Apple II

Apple II
Apple II

While the many S-100 systems David and I have discussed in the early articles of the History of Personal Computing were formidable computers on their own, there came a time when Joe Public was noticing everything going on around them, and found himself hoping for a convenient, “turn-key” style of home computer.

Yes, there were turn-key S-100 systems, but they weren’t necessarily convenient. “Joe” did not want to deal with computers by having to work under the hood from time to time. In fact, when it came to the marketability of computing systems, the following philosophy was currently in play:

You can have…

  • Affordability
  • Expandability
  • or, convenience

…pick any TWO! Continue reading “Apple II”

NorthStar Horizon

NorthStar Horizon wooden case version
NorthStar Horizon wooden case version

Like many of the early strong competitors in the microcomputer game, North Star Computers is mostly forgotten these days. The company was founded by Mark Greenberg and Charles Grant in 1976 to sell IMSAI computers in Berkeley, CA. Originally called Kentucky Fried Computer, a lawsuit from . . . Kentucky Fried Chicken . . . and forced them to consider a name change, which they ultimately did. Also like some other computer startups of the time, North Star began making and selling add-ons for S-100 bus computers. Their first product was the Floating Point Board, which implemented a floating point coprocessor for 8080-based micros. They soon added a Z80A processor board, as well as RAM boards to their lineup. Continue reading “NorthStar Horizon”

Vector Graphic, Inc. Vector 1

vg_logoVector Graphic, Inc., like Cromemco which we recently covered, started out by creating expansion cards for S-100 systems. Thier first products were an 8K static RAM card and a 256×256 pixel “high resolution” card, called HRG, or High Resolution Graphics.

Before long, and also like Cromemco, Vector Graphic produced THEIR first S-100 clone, the Vector 1 computer, which went fully to market in 1977. One of the founders, Bob Harp, was the one who initially designed the Vector 1 system. Within the company, Bob was joined as co-owner by his wife Lore Harp, along with their next door neighbor, Carol Ely. Together, they springboarded a company that within four years, surpassed $3,000,000 revenue per month.

That was just a brief company introduction. M Continue reading “Vector Graphic, Inc. Vector 1”

Heathkit H8

Heathkit H8
Heathkit H8

Heathkit was a long established electronics retailer, specializing in build-it-yourself electronic kits. In the wake of Altair’s original move to create a home computer for consumers, Heathkit believed they, too, could capitalize on the homebrew personal computer market. The result was the Heathkit H8 computer, introduced in July 1977. The H8 is similar to other S100 class computers in the sense that it used an Intel 8080 CPU, had a backplane expansion bus, and CP/M was commonly used on it, but the similarities ended there. Heathkit’s engineers noted the need to correct some major flaws in the S100 bus design, like having the +5 volt and ground pins right beside each other. Uncorrected, it was possible to short the power supply if a card was inserted crooked or a piece of metal dropped in the S100 slot at the right position. After all, this was the 70’s. You can’t have one of those low hanging disco chains getting in the works and shorting things out when bending over to insert an S100 card.

Continue reading “Heathkit H8”

Cromemco Z-1

Cromemco Z-1
Cromemco Z-1

Cromemco was founded in Mountain View, CA by two Stanford Ph.D. students in 1974, Harry Garland and Roger Melen. It received its name in honor of their residence at Stanford University, Crothers Memorial, which was a dormitory reserved for engineering graduate students. The two had already been working together on a series of articles for Popular Electronics magazine.The articles were for non-computer electronic hobbyist projects. In late 1974, Roger Melen was visiting the New York editorial offices of Popular Electronics and he saw the prototype of the MITS Altair 8800. He was so impressed with it that he immediately changed his next flight to go to Albuquerque, NM. There he met with Ed Roberts, president of MITS, and Roberts encouraged Melen to develop add-on products for the Altair. Continue reading “Cromemco Z-1”