Компьютерная техника. Еремина Н.В. - 38 стр.

understand something
      It is impossible to predict the invention that, like the Altaic, crystallize new
approaches in a way that computers people's imagination.


      Top 20 Computer Systems

     From soldering irons to SparcStations, from MITS to Macintosh, personal
computers have evolved from do-it-yourself kits for electronic hobbyists into
machines that practically leap out of the box and set themselves up. What enabled
them to get from there to here? Innovation and determination. Here are top 20
systems that made that apid evolution possible.

      • MITS Altair 8800
      There once was a time when you could buy a top-of-the-line computer for
$395. The only catch was that you had to build it yourself. Although the Altair 8800
wasn't actually the first personal computer (Sceibi Computer Consulting's 8008-based
Scelbi-8H kit probably took that honor in 1973), it grabbed attention. MITS sold
2000 of them in 1975 - more than any single computer before it.
      Based on Intel's 8-bit 8080 processor, the Altair 8800 kit included 256 bytes of
memory (upgradable, of course) and a toggle-switch-and-LED front panel. For
amenities such as keyboard, video terminals, and storage devices, you had to go to
one of the companies that sprang up to support the Altair with expansion cards. In
1975, MITS offered 4- and 8-KB Altair versions of BASIC, the first product
developed by Bill Gates' and Paul Alien's new company, Microsoft.


     If the personal computer hobbyists movement was simmering, 1975 saw it
come to a boil with the introduction of the Altair 8800.

       • Apple II
       Those of you who think of the IBM PC as the quintessential business
computers may be in for a surprise: The Apple I! (together with VisiCalc) was what
really made people to look at personal computers as business tools, not just toys.
       The Apple II debuted at the first West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco in
1977. With built-in keyboard, graphics display, eight readily accessible expansion
slots, and BASIC built-into ROM, the Apple II was actually easy to use. Some of its
innovations, like built-in high-resolution color graphics and a high-level language
with graphics commands, are still extraordinary features in desk top machines,
       With a 6502 CPU, 16 KB of RAM, a 16-KB ROM, a cassette interface that
never really worked we!! (most Apple It ended up with the floppy drive the was
announced in 1978), and color graphics, the Apple II sold for $1298.

      • Commondore PET