable to other home computer systems of the day, except it used a 16-bit TMS-9900 microprocessor, and cost $1150. However, that price included a modified 13-inch Zenith television which worked solely as a color monitor.<\/p>\n

The TI-99\/4 did not fit into the market very well and had poor sales. The entry price was considered rather steep, especially since people found they could just hook it up to any composite monitor available elsewhere. So, some revisions were made to its design and configuration. A pull here, a tweak there, and the result was the TI-99\/4A computer released in 1981, commonly referred to as the TI-99.<\/p>\n

The new TI-99 sported 16K of RAM, a TMS 9900 CPU running at 3 MHz., a custom TMS9918A Video Display Chip, and a 48 key keyboard with full typewriter style keys. It sold without the monitor for literally half the price of the TI-99\/4, or $525, but included an RF modulator that allowed you to connect it to a TV. The newly revamped keyboard shared the slightly diminished dimension of the TI-99\/4 keyboard. It wasn\u2019t a bad keyboard, but it was a bit cramped.<\/p>\n

To the right of the keyboard was the cartridge slot which was used to insert one of many patented Solid State Cartridges for gaming, programming, and utility needs. This had not changed from the earlier \/4 version. Texas Instruments actually banked on the idea that people wanted the use of their computer to be as simple as possible, so they marketed just about all of their software line as a plug-in Solid State Software cartridge. The problem with that philosophy was that the costs involved making the cartridges made the software more expensive than comparable software sold on disk for other brands of home computers.<\/p>\n

The system specs for the TI-99\/4 and 4A are as follows:<\/p>\n