1981 Personal Computer Catalog 437
edibobb writes "I just fired up my scanner and uploaded the 35-page 1981 (+/- 1 year) personal computer catalog from American Small Business Computers. 16K RAM for $22; 10 megabyte hard drive, 5 meg fixed and 5 removeable, with 14-inch platters; 25-character per second printer. Things have changed a bit since then!"
Here I sit (Score:4, Informative)
Phone number (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Remember Bill Gate's quote? (Score:5, Informative)
Mirror... (Score:5, Informative)
I'll take it down if he wants me to, of course, but I thought it would help.
Re:ah, the trs-80 color computer (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A link on swbell.net? Oh, that'll last. (Score:2, Informative)
Sorta... (Score:3, Informative)
So... what would you expect the 6509 to be used for? It didn't have the math instructions of the 6809, but it (and the 6510) did have certain useful features [funet.fi] when it came to making "personal computers" of the day.
Re:Phone number (Score:5, Informative)
If you've ever been to Pryor, OK, you'd be amazed that anything technical would have come from a town like that.
Re:Oh man (Score:2, Informative)
A quick google search for:
arcnet glossary
Arcnet [smc.com]
Old computer magazine (Score:3, Informative)
the classic computer magazine archive at http://www.atarimagazines.com/ has the text from some issues of Antic, STart, and Creative Computing magazines.
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:1, Informative)
looks like someone offered a mirror and when someone said it was goatsex, they didn't even check before modding you up and the poster down.
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:2, Informative)
Did anyone else bother to check before moderating this guy up?
Wikipedia (Score:5, Informative)
Magic Wand (software) [wikipedia.org]
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:2, Informative)
For MORE Vintage Computing goodness... (Score:3, Informative)
ByteCellar.com [bytecellar.com]
Lend your support!
blakespot
Re:Bah, Cash only makes "the perfect budget"... (Score:2, Informative)
- Qua
Re:Oh man (Score:3, Informative)
"This corresponds to a conservative baud rate of 1.1 megabaud...."
Megabaud? WTF? Is that some arbitrary unit of measurement that they invented to sound like this was wicked fast?
In it's defense, 100 megabytes of removable storange in 1981 was like 2 terrabytes of storage today.. so that was pretty cool.
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:3, Informative)
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:1, Informative)
This one [anti-slash.org].
Re:Oh man (Score:3, Informative)
At slow speeds, only one bit of information (signaling element) is encoded in each electrical change. The baud, therefore, indicates the number of bits per second that are transmitted. For example, 300 baud means that 300 bits are transmitted each second (abbreviated 300 bps ). Assuming asynchronous communication, which requires 10 bits per character, this translates to 30 characters per second (cps). For slow rates (below 1,200 baud), you can divide the baud by 10 to see how many characters per second are sent.
At higher speeds, it is possible to encode more than one bit in each electrical change. 4,800 baud may allow 9,600 bits to be sent each second. At high data transfer speeds, therefore, data transmission rates are usually expressed in bits per second (bps) rather than baud. For example, a 9,600 bps modem may operate at only 2,400 baud. (Definition from webopedia [webopedia.com])
Re:OT: Walmart promotions (Score:2, Informative)
Re:1981? Not Later? (geezing!) (Score:3, Informative)
The Mac Plus was the first one with SIMMs; four slots, you had to put SIMMs in in pairs (they were 8 bits wide, and the Mac had a 16-bit data bus), and you could put in 256K or 1Mbit SIMMs.
I have, in my attic, an Apple II computer with a little over a Meg of RAM (1 MB RamWorks card, plus 64K on the motherboard, and another 64K buffer on the printer card), and a Mac Plus with 2.5 Mb of RAM. I should plug them in and see if they still work...