M•I••R•O P•R•O•C•E•S•S•O•R E•V•O•L•U•T•I.O•N

Reprinted by permission from BYTE, September 1985.. a McGraw-Hill Inc. publication. Prices quoted are in US S. EVOLUTION OF THE An informal history

BY MARK GARETZ

Author's note: The evolution of were many other applica- the microprocessor has followed tions for the new memory a complex and twisted path. To chip, which was signifi- those of you who were actually cantly larger than any that involved in some of the follow- had been produced ing history, 1 apologize if my before. version is not exactly like yours. About this time, the The opinions expressed in this summer of 1969, was article are my own and may or approached by the may not represent reality as Japanese manu- someone else perceives it. facturer to pro- duce a set of custom chips THE TRANSISTOR, devel- designed by Busicom oped at Bell Laboratories engineers for the Jap- in 1947, was designed to anese company's new line replace the vacuum tube, of . The to switch electronic sig- calculators would have nals on and off. (Al- several chips, each of though, at the time, which would contain 3000 vacuum tubes were used to 5000 transistors. mainly as amplifiers, they Intel designer Marcian were also used as (led) Hoff was assigned to switches.) The advent of assist the team of Busi- the transistor made possi- com engineers that had ble a digital computer that taken up residence at didn't require an entire Intel. Hoff looked at the room full of vacuum Busicom design and de- tubes, relays, and special cided it was too complex air conditioning. Now a to be cost-effective. He computer would take up had worked before with only half a room and Digital Equipment Cor- operate much more poration's PDP-8 mini- quickly. computer, which had a It was not until 1959 that very small instruction set. engineers at ing relatively few transistors), through He reasoned that much of the figured out how to put more than one MSI (medium-scale integration, calculator's complexity could be transistor on the same material (called around 50 or more transistors), LSI reduced if they used a small general- the substrate) and connect them (large-scale integration, with thou- (continual) together without wires. Thus was born sands of transistors), to VLSI (very- Mark Garetz (Viasyn Corporation, 26538 the , or IC. 'Ibday large-scale integration, which can con- Danti Court, Hayward, CA 94545) is direc- these thin flat pieces of silicon can tain millions of transistors). tor of advanced projects at Viasyn. He has contain millions of transistors, and we In 1969, a year-old company named been a computer hobbyist since 1974, he de- call them chips. Intel announced a 1K-bit RAM chip. signed COmpuPro's 8085/8088 computer, Integrated circuits may range from There were not yet any microcom- and he is chairperson of the IEEE 696 SSI (small-scale integration, contain- puter chips to hook it to, but there Committee.

ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM LOW DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMP JTERS 261 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

purpose processor. Such a design, design and the project at Intel gave icant upgrade to the 8008 that re- using rather than birth to the 8008. quired only six support chips, had 75 to do the calculating, would greatly in- The 8008. introduced in April 1972, instructions and a tenfold increase in crease the memory requirements of was the first 8-bit microprocessor on throughput over the 8008, and ad- the calculator—but then, Intel was in the market. It required at least 20 sup- dressed 64K bytes of memory. (No the memory business. Hoff also real- port chips, but it had 45 instructions program, most people thought, could ized that this processor could be put that it executed at 300,000 instruc- ever be that large!) to other applications and he sold the tions per second, and it adddressed The 8080 design was proposed by idea to Intel management. a whopping I 6K bytes of memory. Faggin, but the design team was The Busicom engineers were still That was a lot of memory then, and headed by , a young pursuing their original design when the 8008 was a considerable upgrade engineer Intel had wooed away from Hoff and his group started work on of the 4004. Busicom. Having learned from the their alternative design. And although The documentation for the 4004 limitations of the 4004 and 8008, the the Busicom engineers had simplified and 8008 was cryptic (at least it designers made improvements to their design, each chip still had over seemed so to me; I didn't have a com- make their new chip a truly useful 2000 transistors, and it would take 12 puter background at the time). The computing engine. The 8080, the first chips to make a working calculator. documentation assumed that you microprocessor not aimed at logic re- Hoff's team figured it would take 1900 knew what everything was before you placement, looked much more like a transistors to build their processor. started reading it (a still-common fail- computer than anything that had Hoff's general-purpose processor ing of technical literature). come before it, and it was much easier design was chosen over the Busicom Intel's primary goal with the 4004 to use from a hardware standpoint. design, and Intel got a contract from and 8008 was to replace "random The January 1975 Popular Electronics Busicom to produce the chip that logic'=-another way of saying "lots of magazine featured the first in a series later became known as the 4004. SSI and MSI wired together:' Few peo- of construction articles on the Altair Actually making the chip proved to ple thought that these chips were 8800, a so-called "" be difficult until Federico Faggin (who suitable for general-purpose comput- based on the 8080. The Altair was de- later founded. ) joined Intel in ing. But a few visionaries were in- signed by MITS (Micro Instrumen- early 1970. He took the chip from trigued by the possibility of owning tation and Telemetry Systems), which concept to silicon in just nine months. a computer that could actually do was founded by Ed Roberts as a vehi- At first Intel sold the 4004 exclusive- something. Mlle, computer kits had cle for supporting his experiments in ly to BusicOrn, but in the summer of been offered previously, but they electronics. The whole Altair kit, in- 1971, it gained the right to sell the were more useful for demonstrating cluding the 8080 processor, mother- chip set to other manufacturers. computer principles than for doing board, power supply, front panel with In November 1971 Intel advertised computing tasks. The availability of lots of lights, and 256 bytes (not 256K the 4004 as a four-bit processor that the 8008 changed all that. bytes) of memory sold for $395. performed 60,000 operations per sec- In 1973 Scelbi Computer Consulting People thought it was a misprint. ond. By February 1972 Intel had sold Inc. announced the first general- The 8080 chip, introduced just nine $85,000 worth of chip sets. purpose based on the months before, had been selling for 8008. This was followed by the $360 all by itself. But MITS had made THE BIRTH OF 8-BITS RGS-008 from RGS Electronics. Then, a special deal with Intel, and the price At the same time the 4004 was be- in July 1974, Radio-Electronics magazine of the Altair was real. MITS sold more ing developed, CTC (Computer Tech- introduced Jonathan Titus's Mark-8 in computers in the first day than it had nology Corporation, now Datapoint) a series of construction articles. hoped to sell during the whole life of asked both Intel and Texas Instru- Until then, all computer articles and the product. ments to design LSI chips for a new ads had been confined to amateur- The Altair played a significant role intelligent terminal. Both companies radio publications. The Mark-8 was in the success of the 8080, largely proposed an 8-bit general-purpose the first computer to hit a general- because now had a processor. Note the pattern develop- interest electronics magazine. These reason (and a good excuse) to write ing: 4-bits for calculators because they early were still more software for a microcomputer chip. work in BCD (binary-coded decimal) demonstration tools than useful, but Also, the Altair's open architec- and 8-bits for terminals because they the small-computer revolution had ture (an improved version of which deal with ASCII characters. begun. later became the S-100/IEEE 696 bus) Interestingly. CTC chose neither allowed people to begin making pe- solution; it built its terminal with stan- THE MIGHTY 8080 ripherals for the computer. dard logic ICs. But TI and Intel went In April 1974 Intel changed the way One such peripheral was a disk con- ahead with their projects anyway. TI we think about computers forever. troller from Digital Microsystems that eventually got a patent on its chip They announced the 8080, a signif- featured the use of a new operating

262 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

system for the 8080 called 6800 were both selling for CP/M (Control Program for $179 in single-piece quanti- Microcomputers.) CP/M, ty. I remember standing in brainchild of Naval Post- the lobby (actually a living graduate School instructor room) of E-Mu Systems Gary Kildall, sold for $70 with Scott Wedge and Dave and played a major role in Rossum, who had just de- the success of the 8080 and signed some 8080s into its architecture. As a result, their synthesizers. We were a large portion of the talking with an Intel sales- microcomputer software in person who dismissed the use today either runs on ad as a hoax. He said Intel the 8080 instruction set or had assured him that MOS is a direct upgrade of a couldn't possibly do it at product that did. that price, and that either the ad was a publicity stunt THE FAMILY or MOS lbchnology was In response to the 8080's quoting the million-piece success, Motorola began price. I said that there was work on the 6800, which no reason that micropro- was designed by Chuck cessor chips wouldn't go Peddle. Motorola was the the same way as scientific first company to introduce calculator chips had—orig- a line of peripheral chips inally hundreds of dollars, designed specifically to go now just a few dollars. He with its microprocessor. said that the chips would These chips included never go below $100. parallel (6820) and serial The salesperson's attitude (6850) I/O functions and was nearly universal in made the integration of Silicon Valley—but MOS these functions into a Technology was on the East system simple for system The cost of the popular 8080A microprocessor Coast. I called them up, and designers. from 1975 to 1985. Note that in 1975 they insisted that they were Motorola produced one only the 8080 microprocessor was available. serious and that yes, that other significant "periph- was the single-piece price. eral": a huge micropro- I, and the rest of the valley, cessor applications manual, bigger or July 1975, MOS lbchnology ads ap- would have to wait for WESCON to than all other microprocessor docu- peared in the electronics trade jour- find out. mentation put together. And it was nals claiming that the company would WESCON finally came and there almost readable! Hackers and system be introducing and delivering a $20 was the MOS Technology booth—but designers like myself rushed out and microprocessor at the WESCON show no chips. The company had dis- bought them at $25 each. True, the that September. The so-called 6501 covered when it got there that ex- manual was still oriented toward logic was to be pin-for-pin plug-compatible hibitors weren't allowed to sell any- replacement, and you needed a mini- with the —you could thing on the show floor. The chips, computer and expensive cross-asseni- unplug the 6800 from a circuit board company representatives said, were biers to write software. No one had and plug the 6501 right into the same available in their hospitality suite in a yet written anything that really ex- socket and it would work—although nearby hotel. plained these new chips to people the software would also need chang- I went to the suite that evening, and who had no idea what they really ing because of differences in the ar- it was packed. The chips were in two were inside, or who had no computer chitecture and instruction set. MOS large fishbowls. MOS also had hard- experience. But we read the Motorola was also planning a version of the ware and software manuals available manual anyway. . . it was all we had. chip with the complex clock circuitry for $5 each. Ray Stevens, who owned left Motorola to join required by other RGS Electronics and had designed the MOS Technology (not to be confused built in. This would be the 6502 and RGS-008, was tending bar. Steve Woz- with Mostek, the subsidiary of United would cost $25. niak, was there, along with a lot of Technologies), a leader in the The industry went into an uproar. At other people including Chuck Peddle, scientific-calculator-chip field. In June this time, Intel's 8080 and Motorola's (continued)

BERGMAN HAKE DESIGN INC DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 263 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

who was happy to talk about his new his own company, Zilog Inc. He took with some distrust. The Z80 gave the processors. Masatoshi Shima with him. Their goal designer 90 percent of the solution I sat down on the couch and looked was to build a super 8080. and made it possible to build systems at the two manuals. They were writ- In 1976, Zilog announced the Z80, that were significantly cheaper than ten in English and they made sense! a significantly enhanced 8080 that ran before. Computers such as Radio MOS was also showing one more in- almost all of the programs written for Shack's original TRS-80, designed by novation in the suite that night—the the 8080. The company claimed it Steve Leininger, took advantage of first multifunction peripheral chips. would have parts that ran at 4 MHz, this fact. The company had put RAM, ROM, twice as fast as the 8080. In addition timer, and I/O on one chip. One ver- it had many more powerful instruc- INTEL STRIKES BACK sion was called the TIM (terminal- tions—a total of 176. It sounded too Meanwhile Intel had realized that the interface monitor) chip and con- good to be true; the Z80 was treated 8080 needed upgrading. In 1976 Intel tained a complete monitor for talking with the same skepticism as the 6502 announced the 8085. It had all the to a serial terminal. The other was the had been. 8080 instructions, plus a few more. KIM (keyboard-input monitor) chip, But the Z80 turned out to be real, But Zilog had taken Intel by surprise. and it was designed into a microcom- and there actually were some 4-MHz The enhancements that the 8085 had puter board that had a keyboard, cen- parts available. The early ones said over the 8080 were nowhere near as tral processor, display, ROM, RAM, "Engineering Sample" on them and extensive as those of the Z80. From and parallel I/O, and sold for $245. It were manufactured in Dallas, not in a purely hardware standpoint, the was a complete system. No other Silicon Valley. Mostek, a Z80 second 8085 was a much nicer chip than the microprocessor vendor had done source, was actually building the chips Z80, but the Z80 had mass appeal anything like this before. It was for Zilog. Nobody minded because because it was faster. When intro- impressive. everybody wanted one for their own duced, the 8085 ran at 3 MHz, as op- I went home that evening clutching computer. posed to the 4-MHz chip that Zilog my $25 6502 microprocessor and two Several Z80 cards for the S-100 bus was already shipping. Intel had to manuals. At the time I didn't realize were on the market shortly after the come up with something else—a I would spend another $300 to make chip became available, and everybody 16-bit processor seemed like the a working system, not counting the had to have one. But even though the answer. ASR-3 3 Teletype I used as a terminal. Z80 was a much more powerful chip Sixteen-bit processors had been That first day of WESCON, Intel and than the 8080 in terms of its instruc- tried before. Motorola lowered the price on their tion set, very few people were writing had started work on the IMP-I6 chip chips to $69.95. The revolution was software to take advantage of the set as early as 1972. The company in full swing. The industry would never Z80's extra instructions. The reason reduced it to one chip called the Pace. be the same. was simple: The majority of the and Bill Godbout Electronics an- The 6501 was short-lived. Motorola machines installed at that time were nounced a Pace-based computer, de- sued MOS Technology charging that 8080-based, and if you wrote code signed by George Morrow, in mid- Chuck Peddle had stolen the tech- that only ran on a Z80, your market 1975. The unnamed system. a full- nology from Motorola and that the would be 'considerably smaller. This blown 16-bit computer with RAM and 6501 infringed because it was plug- problem plagues the Z80 even today. a built-in cassette interface, was adver- compatible. MOS 'Technology agreed However, designers stopped using tised in the first issue of BYTE. They to drop the 6501. the 8080 in new computers. The Z80 actually built one, but it never got to However, the many computers that was a far easier chip to use, requiring market. Bill Godbout said that the were developed around the 6502 are no support ICs and only a single- market wasn't ready for a 16-bit com- now legend: MOS Technology's own voltage power supply. And it was puter, and he was probably right. KIM-1, the and II, the much faster, even if you didn't use the After all, the Altair was only a few models, and the Commodore PET extra instructions. months old itself. Neither the Pace and VIC-20, among others. Actually, The Z80 introduced one other new chip nor the computer was ever a hit. the future of the 6502 was still ques- concept to microcomputer chips: Other 16-bit chips included General tionable when fledgling Apple Com- built-in support for refreshing Automation's LSI-16, a micropro- puter Inc. produced the Apple I. Steve dynamic RAMs. Dynamic RAMs have cessor version of its SPC-16 minicom- Wozniak put in a jumper connection always cost about four times less per puter; DEC's-LSI-11, which was manu- that could be changed to allow the bit than their static counterparts, and factured by and in- 6800 to be used instead of the 6502. that made th(pm very attractive to use. cluded the .PDP-11 instruction set; However. because you have to refresh Western Digital's own WD-11, which ENTER THE Z80 them (or else they forget their data), was only one instruction different Sometime in late 1975 or early 1976, they are extremely difficult to use, and from the LS1-11; General Instrument's Federico Faggin left Intel and formed early system designers viewed them CP1600; and 'Texas Instruments'

264 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

TMS9900, which went into cesses the data or executes their , mak- the instructions. The other ing it the first mass-market was called the bus-interface 16-bit computer. unit (BIU). The BIU handles Interestingly, the first all communications with literature released by MOS the outside world and is in Technology on the 6502 charge of generating ad- showed some little dashed dresses and storing and lines where the 16-bit ex- retrieving data from the tensions to their registers system. Inside the BIU is a would go in their 16-bit ver- queue. While the execution sion of the 6502, the 6516. unit is busy crunching data, But the 6516 was never the BIU is out on the bus marketed, and the little getting the next instruction dashed lines soon disap- and putting it in the queue. peared. The existence of The 8086 BIU can stay up such a part was rumored to 6 bytes ahead of the ex- for years, but it never sur- ecution unit by keeping faced. Not until December those bytes in its queue. 1983 did the Western Because of the queue, the Design Center [not the 8088 performance only suf- same as Western Digital] an- fers an average of 20 per- nounce a 16-bit version of cent compared to an 8086. the 6502. (See "Benchmarking the Again, Intel needed and 8088" by something to compete with Gregg Williams, July 1983 the Z80. The company BYTE, page 147.) The 8086/ figured that most previous 8088 processors were the 16-bit designs were flops first to use a queue mecha- because they had no exist- nism. ing software base that Intel also introduced an- other new concept with its could easily be migrated to The cost of 64K bytes of RAM from it—they were all the first 1975 to 1985, as found on the pages of BYTE 8086 family—coprocessing. microprocessor offerings magazine. Prices shown am for 512 of the The idea was to hang an- from their respective com- 1-kilobit 5260 chip, 256 of the 2-kilobit other processor right on panies. MM52132 chip, 32 of the 2K-byte 4116 chip, and the bus of the main pro- But Intel had an edge: the 8 of the 8K-byte 4164 chip. cessor to extend its. func- growing base of 8080 soft- tions. The most significant ware. The company decided of these coprocessors was that its 16-bit processor would be a an 8-bit data bus on the outside. the 8087, a math coprocessor that direct enhancement of the 8080. In When the processor wants to fetch 16 added a whole set of floating-point in- 1976 Intel started work on the 8086. bits of data, it first gets 1 byte, then structions to the 8086/8088. Since the Unfortunately, the designers did not the second. The doesn't 8087 was built solely to do math, it preserve direct compatibilty with have to worry about it, it all happens could do so very quickly. 8080 code, but at least each 8080 automatically in the hardware. The ac- register had its 8086 counterpart, tual signals coming out of the 8088 THE MC68000 which made 8080-to-8086 code trans- look similar to the 8085, a chip that In 1977, designers at Motorola were lators possible and gave programmers designers were already familiar with. working on a new processor for the a familiar starting point. This was a big Thus, it was easy to upgrade an exist- 16-bit market but vowing to keep it 32 factor in the success of the 8086, ing 8-bit design to 16 bits. bits internally. They also wanted to which was announced to the world in You might think that by doing this eliminate any special-purpose instruc- 1978. the processor would run at half its tions and allow the processor to Then someone at Intel had an in- potential. But Intel had been clever perform all operations, on all reg- spiration. Why not make the hardware when they designed the 8086. Inter- isters, on all data types, and in all almost as easy to migrate as the soft- nally it consisted of two different but addressing modes. This is called ware? Thus was born the 8088. The linked processors. One was the execu- orthogonality. Programmers like 8088 is an 8086 on the inside but has tion unit, the part that actually pro- (continued)

BERGMAN HAKE DESIGN INC DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 265 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

orthogonality because it means they the 8080 and Z80 but, in hindsight, tual memory management and many don't have to memorize a of it is unfortunate that Shima designed other features designed expressly for exceptions to the instruction set. The the Z8000 that way. After the first supporting a multitasking, multiuser fruit of Motorola's effort was the 1979 Z8000 silicon was produced, but environment. It has a mode that runs release of the MC68000. before his team had had worked all all 8086 code directly, and Intel has The MC68000 is one of those chips the bugs out of the chip, Shima left , significantly sped up its throughput. that some people love and others Zilog to return to Intel. Zilog never did Also, true built-in memory manage- hate. There is very little middle get all the bugs out of the Z8000. In ment is something that no other ground. Compared to the 8086/8088, addition, Zilog had set a standard by microprocessor has to this day. The it required a massive software effort allowing the Z80 to run all the soft- main advantage to having memory to get it to do anything. But UNIX was ware for the previous-generation management built in is that it can becoming popular, and the 68000 8080. Unfortunately, the company work much 'faster than processors that looked like a good UNIX machine. A didn't follow its own standard and require external memory managers. number of 68000-based UNIX ma- made the 28000 completely different The IBM PC AT's use of the 80286 has chines were announced, although from the Z80. Zilog was trying to put ensured the success of this processor hardly any of them were successful. a minicomputer on a chip and, unfor- for at least the next few years. Motorola also announced the tunately, it didn't do a very good job 68008, an 8-bit-bus version of the of it. The Z8000's lack of a similar in- 32-BIT CHIPS 68000, similar in concept to the 8088. struction set to the Z80, its built-in In spite of problems with the 16032, However, the 68000 had no real queu- bugs, and its sacrifice in instruction National Semiconductor was the first ing, and that meant that the 68008 power due to its random-logic nature company to announce and ship a full- ran half as fast as the 68000. Unfor- all played a great role in keeping the blown 32-bit microprocessor. The tunately, this made the 8088 look Z8000 from becoming successful. 32032, which used to be the 16032, even better. In 1981, National Semiconductor is code-compatible with the 32016. Internally, the 68000 was a micro- made a second attempt at the 16-bit It's still early to tell how the 32032 will coded chip, which means that inter- market with the 16032. The 16032 fare, but the popularity of UNIX will nal functional elements are general- was to be a 32-bit (internal data bus) probably be a major factor in its suc- purpose. A ROM (which contains the microprocessor with a 16-bit external cess, if indeed all the projections of ) controls what the chip bus. Since Motorola had never been the 32000 family being the ideal UNIX does. The processor's response to able to produce their promised math engine are true. each instruction is controlled by the coprocessor, and Intel's 8087 so far Motorola is now sampling its full ROM. If an instruction doesn't do the couldn't break the 5-MHz speed bar- 32-bit extension to the 68000, the right thing, you can usually fix it in the rier, everyone was impressed when 68020, which looks promising. It has ROM and, within limits, you can even National announced its math copro- one new feature that will probably get change the instruction 'set of the cessor, which would run at 10 MHz, it into lots of designs early. Remember microprocessor if you want to. (IBM's giving it twice the performance of that the 8088 was successful because add-in processor for the XT/370 is Intel's 8087. it allowed an easy migration path due essentially a 68000 with custom Unfortunately, National became the to its 8-bit external data bus. The microcode.) first microprocessor company to ship 68020 lets you dynamically choose Up until this time, all other pro- all its peripheral chips 100 percent the bus size you want-8, 16, or 32 cessors were generally random-logic functional before the processor was bits. Supposedly, it is able to run all designs that had a little bit of circuitry available. Today the 16032 still has a 68000 code, and it's fast. One of the to perform each specialized function few bugs in it. But programmers like things that gives it great speed is its within the central proceSsor. There its instruction set, which reminds cache—the logical extension of the are advantages and disadvantages to them of a VAX (a series of high- queue used in the 8086/8088/80286 both types of microprocessor performance DEC superminicom- processors. design—microcoding offers flexibility puters). Because the VAX has been so The cache in the 68020 is 256 bytes at the expense of speed, while a successful as an engine for running deep and works a little differently random-logic design offers speed at UNIX, the 16032 may be a natural from a queue. If a jump occurs to a the expense of flexibility. It is also dif- successor as the base for a UNIX point in the queue, the queue is ficult to fix errors in a random-logic computer. There may be some life left flushed and reloaded. But the cache design—especially when the designer in it yet. looks just like memory, so a jump to of the chip leaves the company. In 1982, Intel one-upped the semi- a point in the cache would not cause At Zilog, for example, Masatoshi conductor industry again. They an- the cache, to be dumped and re- Shima had begun work on a 16-bit nounced the iAPX 286. This new loaded. If loops are small enough, processor, the Z8000, using random product was a vastly upgraded 8086 they can execute directly from the logic. Random logic worked fine for architecture that included built-in vir- cache. The advantage is that the pro-

266 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

cessor can access the set, which is what the cache much faster than it developers of the FORTH can access external engine did. This technique memory, so programs run opens up a whole realm of faster if they stay mostly in possibilities, such as being the cache. As with the able to emulate different 32032, its still early to tell computers on the fly by what the eventual success downloading different in- of the 68020 will be. struction sets. The speed at National has also which this will be accom- announced the 32132 (not plished, however, will be yet available), which is to limited by the fact that have multiple caches and microcoding is hard work. something the company The Intel iAPX 432, prob- calls a look-aside buffer. ably the first 32-bit micro- Zilog had announced a processor available, was product called the Z800, a designed with very-high- 16-bit upgrade to the Z80 level instructions to support that was to be code-com- the U.S. Department of patible with it. The com- Defense's Ada language. pany was never able to pro- Opposite the high-level duce working silicon, how- instructions' team are those ever. Instead, it is trying to who think that a small set get the Z80 to work at 10 of simple but extremely fast MHz. Zilog has also an- instructions can outperform nounced the Z80000, a large and complex (slow) in- 32-bit version of the Z8000 structions. Such are the that I call the "kitchen-sink RISC (reduced instruction processor" because it will set computer) fans. A RISC have everything, including machine was successfully code compatibility with the implemented in silicon at Z8000, which is the right Berkeley, amazingly on the idea but the wrong pro- The cost of an 8-inch single-sided double-density first pass. They are current- cessor. floppy-disk drive from 1977 to 1985. Note that ly working on speeding up Intel has been talking for such drives were not available in 1975 and 1976. the chip, which has a 32- some time about the com- bit architecture. Hewlett- ing 80386, its 32-bit version Packard is also rumored to of the 80286, but to date it hasn't re- Unfortunately, Pascal that be working on several RISC machines. leased any hard data on it. Intel said put out native 8080 code beat it Last is a unique device just about it will be 80286-compatible, and that handily. to be sampled from INMOS called the probably means IBM will use it. Similar in concept is the new FORTH 11-ansputer (see "The 11-ansputer" by processor from Novix, developed Paul Walker, May BYTE, page 219). It FASTER OR SMARTER? under the direction of FORTH inven- is designed to perform parallel pro- I can't end my discussion of micropro- tor Charles Moore. Instead of ex- cessing. It will take many more years cessors without mentioning a few ecuting the output of a of software development and sophis- bizarre approaches. There is still a directly, this FORTH chip runs tication to take full advantage of the debate raging on whether micropro- threaded FORTH code directly—its in- Ttansputer, but the possibilities are cessor instruction sets should evolve struction set is FORTH. It's supposed fascinating. toward more complex and high-level to be very fast, and if you like FORTH Meanwhile, a 4004 microprocessor instructions, or whether they should it's great. still controls a traffic light near my of- be getting much simpler but much The FORTH engine is a custom ver- fice. It tends to put all the whizzy new faster. So far, high-level instruction sion of a chip from National Cash things in perspective, doesn't it? ■ sets have not been winners. One ill- Register called the NCR 32. It is a fated attempt was Western Digital's microcode-executing 32-bit engine on ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Pascal Microengine, which executed two chips; a third chip is required to I would. like to thank Rebecca Wallo of Pascal (the output of all contain the microcode. Essentially Intel and Jim Farrell of Motorola for pro- loyal Pascal compilers) directly. you can "roll your own" instruction viding facts and figures for this article.

BERGMAN HAKE DESIGN INC DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 267

Reprinted h■ permission from BYTE. September 1985. a McGra,v-Hill Inc. publication. A Prices quoted arc in CS S. MICROCOMPUT1NG TIMELINE

PHOTOGRAPHED What follows is a modest and, we hope, correct timeline of personal com- BY PAUL AVIS puting. If the number of entries per year is any indication, then the most active years of personal computing were 1975, 1976, and 1977 and 1982, 1983, and 1984. Although the roots of personal computing go back further, the excitement really started in January 1975, with the publication of Popular Elec- tronics' cover story on the . A slogan printed on the cover of the first three issues of BYTE said it all: "Computers—The World's Greatest Toy." The slogan expressed the ideal that lured many, but few of us had the stamina and consuming fanaticism needed to make it happen: you had to design and build everything yourself, hardware and software. Most of you also had to learn electronics, mathematics, and the art of deciphering arcane, poorly written spec sheets—the phrase "by your bootstraps" took on new meaning. By 1978, things were different: you could buy microcomputers and they would usually work, but it wasn't the same. Prior to 1978, the excitement was in saying "Look, my design works!" But when you took it for granted UL /9 RADIO-ELECTRONICS' COVER STORY IS ON THE MARK-8, that it worked, the question became "What can you do with it?": however, the answer was "Not all that much." Most systems lacked a disk drive and had 32K bytes of memory or less. The years Radio E between 1978 and 1982 were slow, evolutionary years— DON LANCASTER TELLS not too exciting, but necessary. How Calculator BUILD THE MARK-8 By late 1981, the industry was poised for growth, and IC's Work Your Personal Minicomputer IBM's introduction into the marketplace catalyzed that growth NEW FM CIRCUITS For Precise Tuning into a bumpy, breathtaking ride that shows no signs of slow- DESIGN YOUR OWN ing (though it did take about a year to get started, that is, Direct-Coupled Transistor Amplifier to produce a significant number of IBM-related products), Per- WHAT YOU NEED' sonal computers finally could perform and were affordable In Hi-Fi Test Gea enough to be used by people who weren't just hobbyists: that WORKING WITH SCR's progress continues to build as computers become simultaneously An Experi Guide cheaper and more capable. BYTE has kept a close watch on the computer industry's growth, and we felt the need to annotate this timeline. When PLUS Appliance - dates have been difficult to pinpoint, we've approximated them. Equipme Jack In general, it has been an active and interesting first ten years. Step R-E's —Gregg Williams and Mark Welch

36 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 Pre-1975

1948 John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William founds Atari and ships the Shockley of Bell Laboratories invent the transistor. video game. 1959 Texas Instruments unveils the first integrated Scelbi Computer Consulting offers the 1948 circuit. 8008-based Scelb1-8H computer kit ($565 with 1K 1964 John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz byte of memory). develop the BASIC at Intel Corp. announces the improved 8080 The Transistor Dartmouth College. 8-bit microprocessor. Digital Equipment Corp. advertises the PDP-8 SEPTEMBER Radio-Electronics magazine is invented minicomputer, which, at $16,200, is "a full, publishes Don Lancaster's TVT-1 computer general-purpose computer that scientists can terminal project. at afforti—but it gets personal." 1974 Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie 1979 OCTOBER Scientific American publishes develop the C programming language. Martin Gardner's first "Mathematical Recreations" Gary Kildall develops the CPIM Bell column on John Conway's game of Life. . Intel Corp. puts the 4-bit 4004 micro- Radio-Electronics' cover story is "Build the Industries processor on a single chip. Its initial price is $200. Mark-8: Your Personal Minicomputer," NOVEMBER Intel Corp. introduces the 8008, EPTEMBt Creative Computing magazine their first 8-bit microprocessor. founded.

A micro- Announcing prognunmable a new era =Puts of integrated on a chip! electronics

NOVEMBER 19, INTEL'S FIRST AD FOR THE 4004 MICROPROCESSOR IN ELECTRONIC NEWS.

DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 37 Zilog Inc. develops the Z80 JANUI‘' Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer SEPTE'' Ohio Scientific Instruments microprocessor, whose instruction set is a Calisthenics and Orthodontia (Running Light advertises OSI 400 (6502, 6572, or 6800, parallel superset of the 8080's, Without Oyerbyte), a homebrew hardware and and serial ports, 1K byte of RAM, 512 bytes of Carl Helmers founds Experimenters' software magazine, publishes its first issue. PROM, kit prices—$140 and up). Computer System (ECS), which lasts for five MAR(' David Bunnell of MITS organizes the First Inc. offers 4-MHz Z80 board issues before he moves to BYTE. World Altair Computer Convention in Albuquerque, for Altairs and other S-100 systems ($395 kit, with Popular Electronics' cover story is New Mexico. a monitor program on paper tape). "World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival SPRING Texas Instruments announces its OCTOBE PolyMorphic Systems advertises the Commercial Models...Altair 8800." The Altair TMS9000, the first 16-bit microprocessor. S-100—based POLY 88 (8080A, 512 bytes of RAM, 8800 kit, with an microprocessor, 256 APR). Apple Computer Inc, formed. video/keyboard interface board, 1K byte of ROM, bytes of memory, and a toggle-switch-and-LED ERII Cromemco Inc. advertises the Dazzler TV cassette interface, for $685 in kit form). front panel, sells for $395. interface board—the first color display for a ,-t1 Steve Ciarcia's first article (not Circuit MAF founded. microcomputer. Cellar). MA'. Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey Keuffel and Esser (K&E) ceases its DE,,..-3ER Processor Technology advertises the founded. production of slide rules and donates its last one Sot computer (8080, S-100 bus, 1K byte of RAM, IMS International announces the IMSAI to the Smithsonian. 1K byte of PROM, 1K byte of video RAM, computer, which is essentially an improved clone SwTPC M6800 ad promises "SOFTWARE— keyboard, cassette, serial, and parallel interfaces, of the Altair 8800. The flood is near. Editor and assembler now BASIC-5 on cassette—kit, $995; with dual 8-inch SUMML MOS Technology announces the available, BASIC and more games right away. drives and operating system, $1895; an assembly- MC6501 at $20 and the MC6502 at $25; at this Yours for the cost of copying. WE DON'T SELL language TREK-80 game, PT 8K BASIC, and 8080 point, the 8080 costs about $150. SOFTWARE—WE GIVE IT TO YOU. ENJOY IT, FOCAL are also available). The machine was MITS (the company that sells the Altair COPY IT, WE WON'T COMPLAIN..." invented by Lee Felsenstein. 8800) announces 4K-byte and 8K-byte BASIC Scelbi releases SCELBAL, a BASIC-like MB Michael Shrayer writes Electric (from 's founders and Paul language for $49 (includes source); it runs in 8K Pencil, the first popular word-processing program Allen) for $350 and $500, respectively ($60 and bytes of memory or more. for microcomputers. $75 for purchasers of complete Altair systems). AUGUST First floppy-disk-drive ad in BYTE (iCOM DECEMBER Shugart announces its 51/4-inch publishes —later Frugal Floppy, 8-inch, for $1195 [single quantity]). "minifloppy" disk drive for $390. enhanced by many, including Tom Pittman and John Dilkes organizes the Personal Li-Chen Wang. Computing Festival in Atlantic City; it is the first Sphere Corp. offers the Sphere I computer microcomputer show of national scope. kit (6800, 4K bytes of RAM, ROM monitor, First : STM Systems' keyboard, video interface, for $6501. "BABY!" (6502, 2K bytes of RAM, bootstrap MOS Technology announces the KIM-1 program in ROM, system software on tape, for microcomputer, an assembled single-board $850 assembled). computer (6502, 1K byte of RAM, 2K-byte monitor Steve Wozniak proposes that Hewlett- in ROM, keypad, LED readout, cassette and serial Packard Co. create a ; Steve interfaces, for $245). Jobs proposes the same to Atari—both are IBM announces the IBM 5100, the rejected, first briefcase-size computer (with BASIC, 16K bytes, and a tape cartridge storage system, for about $9000. iE Ofiua BYTE publishes its first issue. Godbout advertises the Pace kit in BYTE with "7 segment readouts for easy debugging." Southwest Technical Products Co. advertises the M6800 computer kit (6800, serial interface to terminal, monitor in ROM, for $450). Unlike the Altair, it has no front-panel switches! MITS unveils the Altair 680 kit (6800, 1K byte of RAM, serial interface, for $293). Microcomputer Associates Inc. offers the JOLT kit (6502, 512 bytes of RAM, serial interface to terminal, monitor in ROM, for S249). Robert Tinney's first BYTE cover. FALL THE SPHERE 1 COMPUTER KIT

38 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 ,A1,1110154 1•11,

the small systems journal • V., Which Microprocessor for you • tcfritrtAr, asscUe yCt nZytcbe Your memory

Assembling Your Assembler

APRIL 1976 :an YOU use these SURPLUS KEYBOARDS? APPLE I (You bet you can!) BOARD COMPUTERS- the triprhrs (;rites,

SE EMBER 197r BYTE'S DEBUT

Mncr ROD000? 161iBiiT T CeiriPARI_ 16BIT " WM. Wt. NI SAS *AU On. - • Mae tsis. iCOM's Frugal Floppy. 141 POWs - S VOCOMPOSSI WASS- fie • 5.771. SISSOM*111. s Man OS SIM SSW... At 5995, your microprocessor's best friend. MM. 411,1441.1.1.4.4.1 as. +6. MUIR 301401AIM OKA WM, .0.0721, TAAI 01, • ,A A WEE AAA. AAAA ,A•11, Ail II IAA, A*

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JUNE 1976 SWTPC SOFTWARE AD AUGUST 1976 ICOM'S FRUGAL FLOPPY AD GODBOUT PACE KIT AD

POPULAR ELECTRONICS' FEATURES THE ALTAIR 8800 HOW TO "READ" FM TUNER SPECIFICATIONS Popular Electronics 05 ZAVIAA, 145354 75,51.7Y 15

PROJECT BREAKTHROUGH! likvld's First Minicomputer Kit to R hal Commercial Models... "ALTAIR MOO" SAVE OVER $1000

e An Under -$90 SclentlIk Calculator Project CCD's—TV Campers Tube Successor? THE KIM-1 JANUARY 1975 THE ALTAIR 8800 e ThyrIstor -Controlled Photoflashes: TEST REPORTS , locimms 200 Speaker System Roarer RT-1011 Open 4toni Recorder Iran Diamond 40 CO Au

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Ohio Scientific Instruments offers the FEBRUARY Ward Christensen and Randy Seoss SPRING CompuServe, a telecommunications first microcomputer with Microsoft Ifloating-pointi create the Computerized Hobbyist Bulletin Board founded, BASIC in ROM: it is also the fastest, System, the first major CBBS running on a MA: Dan Bricklin and Bob Franksttm of Software Kilobaud (which later changed its name microcomputer. Arts Inc, show the program to Microcomputing) publishes its first issue. Kathe and Dan Spraklen s Sargon wins at the 4th littlest Coast Computer Fairs. This Computer Shack (which later changes the 2nd West Coast Computer Faire program caused many to take microcomputers Its name to ComputerLand) opens its first store. tournament. (The 3rd takes place in Los Angeles i n seriously for the first time VisiCalc was originally i ,. Jim Warren organizes the let West Coast November.) marketed by Personal Software (which later Computer Fain) in San Francisco The Apple II and P The Digital Group advertises the Byte- changed its name to VisiCorpl, but Software Arts Commodore PET (see below) are introduced there. master, a sewing-machine-size computer housing a regained the rights to VisiCalc in September 1984. APRIL Commodore Business Machines Inc. unveils display, keyboard, and disk drive. Never very (VisiCorp merged with Paladin in late 1984, and its PET computer (6502. 4K bytes of RAM, 14K popular. it predates the , Software Arts merged with Lotus in April 1985.) bytes of ROM, keyboard, display, tape drive, for MAY Ken Bowles first describes the machine MAY The FORTH Interest Group distributes O) $595 assembled). Its all-in-one packaging and 8K independent UCSD Pascal languagefoperating first public-domain version of fig-FORTH, which bytes of Microsoft BASIC were innovative. Its system in BYTE. begins the eventual widespread availability of the celculetor-ped keyboard was (unfortunately) the .Ic Exidy unveils the Sorcerer (180, 8K bytes of language on microcomputers. precedent for later microcomputers. RAM, 12K bytes of ROM, keyboard, parallel, serial, "')E The Source telecommunications utility Camp Retupmoc, the first weeklong and cassette interfaces, $895). The machine's founded, computer camp, is held in Terre Haute, Incliane, innovations are its user-definable characters and Texas Instruments unveils the TI-99 4, Apple Computer Inc, runs its first ad in its optional software on plug-in ROM cartridges. which originally sold for $1150 (which included a BYTE (6502, 4K bytes of RAM, Integer ROM and MicroPro International unveils Word color monitor). The machine is slow (even though monitor in 16K bytes of ROM, keyboard, cassette Master, the precursor of the ubiquitous WlortiStar it uses TI's TMS9900 16-bit processor). the interface, 8-slot motherboard, game paddles, word processor (which appears in mid-19791. button-style keyboard is oddly laid out. and TI graphics text interface to color display, for $1298; Epson America Inc, announces the discouraged third-party software. The revised with maximum 48K bytes of RAM, $2638). MX-80 dot-matrix ; its high performance T1-99 4A solved some problems, but TI finally SwTPC offers n two-drive 6800 system and low price stun competitors and force discontinued the computer in late 1583; its with terminal. monitor, and computer for $1999. competition and lower prices in the printer market. closeout price went as low as $50. Microcomputers become more widely Atari announces the Atari 400 and S!'"" Magic Wand becomes the first serious available 'service does, tool through Radio Shack: 800 The 800 has a full keyboard, 8K byte of competitor to WordStar; it was just as powerful their TRS.80 Model I (Z80, 4K bytes of RAM, 4K RAM (expandable to 48K via memory slots), two and easier to use bytes of ROM ;Level I BASIC), keyboard, display, ROM cartridge slots, and custom graphics and SUMMER Wayne Ratliff develops the Vulcan cassette interlace, and recorder) costs $599.95. sound chips designed by (who later database program lAshton:Tate later markets it as North Star Computers announces its designs the custom chips); it originally dBASE 11), Horizon computer (Z80A, 16K bytes of RAM, one costs $1000, The machines do not become Y.-inch floppy drive, 12-slot 5100 motherboard, available until late 1979. A derivative machine serial interface to terminal, $1599 kit, $1999 (now costing under $100) is still on the market, assembled!. and Its graphics are unsur Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar begins. passed in the 8-bit market. You've /tot run out of CIECIAin for nut owning 4 pervonal computer

40 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 VICOSFARILM/Vt WI:AM 31). il)t I ftstrti tWist MM.'S 14:7 1.11.1.N.13 SIX Giniftlattti WM 0$ AT CARP RETOPRO4 sknw r).y4: 2f.nitehe t, itak, t5; July 11.11

JUNE 19 ? THE FIRST COMPUTER CAMP

THE TI-95' Pk:xi:0,14R 19 THE EPSON MX-80

DECEf';F7 THE ATARI 800 THE ATARI 400 THE BYTEMASTER

THE TRS-80 MODEL THE COMMODORE PET

DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 41

FEBRUARY 0 THE SINCLAIR ZX80 1980

FEBRUARY htleabtki publishes its first issue, FEBRUARY Sineliair Research earactUrC•S its IX80 computer (INA, 1K byte of RAM„ 4K integer BASIC in ROM, plastic' „ $199)). Its successor„ the zxat was later marketed by Timex for under $100 before Tana* left the roxicrocomputer market. Microsoft Corp shows its fist hardware product the Z80 SoftCard for the Apple II st the 5th Ilea Coast Computer Fake. The sudden availability of CIPIA business software for the Apple contributes greatly to Apple Computer Ines

success., Apple, Computer Eebe. announces the Apple tit whiCh is delivered a year late and has, at first„ a *it failure rate The machine new becomes the replacement for the Apple II that Apple THE APPLE ttt NOVEMBER THE EPSON HX-20 Computer wonted it to be, Shugart begins s 5%-inch Winchester hard-ctink drives. Conitoodont Business Machines amts is the VIC-2016502A, 5K bytes of RAM, BASIC in ROY„ son*. cassette. and modern interfaces, ROM cartridge skit, color display, for $29EK. Radio Shack announces its TRS-80 Corer Computer 009E, "chiciderstyle keyboard, AK bytes of RAM, BASIC in ROM, color di a%,. serial and cassette interfaces, for *3991.. They also announce the TRS-8O Model III, which replaced sad Unproved their original Model '12orit, the Great Underground Engin?" is fist dirombuted by Personal Software Ca and later by Motown, its creators. Woe= changed the mom of adventure games by alowing sentence lipid. Jerry Pounrellet "The User's Column"„ begins in BYTE. THE COMMODORE VIC-20 THE IBM PC

THE OSBORNE I

ZORK--A TUBE GAME HAYES SMARTMODEM 300

42 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 computer has little direct effect; however, its use several price cuts and feature changes, the of icons, the "desktop metaphor," and the mouse computer never becomes popular. (GRID was to pointing device begin to influence the announce a new product line in the summer of microcomputer market in 1983 (with Apple 1985.) Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Computer Inc.'s announcement of the Lisa Xedex Corp. builds the Baby Blue card (a Machine (New York: Avon Books) glorifies the computer). Z80 coprocessor card) to ease the lack of inner workings of the computer industry and Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. software for the 9-month-old IBM PC. becomes a national bestseller. advertises the Smartmodem 300, which becomes SPRINC, Franklin Computer Corp. unveils the Ace Steve Wozniak, principal designer of the industry standard. 100, the first legal Apple II clone. the Apple II, crashes the airplane he was flying. IBM introduces the IBM Personal Columbia Data Products Inc. advertises the After recovering from injuries and amnesia, he Computer (PC) (8088, 64K bytes of RAM, 40K MPC, the first IBM PC clone. Computer moves to non-Apple tasks such as returning to the bytes of ROM, one 51/4-inch disk drive, $3005), Corp. follows in November, and IBM PC cloning University of California at Berkeley for his which legitimized the microcomputer industry to and claimed compatibility become a way of life in undergraduate degree and (in September of 1982 the rest of the world and established the the industry. and 1983) sponsoring music/technology weekends preeminence of the Intel 8086-family processor Commodore Business Machines Inc. called US Festivals. and the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system. announces the (6510, 64K bytes , publisher of microprocessor BYTE publishes "A High-Level of RAM, 20K bytes of ROM [including Microsoft books, surprises the industry with the $1795 Language Benchmark" by Jim Gilbreath. This BASIC), custom sound chip, color graphics, serial portable Osborne 1 (Z80, 5-inch display, 64K bytes article makes the Sieve of Eratosthenes interface, for $595). During 1983, its price drops of RAM, keyboard and keypad, two serial benchmark program infamous; it is later used to to around $200 and it eventually takes the market interfaces, and two 51/4-inch disk drives). He also test hundreds of computer/language combinations. away from the Atari 800-series computers. includes an impressive collection of bundled Epson America Inc. shows the HX-20, The Logo programming language software whose list prices total more than the cost the first computer, at COMDEX, The unit becomes readily available for several computers, of the machine. The Osborne 1 had some flaws- weighs less than 3 pounds and runs a CMOS most notably the Apple II and the TI-99/4A. low-density disk drives and a kludgy 52-character (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) Motorola Inc. and Hitachi America Ltd. display—but it was a good machine for the money, equivalent of the 6801 and 16K bytes of RAM on release preliminary specifications for 256K-bit and it caused competitors to produce similar internal batteries. Its 20-character by 4-line chips (they become available in late 1983). computers at a lower cost than was common at display, however, reduces its usefulness. Intel Corp. announces the 80186 and 80286, the time. more powerful processors that are compatible with Xerox Corp. unveils the Star (later called the the 8086 and 8088. 8010). This is Xerox's first commercial product U.S. Customs refuses to allow the custom derived from over a decade of work at Xerox PARC chess-playing computer Belle to be taken to (Palo Alto Research Center). Costing over $50,000 Moscow to play in exhibition. Ken Thompson, its for the smallest usable configuration, the inventor, notes that the only way it might be used as a weapon would be "to drop it out of an Radio Shack announces the TRS-80 airplane. You might kill somebody that way." Model 16 (68000 and Z80, 128K bytes of RAM, Lotus Development Corp. announces one 8-inch disk drive, for $4999). 1.2-3, a fast spreadsheet/graphing program with BYTE's Famous Programmer's School ad. some list-handling capability for the IBM PC, Its Non-Linear Systems (later named speed and capabilities allow it to replace VisiCalc Corp.) announces the Kaycomp II (later named as the industry standard, and its combination of Kaypro II), a portable computer with a full 9-inch several functions into one program starts the screen and considerable bundled software, meant "integrated software" movement in to compete with the Osborne at $1795. microcomputers, GRiD Systems announces the Compass, a Volition Systems announces the first futuristic briefcase-size portable computer with an implementation of the Modula-2 language. It runs electroluminescent display, for $8150 Despite on an Apple II under the Softech p-System.

THE COMMODORE 64

DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 43 AUGf THE IBM PC AT

Commodore Business Machines Inc. sells its one-millionth VIC-20. JANUARY III-fated computers: Atari unveils the 1200XL, and Mattel belatedly announces the Aquarius. Both are later discontinued, and Mattel gets out of electronic products entirely. JANUAli't Time magazine selects the Computer as its "Man" of the Year. Apple Computer Inc. unveils the Lisa computer at its annual stockholders' meeting. The machine is slow but innovative, It originally costs $9995, but its price goes as low as $4495 (with a 5-megabyte hard disk). By this time, however, the is in the news. FEBRUAR IBM announces the IBM PC XT. It adds a 10-megabyte hard disk, three extra slots, and a serial interface to the IBM PC design, THE LISA THE MACINTOSH With 128K bytes of RAM and one disk drive, it costs $4995, Radio Shack announces the TRS-80 Model 100, its first laptop. The unit weighs almost 4 pounds and has an 40-character by 8-line LCD (liquid-crystal display). It becomes very popular with journalists and businesspeople because of its built-in text editor and modem. Microsoft Corp, announces Multi-Tool Word (later shortened to "Word"). AT&T Information Systems announces the UNIX System V operating system. Microsoft Corp. and numerous Japanese companies announce the MSX standard for low- cost Z80-based computers. It enjoys considerable success in Japan but none in the U.S,. Coleco announces the Adam, a Z80-based computer with a daisy-wheel printer, 64K bytes of RAM, and a tape-cartridge mass-storage device, for $600. Coleco delivers late, raises the system's THE IBM PCJR MARCH THE AT&T 382/300 price, repairs many defective units, and discontinues the product by the end of 1984. Apple Computer Inc, ships its one-millionth computer, SEPTEMBER THE HP 150 MAY 1% THE HP 110 Hewlett-Packard Company announces the HP 150, later renamed the Touchscreen. Osborne Computer Corp. files for protection from creditors under Chapter 11, ,i,...tubtri IBM announces the IBM PCjr, The 128K-byte floppy-disk version first sold for $1269 and was crippled by lack of expansion and a cheap "chickler-style keyboard, Though these problems were fixed, IBM discontinued the PCjr in March 1985.

44 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985 Ashton-Tate announces Framework, its word-processor-oriented $695 competitor to Symphony. Mindset Corp. announces the Mindset PC, a graphics-oriented microcomputer with custom graphics chips and some IBM PC compatibility. Although its enclosure won a design award that The computer has put it in the Museum of Modern Art's design collection, the microcomputer market in 1984 was not able to support a new computer. finally arrived, to be Apple Computer Inc. unveils the Apple lk with a morning-to-night publicity extravaganza that named "Man of the sets a new standard for such things in the industry. Year" 1983 MAI Hewlett-Packard Co. announces the HP 110, a 9-pound $2995 portable that includes Lotus's 1-2.3 in ROM. Motorola Inc. adds the 68020 32-bit processor to its 68000 family. Tom Jennings releases the Fido computerized bulletin-board system, which runs on many MS-DOS microcomputers, into the public domain, By 1985 there are over 300 Fido "nodes" in the U.S, (formerly head of Commodore Western Design Center introduces the Business Machines Inc,) buys Atari from Warner 65802 and the 65816, both 16-bit versions of the Communications, popular 6502 chip. These chips were still not Commodore Business Machines Inc, available in early 1985. buys Amiga Corp. and its graphics-intensive 68000 Shugart Corp. announces a $7600 Apple Computer Inc. introduces the computer design, 1-gigabyte write-once optical-disc drive. Macintosh, At $2495 for a computer that needs IBM announces the IBM PC AT (80286, In Japan, Canon displays an considerable expansion for many applications, it's 256K bytes of RAM, one 1.2-megabyte floppy-disk under-$2000 300-dot-per-inch laser printer for hardly "the computer for the rest of us," but its drive, and other items—minimum working system, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) use. innovations (which draw considerably from its $5469) and its PC Network local-area network, Borland International Inc. advertises ancestors, the Xerox 8010 and the Apple Lisa) Digital Research Inc, announces its GEM Turbo Pascal for CP/M and 8086-based continue to influence many other microcomputer icon/desktop user interface for 8086-based computers, Its quality, speed, and low price make products. computers. (GEM is later used by Atari in its $395 it a de facto standard, especially in the IBM PC Seiko Instruments U,S.A. Inc. displays 68000-based "Jackintoshl world. the first wristwatch computer; it has a Data General Corp. announces the Ovation Technologies announces 10-character by 4-line LCD, 2K bytes of CMOS DG/One, a 10-pound, $2895 battery-powered Ovation, an ambitious integrated IBM PC software RAM, and 6K bytes of ROM, portable computer with most of the features of a package that gets shown at several conventions announces the fully configured IBM PC. The machine is criticized but never gets shipped—the term "" is Sinclair QL (68008, 128K bytes of RAM, two for an LCD that is hard to read, a point that DG coined to describe it and similar products. cassette-loop mass-storage drives, bundled corrects to some extent in a later model, Microsoft Corp. announces Windows, software, and other features) for £399 in the U,K, IBM acquires Rolm Corp., a its multiple-window software product for the IBM The computer is not made available in the U.S, communications equipment company; this gives PC, a package that became available in summer of Lotus announces Symphony, its $695 IBM a competitive edge against AT&T, which has 1985. spreadsheet-oriented integrated package whose entered the computer market. Tandy (Radio Shack's parent) complexity limits its success. Osborne Computer Corp, emerges announces the Tandy Model 2000, a $2999 IBM AT&T unveils its 3B2/300 UNIX-based from bankruptcy proceedings with the Vixen, a PC clone with enhanced features and an 80186 supermicrocomputer for $9950; the computer $1298 Z80-based, two-drive portable with bundled processor, uses the Western Electric 32000 CMOS processor, software.

DECEMBER 1985 • JUST COMPUTERS 45 MICRO PROCESSOR EVOLUTION

NOTABLE QUOTES

"What peripheral device most often describes the year it will be about half the size of the pet-food home hacker's ultimate system? It is, if course, the market and is fast approaching the total worldwide ." sales of panty hose:' —Ira Rampil, December 1977 BYTE —James Finke, President, Ltd., February 1982 BYTE

"In less than eight months, more than five thousand people have proudly purchased WordStar . ." "CP/M 2.2. is extremely important, and the Z80 chip will live forever because of it." —a MicroPro ad, April 1980 BYTE —Portia Isaacson, Future Computing Inc., May 1982 BYTE "The sin of inefficiency is venial compared to the mortal sin of "user-unfriendliness." I'd buy an "To be a real hacker means to dedicate a substan- operating system any day that takes a long time tial part of your life to the advancement of some to run a given program but which makes me more application of a technology. It means going behind productive by communicating with me in useful the backs of stuffed-shirt administrators who think ways." that, despite their inability to do the technical work, —Chris Morgan, June 1981 BYTE they have royal prerogatives to push the technologists this way and that to satisfy obscure, "The current personal computer market is about largely symbolic organizational needs. the same size as the total potato-chip market. Next "To be a real hacker means to make a magnifi- cent obsession of creating some effect previously unknown, especially when others say you cannot or may not do it. You will impoverish yourself, devote your whole being to the task, and go far beyond the limits that reasonable people place on unremunerative effort." —Lee Felsenstein, 198 5

A decade of personal computer development displayed at The in Boston.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL AVIS 46 JUST COMPUTERS • DECEMBER 1985