tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72165155300937288432024-03-05T04:30:01.903+00:00Retromobe - retro mobile phones and other gadgetsRetro mobile phones and other gadgets.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-55651154238091581692023-03-28T22:47:00.005+01:002023-03-28T22:47:44.230+01:00Camputers Lynx (1983)<p>Introduced March 1983<br /><br />The <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=158" target="_blank">Camputers Lynx</a> was a British home computer released in March 1983, slotting into the category of 1980s microcomputers which were pretty good, but not good enough to succeed. The Lynx was a relative powerful computer that boasted some impressive specifications for its time, but it failed to gain widespread popularity due to various factors, including its relatively high price and the dominance of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/04/sinclair-zx-spectrum-1982.html" target="_blank">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a> and <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/08/commodore-64-1982.html" target="_blank">Commodore 64</a> in the UK home computer market.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FUn7QHfLIt630efvBxQVPbwsfEEgI9zm-ESThYFJjTb434-AbYTm5WDy33HdKFc-_Mkug3J5gahM-GIFWl65NRwwU1zSePJowIlYoiW-WuJ30SX9fmJ6UVncWPpyx4A26KZU2soZQgUTxePY4mSBYHOrtDPjISPBZUwNE_D_ZGimq2Am9GnrQQ/s1846/camputers-lynx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Camputers Lynx" border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1846" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FUn7QHfLIt630efvBxQVPbwsfEEgI9zm-ESThYFJjTb434-AbYTm5WDy33HdKFc-_Mkug3J5gahM-GIFWl65NRwwU1zSePJowIlYoiW-WuJ30SX9fmJ6UVncWPpyx4A26KZU2soZQgUTxePY4mSBYHOrtDPjISPBZUwNE_D_ZGimq2Am9GnrQQ/w640-h368/camputers-lynx.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camputers Lynx</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><br />The Lynx was designed and manufactured by Camputers Ltd, a UK-based company that was founded in 1976 by a group of computer enthusiasts. The Lynx was the company's first and only product, and it was initially launched as a business computer. However, it was later marketed as a home computer to compete with the best-selling Spectrum and other similar computers.<br /><br />Inside was a Zilog Z80 processor, which was a popular choice for home computers in the 1980s. The computer had 48KB of RAM (eventually expandable to 192 KB), plus 32KB of ROM with the operating system and BASIC interpreter. The 256 x 248 8-colour display was impressive for the time, but the Lynx’s graphics were conversely extremely slow. Audio capabilities were better than the Spectrum, but not as good as the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Micro</a> or Commodore 64.<br /><br />Undoubtedly, the Lynx was a good-looking machine. It was potentially a more professional system than the Spectrum, and it showed great promise overall but despite significant efforts to market the machine and many upgrades and relaunches, it probably only sold in the tens of thousands – almost all of them in the UK. <br /><br />The reasons for the failure of the Lynx were also common to other rival systems. The home computer market of the 1980s was becoming very crowded, and the Lynx just didn’t have the software it needed, which combined with the quirky video meant that it wasn’t quite good enough to be a major player.<br /><br />Camputers quickly failed as a business, going bust in 1984. A subsequent takeover and more than one relaunch attempt also came to nothing. Subsequently the Lynx became something of a cult system, with models in good working condition selling for hundreds of pounds.<br /><br />It was a good system with its own strengths and weaknesses, but it wasn’t a GREAT system and some of its competitors were. Like the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/08/dragon-32-1982.html" target="_blank">Dragon 32</a>, it might have been a success in different circumstances. In the end it ended up on the heap of “might have been” computers that characterised the early 1980s market.<br /></p><p><i>Image credit:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camputers_Lynx_48k_%28white_background%29.jpg" target="_blank">Retro-activity via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-61193492198502827492023-03-23T19:52:00.000+00:002023-03-23T19:52:17.840+00:00Xerox Alto (1973)<p><b>Released March 1973</b><br /><br />The early days of personal computing including a lot of false starts. Ideas that should have propelled their progenitors to dominance often failed to hit the mark. One such company with great ideas but limited success was Xerox.<br /><br />Still know today for its photocopiers and printers, Xerox decided decades ago that that future of the office was paperless. Because Xerox was very much wedded to paper, the idea of a paperless future would amount to nothing less than extinction. But throughout this part of its history, Xerox was torn between the forward-looking technologists and the backwards-looking pragmatists. <br /><br />Somewhere out of this internal struggle, the <a href="https://history-computer.com/xerox-alto-guide/" target="_blank">Xerox Alto</a> was born in 1973. It was the first computer system designed from the start to use a graphical user interface, inspired to a large degree by Doug Engelbart’s <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/12/doug-engelbarts-mother-of-all-demos-1968.html" target="_blank">Mother of All Demos</a> five years previously. Xerox engineers realised that at some point computer systems would move beyond the realm of engineers in white coats to something that anyone could use, based in part around digitising everyday metaphors into skeuomorphic forms.*<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaD_flBWYlS19ENTXQhIRs-owySjRMtqHJ7okoWfHREQE8W5goyrp6Dodsu1lyCq4_kIF9LNY8-34mebgERcT_7tOod16irDcBIWuSyI_Fl-fCqDSIjYDwGO7hWj6SvsOVag-iqjbI6kSmtCUkf1BVVTEpQY7_J0ZGGdPfI9OkDF868mqD-A1dcw/s3841/xerox-alto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Xerox Alto" border="0" data-original-height="3010" data-original-width="3841" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaD_flBWYlS19ENTXQhIRs-owySjRMtqHJ7okoWfHREQE8W5goyrp6Dodsu1lyCq4_kIF9LNY8-34mebgERcT_7tOod16irDcBIWuSyI_Fl-fCqDSIjYDwGO7hWj6SvsOVag-iqjbI6kSmtCUkf1BVVTEpQY7_J0ZGGdPfI9OkDF868mqD-A1dcw/w640-h502/xerox-alto.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xerox Alto<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The challenges of building a recognisably modern computer system in 1973 were immense. One major one was the lack of microprocessors – the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2019/09/motorola-68000-1979.html" target="_blank">Motorola 68000</a>, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/06/intel-8086-1978.html" target="_blank">Intel 8086</a>, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2015/09/mos-technology-6502-1975.html" target="_blank">MOS 6502</a> and <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/07/zilog-z80-1976.html" target="_blank">Zilog Z80</a> were still years away. Instead, Xerox engineers use four <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/74181" target="_blank">Texas Instruments 74181 ALUs</a> to do the hard work. Added to this was up to 512Kb of RAM and a 606 x 808 pixel monochrome display and a 3-button mouse. One of the most distinctive features was the large 12” portrait display that emulated a piece of paper, but less obvious at the time was the Alto’s Ethernet interface that allowed it to talk to other systems.<br /><br />A lot of the Alto’s UI comprised of tables and text rather than icons and graphics. Still, it was good enough for preparing documents, drawing pictures, designing integrated circuits and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_Trek" target="_blank">playing games</a>. These were all potentially useful things to do, but the Alto was fearsomely expensive – costing an equivalent of $125,000 in 2023 money. <br /><br />The Alto was massively ahead of its time – it would take another decade or so for the technologies to start to become affordable. It also wasn’t a sales success, with only around 2000 units shipping, including those used by Xerox themselves. <br /><br />Despite the small numbers built, the Alto was massively influential. The <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2023/01/apple-lisa-1983.html" target="_blank">Apple Lisa</a> and later the Macintosh were directly influenced by the work happening at Xerox, and more indirectly Windows and just about every other graphical user interface was too. For Xerox, the Alto was eventually succeeded by the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/04/xerox-star-8010-1981.html" target="_blank">Star</a> in 1981, but this was only a limited success. Xerox itself was never fully wedded to the idea of the paperless office, and by the mid-1980s the pendulum was swinging back to the predictable markets of photocopies and printers. <br /><br />Today the Alto exists in a few museums and private collections, it never was the sort of thing you could take home. Sadly the Alto and Star are largely forgotten, despite pioneering many of the technologies we take for granted today. Being first to market does not always means being successful, and that was certainly the case with Xerox...<br /><br />* We apologise for the overuse of ancient Greek.<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xerox_Alto_with_mouse_and_chorded_keyset_-_Computer_History_Museum.jpg" target="_blank">Michael Hicks via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-42619772439244256432023-03-21T21:45:00.000+00:002023-03-21T21:45:33.384+00:00IBM PC/XT vs Compaq Portable (1983)<p><b>Introduced March 1983</b><br /><br />The launch of the original IBM PC in 1981 cause a fundamental shift in the desktop computing market. Out of the apparent chaos of a myriad of (mostly) startup companies offering business computers came the biggest player in the market – IBM. The original PC wasn’t the best, most innovative or cheapest product on the market by a long shot, but IBM was a serious player that business had heard of and it was an immediate sales success.<br /><br />The original <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> had some significant shortcomings, in particular there was no hard disk and the limited expansion slots filled up very quickly. The upgraded <a href="https://www.neowin.net/news/the-ibm-pc-xt-launched-40-years-ago-today-but-it-got-competition-from-the-compaq-portable/" target="_blank">PC/XT</a> added a 10MB hard drive as standard, plus three extra slots, more RAM (up to 640Kb) and ROM and it upgraded the storage of the floppy drive to a maximum of 360Kb. <br /><br />It wasn’t a huge upgrade over the original, but it addressed the shortcomings of the previous model well. It was probably the computer that IBM should have launched to begin with, but at over $7500 at launch, the PC/XT was really expensive.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEu4_ia0B6RcoGaCRSMPGMmhAwRDv7vCDYcj_cSNCiHJn-KoV6gfJZMQ9t_V668urcyEvmqdubliusEmDEjOr1Xz6SmzxPiX6zAbcQoJgmipPZRerwNDXx3CYp2ZcdcjWGvRi_fSw2lWRvnO3Z-8rxxtm6DPtu6TtAHIMTgC8HEYgfiNzpCA4RA/s1200/ibm-pcxt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="IBM PC/XT" border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEu4_ia0B6RcoGaCRSMPGMmhAwRDv7vCDYcj_cSNCiHJn-KoV6gfJZMQ9t_V668urcyEvmqdubliusEmDEjOr1Xz6SmzxPiX6zAbcQoJgmipPZRerwNDXx3CYp2ZcdcjWGvRi_fSw2lWRvnO3Z-8rxxtm6DPtu6TtAHIMTgC8HEYgfiNzpCA4RA/w640-h426/ibm-pcxt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IBM PC/XT<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Uniquely for IBM, the architecture of the PC was quite easy to copy. Buying in industry-standard components such as the Intel 8088 processor and making detailed hardware specifications available made it possible for other companies to make PC clones that could be better and cheaper at the same time, and Microsoft could sell you the same operating system – MS-DOS – that the PC ran to ensure compatibility. First out of the door was the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/06/columbia-data-products-mpc-1600.html" target="_blank">Columbia MPC 1600</a>, but more followed.<br /><br />At about the same time, another trend for “luggable” all-in-one computers was starting, with the CP/M-based Kaypro II being a popular example. Texas-based Compaq Computer Corporation combined both a PC-compatible computer in the convenient form factor of a transportable machine to create the <a href="https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/compaq-luggable-portable-computers-208323" target="_blank">Compaq Portable</a>, their first product.<br /><br />“Portable” was a stretch, at 13 kilograms or 28 pounds it was not an easy thing to carry. Nonetheless, it could be moved easily without unplugging a vast number of cables and components. With the keyboard clipped into place, the Compaq Portable could fit into the overhead luggage compartments on a plane, or be easily placed into the boot of a car.<br /><br />Compaq improved on the PC’s architecture in their own way, broadly similar to the PC/XT. There was no hard disk as standard, but users commonly added one. The Portable was also cheaper to get started with than the PC/XT. Despite being something of a niche product, the Compaq Portable sold tens of thousands of units in its first year, and it made Compaq Computer Corporation a very successful rival to IBM in the PC market.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdzKBx7vYvKFJGXUlO8iX5iMzILlGrhO__SPBs5kFKtaPp1waSgu1deJ4By9O29VKvAECjoNjOZ0_3tQeTIwZYok_uVHoe0WCC4K5rrbtX7g-SBrD8Nw1e61iZFvsTM0Agm9WQF5kXShOuj9yvVzp__BggYX93YAzKw8HDCGEuLei75k20MbrPA/s1733/compaq-portable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Compaq Portable" border="0" data-original-height="1469" data-original-width="1733" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdzKBx7vYvKFJGXUlO8iX5iMzILlGrhO__SPBs5kFKtaPp1waSgu1deJ4By9O29VKvAECjoNjOZ0_3tQeTIwZYok_uVHoe0WCC4K5rrbtX7g-SBrD8Nw1e61iZFvsTM0Agm9WQF5kXShOuj9yvVzp__BggYX93YAzKw8HDCGEuLei75k20MbrPA/w400-h339/compaq-portable.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Compaq Portable<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />IBM and Compaq duked it out in the market until the mid-2000s, with IBM eventually selling off its PC business to Lenovo and Compaq merging with HP.<br /><br />Both machines were the ancestors of most personal computers in use today, crucially demonstrating that the PC platform could evolve over time rather than having to be completely replaced with a new model every couple of years. And although the PC/XT and Portable were not the first PCs, and now very much obsolete, they were highly significant in developing the market we see today.<br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Compaq_Portable_3.jpg" target="_blank">Dmitry Brant via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/18018528@N03/4989125168/" target="_blank">ctgreybeard via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0</i><br /><br /></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-44960827732620868722023-01-29T17:36:00.004+00:002023-01-29T17:36:53.817+00:00Oric-1 (1983)<p><b>Introduced January 1983</b><br /><br />If you were in the market for a home computer in Britain in 1983, there would typically be three models that most people would choose: the<a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/08/commodore-64-1982.html" target="_blank"> Commodore 64</a>, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/04/sinclair-zx-spectrum-1982.html" target="_blank">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a> or <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">Acorn BBC Micro</a>. There were other machines (such as the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/08/dragon-32-1982.html" target="_blank">Dragon 32</a>), and it did seem that this fast-growing market was ripe for more players.<br /><br />One interested player was Tangerine Computer Systems, who had made the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2019/12/tangerine-microtan-65-1979.html" target="_blank">Microtan 65</a> some years earlier. Tangerine certainly had the technical skills to make a competitive machine, and seeing a gap in the market they set about creating the <a href="http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Tangerine/Oric1" target="_blank">Oric-1</a> microcomputer, though a newly-formed subsidiary named Oric Products International.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VJG9f-Q9H3J1OeLaHxIUilOBgW6v_Nq0uQOnD5zQVgoS5e0En-cFWCNFNB-tatVk0OkD-7XFxFWuv33ux1JBcJBnQoj6L7U5Kuz_prSLDCApn3qZF43xYL6vTtYtzMX9hRWK2C5B0Cv7h0kXZP6BLPn4rx0dsds7C_b_fzp-aKAf4YXJT_-zQw/s1599/oric1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oric-1" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VJG9f-Q9H3J1OeLaHxIUilOBgW6v_Nq0uQOnD5zQVgoS5e0En-cFWCNFNB-tatVk0OkD-7XFxFWuv33ux1JBcJBnQoj6L7U5Kuz_prSLDCApn3qZF43xYL6vTtYtzMX9hRWK2C5B0Cv7h0kXZP6BLPn4rx0dsds7C_b_fzp-aKAf4YXJT_-zQw/w640-h400/oric1-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oric-1</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Oric-1 was very much aimed against the Spectrum end of the market, similarly priced and similar too in size. Based on a 6502 rather than a Z80, it was (like the Spectrum) available in 16Kb and 48Kb varieties – although a peculiarity of the hardware design meant that the latter actually had 64Kb of memory, the top 16Kb not be accessible without tinkering. The sound on the Oric was far better than on the Spectrum, using the popular AY-3-8910 chip. Four different graphics modes were available – more like the BBC than the Spectrum, and the inbuilt BASIC was pretty powerful as well. Last but not least, the chicklet keyboard had small, hard buttons which were much nicer to use than the Spectrum’s notorious “dead flesh” keyboard.<br /><br />The main problem was bugs – the Oric-1’s ROM was full of them, and also the cassette interface was unreliable - which was a major problem for a home computer of the time. One other problem was that the promised peripherals – a printer interface, modem and floppy disk drive – ended up being later into production. Disappointments aside, it was a good system and sold at least a couple of hundred thousand units while it was on sale. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FCdcWfQCfqb1nEMEU9mN4ZvIrdUbIZBOlW0pu2iD0ddrfedIwSGU9Tmgbe5QnQMTDysZK04rD4tEgeKDXdDnT1-gyOj7onxjBk7Eu2t8u-F9UE93HVzubFiAwjW-F0gcWX_6sDS-Q9nDU9bI2qQmABPen6RbpD9-hEvaOV_-Zqj_P-I3KYYRaA/s2272/oric1-2-orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oric-1 and Oric Atmos" border="0" data-original-height="1704" data-original-width="2272" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FCdcWfQCfqb1nEMEU9mN4ZvIrdUbIZBOlW0pu2iD0ddrfedIwSGU9Tmgbe5QnQMTDysZK04rD4tEgeKDXdDnT1-gyOj7onxjBk7Eu2t8u-F9UE93HVzubFiAwjW-F0gcWX_6sDS-Q9nDU9bI2qQmABPen6RbpD9-hEvaOV_-Zqj_P-I3KYYRaA/w640-h480/oric1-2-orig.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oric-1 and Oric Atmos</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Oric struggled for money, but a takeover from a company called Edenspring Investments led to more money being available, leading to the improved Oric Atmos being launched in 1984. However, the home computer market was heading for a crash and Oric ended up in receivership – twice – before finally going bust in 1987. However, licensed cloned versions continued including the <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=988" target="_blank">Bulgarian Pravetz 8D</a>. A sad end, but of course today none of Acorn, Commodore or Sinclair are with us either so perhaps not unexpected.<br /><br />Today the Oric-1 is an uncommon but collectable device, with prices for good systems being a couple of hundred pounds or so, the later Atmos commands higher prices and rarer derivatives more still. Perhaps in the end it wasn’t a significant machine, but there was <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oric-1_%28CNAM-IMG_0576%29.jpg" target="_blank">Rama via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0 FR<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oric-1_and_Oric_Atmos_%282224286887%29.jpg" target="_blank">Martin Wichary via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-21069126619372525942023-01-28T10:16:00.000+00:002023-01-28T10:16:06.516+00:00Apple Lisa (1983)<p><b>Launched January 1983</b><br /><br />In 1983 the Apple Computer Company was just seven years old, but had grown very rapidly on the back of strong sales of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/apple-ii-1977.html" target="_blank">Apple II</a>. By the early 1980s though, the Apple II was looking increasingly out-of-date. In 1980 the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/11/apple-iii-1980.html" target="_blank">Apple III</a> was launched, designed to fix many of the shortcomings of its predecessor, but it was a deeply unreliable and poorly-built product and was a sales disaster.<br /><br />The launch of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> in 1981 saw Apple struggling in the business market, so it was very important that whatever they came up with next would be a success. Sadly for Apple, their next product – the <a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-lisa-apples-most-influential-failure/" target="_blank">Apple Lisa</a> – ended up as another disaster, even if it did seem to hold great promise.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuw8SOe2rcREc5nqHEdq18DKOIrzpnIadEtd2XRZNCznY4ptzcHXoZPNYzle78jnf_wznw6rTelfeK_YaCb7X5g0AnoK344It73cxLiCwHWP4OfNS626a-SUtFD7n79LfZ8ail9jBIp0PSGBVVksHskgRMeRlMjJBtlBHbkxIVUfAcpA1eAr3KRA/s1298/apple-lisa-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Apple Lisa 1" border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1298" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuw8SOe2rcREc5nqHEdq18DKOIrzpnIadEtd2XRZNCznY4ptzcHXoZPNYzle78jnf_wznw6rTelfeK_YaCb7X5g0AnoK344It73cxLiCwHWP4OfNS626a-SUtFD7n79LfZ8ail9jBIp0PSGBVVksHskgRMeRlMjJBtlBHbkxIVUfAcpA1eAr3KRA/w640-h520/apple-lisa-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple Lisa 1</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The key feature of the Lisa was the mouse-drive graphical interface, the computer unit itself was an elegant single-box design with an integrated 12 inch monitor. It looked very different in both hardware and software terms from the competition, and both the mainstream media and specialist press were very excited.<br /><br />Development of the Lisa had started years earlier, at first with modest aims but quickly becoming influenced by the work that fellow Silicon Valley engineers at Xerox were doing with their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto" target="_blank">Alto</a> platform which was being developed into the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/04/xerox-star-8010-1981.html" target="_blank">Xerox Star</a>. When Steve Jobs saw the Alto’s graphical interface he was highly impressed, and the Apple team sought to emulate and improve on it. The concepts of the mouse-driven user environment were not new - Doug Engelbart had demonstrated the concepts as far back as 1968 – but it was only really in the 1980s that computer hardware started to become affordable enough to make it a reality.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI_3Yzmu0Lpv1mS0gmeLME5hml2BgAylneoM-2xlgQXNzYqi43cbQjouxuKiLHeZYT4LER1PpcPGfoblaTUTfmWb8eZMRkTHdGJClmVtZaavN5ggQfmEqTIEjLuM6cCc45960Oz6cyITtOwZS-0qyZ8j1eXkQ_nCGFxTBwPe_SNWhmUj6P6Fv5Q/s1375/apple-lisa-pcw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The mouse was still a novelty when the Apple Lisa was launched, as this cover from Personal Computer World shows" border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdI_3Yzmu0Lpv1mS0gmeLME5hml2BgAylneoM-2xlgQXNzYqi43cbQjouxuKiLHeZYT4LER1PpcPGfoblaTUTfmWb8eZMRkTHdGJClmVtZaavN5ggQfmEqTIEjLuM6cCc45960Oz6cyITtOwZS-0qyZ8j1eXkQ_nCGFxTBwPe_SNWhmUj6P6Fv5Q/w291-h400/apple-lisa-pcw.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mouse was still a novelty when the Apple Lisa was launched, as this cover from Personal Computer World shows</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Unlike previous Apple models which were based on the 6502, the Lisa was built around a Motorola 68000, clocked at 5MHz along with one megabyte of RAM. Neither the CPU nor RAM were very fast, even by 1983 standards. The display was a 720 x 364 pixel black-and-white unit with no greyscale capabilities. Twin 5.25-inch variable speed floppy drives (known by the name “Twiggy”) offered a lot of storage, but were very unreliable. The Lisa was also designed to be used with a 5MB external hard drive, and a variety of printers were available.<br /><br />The look and feel of the operating system was far in advance of everything outside of Xerox’s labs. Based largely around the file manager, it became the template for the OS used on the later Macintosh. A crude form of protected memory was available, but overall the operating system ran sluggishly on the hardware. The Lisa had a variety of office applications available, including a word processor, spreadsheet, graphical applications and utilities. <br /><br />This may all sound very familiar because the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K" target="_blank">Macintosh</a>, launched a year later, also did many of the things that the Lisa did. But the Lisa is not the Mac’s predecessor, instead this ended up as a dead end which cost Apple a lot of money. Not only was the hardware and software unstable, but the price of the Lisa started at an eye-watering $9,995 in 1983 money (around $30,000 today). Any appeal that the Lisa may have had was undermined by the launch of the Apple Macintosh in 1984, which did most of the things the Lisa could do, but more reliably and at a quarter of the price. <br /><br />The Lisa flopped, selling only about 10,000 units. A redesigned Lisa 2 in 1984 was cheaper, more reliable but more underpowered than the original. There was some interest from customers who wanted a device with a bigger display than the standard Mac, but the Lisa needed an emulator to run Mac software. In 1985 the final iteration of the Lisa was launched, as the Macintosh XL which proved to be at least of interest to consumers, but Apple ended up selling it at a loss.<br /><br />Killed off by its own internal competition, a combination of cheap or untested components and an enormous price tag, the Lisa is one of the biggest failures in the history of Apple. Conversely the cut-down and more focussed version, the Macintosh, was one of the biggest successes. Today, a working Lisa system is very collectible and commands prices of thousands of dollars, although you are more likely to find the later Lisa 2 than the original. <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_Lisa_Computer.jpg" target="_blank">Timothy Colegrove via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/40899792" target="_blank">Paul Downey via Flickr</a> – CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-15808301386640858232023-01-01T16:32:00.004+00:002023-01-01T16:34:02.964+00:002022 – things that didn’t quite make the cut<p>We covered quite a bit of retro tech this year, but there are a few things we didn’t talk about that are still worth a mention.</p><p>Let’s start with the automotive world. One of the more unusual vehicles to ever be produced in quantity is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DUKW" target="_blank">DUKW</a> (colloquially called the “Duck”), a six-wheel drive amphibious vehicle designed during World War II and manufactured by General Motors from 1942 to 1945. Excelling in amphibious attacks and traversing beaches, the DUKW could carry supplies or troops in a wide variety of environments. 21,000 of these machines were built, and some are still in use as tourist attractions today.</p><p>Where the DUKW was a bit of a barge, the <a href="https://www.motortrend.com/news/volkswagen-phaeton-history/" target="_blank">Volkswagen Phaeton</a> – introduced in 2002 – was a different type of barge. A large luxury car, sharing some of its DNA with Bentleys, the Phaeton was a rare entry into the luxury car market for the Volkswagen marque. Elegant and very understated, the Phaeton was a very discrete vehicle which gained some fans, but most luxury buyers were not interested and it wasn’t a sales success even though production continued until 2016. Today, the Phaeton is an extremely inexpensive buy for what it is, but it can be prone to enormous garage bills if it goes wrong.</p><p>From real-world cars to a fictional one – the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KITT" target="_blank">Knight Industries Two Thousand</a> (or “KITT” for short) was one of the stars of the 1982 TV Show “Knight Rider”. Based on a Pontiac Trans Am, KITT featured its own AI system which was capable of self-driving, speech recognition and synthesis, in-car communications (all of which are available today) and… errr… well a load of stuff that frankly isn’t. 23 KITT cars were made for filming, but most of these were destroyed. A handful of originals survive, but you are most likely to come across a replica.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOgA1zHGSGuJuxx7M_jQtc8hjGaTh0wABT7OHJx-KNRjHImEIkKU6Y4bOlM2usV2g0LJOqKoXbs99Qq9tHojLbYdCRIUny3tSeZHe_P5FkBkKneMrcw5VD7ZpAgMZaWWPXt5u8orWdf7gOGzI385msydy87UOkL0C68O5ayzEVlkBRUpMZFufTw/s1814/dukw-phaeton-kitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="DUKW, Volkswagen Phaeton, KITT Replica" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="1814" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioOgA1zHGSGuJuxx7M_jQtc8hjGaTh0wABT7OHJx-KNRjHImEIkKU6Y4bOlM2usV2g0LJOqKoXbs99Qq9tHojLbYdCRIUny3tSeZHe_P5FkBkKneMrcw5VD7ZpAgMZaWWPXt5u8orWdf7gOGzI385msydy87UOkL0C68O5ayzEVlkBRUpMZFufTw/w640-h136/dukw-phaeton-kitt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DUKW, Volkswagen Phaeton, KITT Replica</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Computers and cars came together in a different way with the 1982 Namco game, Pole Position. One of the first 16-bit arcade games, <a href="https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/pole-position-2/" target="_blank">Pole Position</a> offered unrivalled gameplay for a racing game, usually coming in a sit-down version with a proper steering wheel, pedals and gear shifter. The highest-grossing game of 1983, the game was officially ported to post microcomputer platforms of the time with many unofficial clones. </p><p>Gaming was big in 1982, one mostly forgotten console that was launched that year was the <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/history-of-colecovision-729731" target="_blank">ColecoVision</a>. Selling strongly at launch due the bundled Donkey Kong game, this Z80-based system faded quickly and was out of production by 1985. Quite collectable today, a ColecoVision in good condition with games and accessories can cost you several hundred pounds.</p><p>Games consoles became popular in the 1980s, but the very first console was the <a href="https://www.computermuseumofamerica.org/2020/06/22/the-first-gaming-console/" target="_blank">Magnavox Odyssey</a> launched in 1972. The basic but playable games were enhanced with accessories such as cards, dice and screen overlays. 350,000 Odyssey systems were sold over three years, today these are also very collectable with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2V9jqvJuaPLfHT6ZKHseAKjNIfv5k7bElQBwABiOiukr6cqX_KBhbJZJpFrlKREiO8SafRdozOoD9wlvSWXfNU5Sd89dD8b2LXzuRy1apTwtKwTcOSJcFqfBflDPosZWCzdtFGwx-JiOsXBHV-zpAJA0VzkqRpr3EDZXmZpA6c7SdFUwYDPAyQ/s1811/poleposition-colecovision-magnavox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pole Position, ColecoVision, Magnavox Odyssey" border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="1811" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2V9jqvJuaPLfHT6ZKHseAKjNIfv5k7bElQBwABiOiukr6cqX_KBhbJZJpFrlKREiO8SafRdozOoD9wlvSWXfNU5Sd89dD8b2LXzuRy1apTwtKwTcOSJcFqfBflDPosZWCzdtFGwx-JiOsXBHV-zpAJA0VzkqRpr3EDZXmZpA6c7SdFUwYDPAyQ/w640-h138/poleposition-colecovision-magnavox.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pole Position, ColecoVision, Magnavox Odyssey</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Taking another step backwards, 1962 saw the world’s first computer-controlled factory running on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferranti_Argus" target="_blank">Ferranti Argus</a> industrial computer platform. Argus was originally designed for military applications, but it found its true strength in running as an industrial controller. Development continued into the 1980s, seeing use in everything from oil production to telecommunications, and importantly also in controlling nuclear power stations where they are still in use today.</p><p>Another technology designed originally for military use was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency-hopping_spread_spectrum" target="_blank">frequency-hopping spread spectrum</a>. The concept was originally patented in 1942 as a way of preventing radio-guided torpedoes from being jammed by the enemy. A paper tape in the torpedo and guidance system allowed the radio frequency to change in a predetermined way, avoiding enemy jamming. This technology eventually found itself into Bluetooth and WiFi communications. Although this all sounds very dry, the inventor was Austrian-born actress <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr" target="_blank">Hedy Lamarr</a>, who in addition to being one of the greatest actresses of her era was also a talented inventor.</p><p>While we are on the subject of war and weapons, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatling_gun" target="_blank">Gatling Gun</a> was the world’s first widely-used machine gun, in service from 1862 with the US Army and finding its way into use worldwide until the early 20th century. The Gatling Gun marked the beginning of industrialised warfare and a technological arms race that continues to this day.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tAjZ2u4xwhgBdiUH_5SNWphZpfmJCl66gfTDMCFTksKNZuRJeR9Zsu6wCulOn1ZH0jFPtODIzrp0UzQ5mxofxvuw6HhVKCfzlCtrt_mIqb0yqgiucFfcTG1uYBIRmIDS-JdpHI_yIfraCnG09QaP4CfV-7VHjRvv6k9NKi_EwcwcJhCw-D9dvw/s1811/argus-lamarr-gatling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1970s Ferranti Argus system, Hedy Lamarr, Gatling Gun" border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="1811" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tAjZ2u4xwhgBdiUH_5SNWphZpfmJCl66gfTDMCFTksKNZuRJeR9Zsu6wCulOn1ZH0jFPtODIzrp0UzQ5mxofxvuw6HhVKCfzlCtrt_mIqb0yqgiucFfcTG1uYBIRmIDS-JdpHI_yIfraCnG09QaP4CfV-7VHjRvv6k9NKi_EwcwcJhCw-D9dvw/w640-h138/argus-lamarr-gatling.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1970s Ferranti Argus system, Hedy Lamarr, Gatling Gun</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> 120 years later, 1982 saw another technological race as the computer systems evolved rapidly in every market from home users to research institutions. One of the leading companies of the time was Digital Equipment Corporation (usually known as “DEC” or just “Digital”). The <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/rainbow.html" target="_blank">DEC Rainbow</a> was an attempt to compete for the same market as the IBM PC, running on both a Zilog Z80 and Intel 8088 processor, the Rainbow could run either CP/M or MS-DOS. Despite the “Rainbow” name, the machine was monochrome only by default, outputting to a monitor very similar to a VT220. Despite the support of one of the biggest names in the industry, it was not a success except for the iconic LK201 keyboard which was widely emulated.</p><p>Where the Rainbow was an attempt to create a new microcomputer from scratch, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEC_Professional_%28computer%29" target="_blank">DEC Professional</a> was an attempt to shrink the PDP-11 into a desktop package. Although a promising idea, poor execution and market indifference let to its failure.</p><p>One of the more advanced machines of the time was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith_%28computer%29" target="_blank">DISER Lilith</a>, launched commercially in 1982 after being used as a research platform for a couple of years. Unusually, the Lilith ran Modula-2 and has a large portrait graphical display. Based in part on work done on the Xerox Alto, the Lilith was probably too advanced to be a sales success but remained influential, especially the mouse design which later influenced the first mice designed by Logitech.</p><p>If PDP-11s and the Lilith just weren’t powerful enough and you had very, very deep pockets you migth consider the <a href="https://cray-history.net/cray-history-front/fom-home/fom-xmp/" target="_blank">Cray X-MP</a>, launched in 1982 at an approximate starting price of $15 million. For that you got not only the fastest computer in the world, but also one of the most remarkable looks with a central processor core that looked like nothing else – complete with padded seats. The X-MP was a success, and there were a number of successors. Today, Cray is part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMkWgX2tZFkaxDnLapqFCEYVb2o2NStyUbhYT-PJunwJu3xN_u2IgmZ_D92L-tA5PgKe8N1TGIeB9lAlu9CflNRC34QJ2LGwvVdfXNQh1GAkbLO50l9p74_yUPD7Yy2cWs2DPfeYDI4mvLwNKPLkHqaS09svRKBB6Lp5bmMyGtDKBmfB9nwZpqA/s2197/decrainbow-decpro-lilith-crayxmp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="DEC Rainbow, DEC Professional running as a VAX Conole, Lilith Prototype, Cray X-MP" border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="2197" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMkWgX2tZFkaxDnLapqFCEYVb2o2NStyUbhYT-PJunwJu3xN_u2IgmZ_D92L-tA5PgKe8N1TGIeB9lAlu9CflNRC34QJ2LGwvVdfXNQh1GAkbLO50l9p74_yUPD7Yy2cWs2DPfeYDI4mvLwNKPLkHqaS09svRKBB6Lp5bmMyGtDKBmfB9nwZpqA/w640-h114/decrainbow-decpro-lilith-crayxmp.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DEC Rainbow, DEC Professional running as a VAX Conole, Lilith Prototype, Cray X-MP</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> The X-MP was a niche but successful product, as was the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/company/stories/timeline-video-the-evolution-of-the-bloomberg-terminal/" target="_blank">Bloomberg Terminal</a> which was originally launched in December 1982. A specialist system aimed at stock market traders, the original terminal was a simple device that could connect to any type of financial data that Bloomberg could make available. Several generations followed, built on custom hardware and software. Today the Bloomberg terminal is still available, but the latest generation will cost you around $2000 per month.</p><p>Aimed at a rather broader market – which it failed to reach – the <a href="http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1332/Jupiter-Ace/" target="_blank">Jupiter Ace</a> also ended up being popular with a very specific niche. Somewhat similar to the ZX81 in terms of hardware, the Ace had the unusual feature of running Forth as a programming language instead of BASIC. Forth was very well suited to simple computers, however it turned out that most customers wanted to learn BASIC instead. Despite making a splash at launch, sales were low and production ended in 1984. Today the Ace is very collectable with good examples selling for £1500 or even more.</p><p>1982 was a good year for computer systems that might have hit the big time had circumstances been different. The <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2013/04/23/feature_the_sord_m5_home_micro_is_30/" target="_blank">Sord M5</a> is one of those, an elegant Japanese system running on a Z80 with 16Kb of RAM, colour graphics and sound plus a cartridge slot. The M5 sold well in Japan, and saw some popularity in the UK (as the CGL M5) and Czechoslovakia. Locally-produced derivatives of the M5 also sold well in South Korea. Although it showed promise, by the time it hit the shops the market was becoming crowded and it didn’t last long. Working M5s in good condition can sell for £500 or more, and cartridges are worth around £50 to £100 or so.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7cBtZOfdtAAqCg4JVdEjvGry02SOv8q5ifzTn-OqXCgPUs0KlSHEYIwTscbz5NTlReW_Y60DqFkLVH7xUoPNylPn8uQdtMX-sj-bEFLtKoDmDuRv4pobWs6zT67vLFPqEENo65kEC9bKouOf-lzFJE3BRx0E5iUXb1rl715igVS6GrzXGMzCGA/s1824/bloomberg-ace-sord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="2010s Bloomberg Terminal, Jupiter Ace, Sord M5" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="1824" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR7cBtZOfdtAAqCg4JVdEjvGry02SOv8q5ifzTn-OqXCgPUs0KlSHEYIwTscbz5NTlReW_Y60DqFkLVH7xUoPNylPn8uQdtMX-sj-bEFLtKoDmDuRv4pobWs6zT67vLFPqEENo65kEC9bKouOf-lzFJE3BRx0E5iUXb1rl715igVS6GrzXGMzCGA/w640-h136/bloomberg-ace-sord.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2010s Bloomberg Terminal, Jupiter Ace, Sord M5</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Not all computing innovations are welcome. The world’s first computer virus – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_Cloner" target="_blank">Elk Cloner</a> – was also invented in 1982 by Rick Skrenta. This boot sector virus infected Apple II floppy disks, although it usually did no real harm.</p><p>One other technology product to come to market in 1982 was the CD player. The world’s first model was the <a href="https://www.stereolifemagazine.com/articles/item/1481-sony-cdp-101" target="_blank">Sony CDP-101</a> launched in Japan in October. In the rest of the world, the Philips CD100 was the first available model. Sales were slow at first due to the cost, but by the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s the CD player became the most popular medium for music.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgpm8PC9loUyKC0q_zkRYpIgw3qs5wp1KvrPGJZeqipe7KAZouTKE_nnDRBLYO7rkPpfpxOQZKYkxTOOMeOwYhjTf6Ffs2zBPFI2b7PbAWDTAox-VL83dAggg0D7nQEOZgrZ3JP4SAkoiJfukQIe70th6Ggb8YpFRjiFwU-LxsHTNnXlrcMm24A/s1324/elkcloner-sonycdp101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Elk Cloner, Sony CDP-101" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="1324" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgpm8PC9loUyKC0q_zkRYpIgw3qs5wp1KvrPGJZeqipe7KAZouTKE_nnDRBLYO7rkPpfpxOQZKYkxTOOMeOwYhjTf6Ffs2zBPFI2b7PbAWDTAox-VL83dAggg0D7nQEOZgrZ3JP4SAkoiJfukQIe70th6Ggb8YpFRjiFwU-LxsHTNnXlrcMm24A/w400-h118/elkcloner-sonycdp101.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elk Cloner, Sony CDP-101</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A decade later, 1992 was a pretty good year for technology too. This was the year that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_3.1x" target="_blank">Windows 3.1</a> launched, a significant upgrade to the first usable version of Windows – Windows 3.0 launched in 1990 – version 3.1 added more polish and stability. For many people, Windows 3.1 was their very first experience of Microsoft Windows.</p><p>Perhaps not many Windows machines of that era are memorable, but the <a href="https://www.notebookcheck.net/THINK-A-brief-history-of-ThinkPads-from-IBM-to-Lenovo.418728.0.html" target="_blank">IBM ThinkPad</a> launched in 1992 had a reputation for good design, robustness and reliability. A strong seller for IBM, especially to corporate customers, the ThinkPad line was eventually acquired by Lenovo in 2005 and is still made today.</p><p>An ideal peripheral to complement your Windows-based laptop might be the <a href="https://www.ithistory.org/db/hardware/hewlett-packard-hp/laserjet-4" target="_blank">HP LaserJet 4</a>. An exceptionally reliable laser printer, it was also more compact than previous models, easier to maintain, faster and gave better quality printouts. The LaserJet 4 was capable of producing over a million pages during its individual lifetime, and although parts did wear out they could be easily replaced. It was easy to connect to a LAN via an optional network card, or you could use a parallel cable. Although seemingly obsolete today, aftermarket spares kits are still available indicating that there are still LaserJet 4 series printers still in use.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QkKUcHV8T-GGP6dhAm3O0fgDZdDi_7wk3pxc4qaqCQ-rXXz51_ObR63MLpC62ftBd9DWYCOfLpiHlJFOKWV81exa2cguaD1f3Y5uGn17dv0WSEP4oBtk_9LeK5FoVwGRyMMNSpP5hMhxPWQVAPXfoKCUc-gtFqd5mEnd08wsl787yH18pbM1jg/s1487/windows-thinkpad-lj4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Windows 3.1 box, IBM ThinkPad, HP LaserJet 4" border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="1487" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QkKUcHV8T-GGP6dhAm3O0fgDZdDi_7wk3pxc4qaqCQ-rXXz51_ObR63MLpC62ftBd9DWYCOfLpiHlJFOKWV81exa2cguaD1f3Y5uGn17dv0WSEP4oBtk_9LeK5FoVwGRyMMNSpP5hMhxPWQVAPXfoKCUc-gtFqd5mEnd08wsl787yH18pbM1jg/w640-h168/windows-thinkpad-lj4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windows 3.1 box, IBM ThinkPad, HP LaserJet 4</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Not every computer of the time was a Windows or Intel-based computer. The <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=125" target="_blank">Atari Falcon030</a> was the final evolution of the once-popular Atari ST line. Based on a Motorola 68030 CPU with a Motorola 56001 DSP supporting sound and graphics, the Falcon030 made a good games machine, was excellent for music and MIDI interfacing and came with a wide variety of expansion options. However, Atari was struggling and the Falcon030 was dropped just a year later. Around the same time Atari was working on the Falcon040, a 68040 power version. The Falcon is another collectable system, with prices for a good example being well in excess of £1000.</p><p>DEC was also coming up with innovative products in 1992. The <a href="http://alasir.com/articles/alpha_history/" target="_blank">DEC Alpha 21064</a> CPU was a powerful RISC processor designed for workstations and more powerful systems. Capable of much faster performance than Intel’s rival CPUs, the Alpha architecture saw some success in the 1990s but it faded away after DEC was bought out, first by Compaq and then by HP.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEBsDGST1aj2UtHAK2T-sllpX2ZIi51pyibFAWxP-tU5Jg3wfCSlvu9meBeJsPeW73HeNKDKgnsrc7p-8vxe0xDhNaYu3LNgwt-fdpmUQzydrYsE8kZ7AvAiJchWF2Bh6AjKfM-N8vedWs9zXMQk1xbZeEoI_J3H3-59PnzVP75I3jkSABLUE2Q/s901/atarifalcon-decalpha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Atari Falcon030, DEC Alpha 21064" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="901" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEBsDGST1aj2UtHAK2T-sllpX2ZIi51pyibFAWxP-tU5Jg3wfCSlvu9meBeJsPeW73HeNKDKgnsrc7p-8vxe0xDhNaYu3LNgwt-fdpmUQzydrYsE8kZ7AvAiJchWF2Bh6AjKfM-N8vedWs9zXMQk1xbZeEoI_J3H3-59PnzVP75I3jkSABLUE2Q/w400-h173/atarifalcon-decalpha.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Atari Falcon030, DEC Alpha 21064</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Another decade later to 2002, and mobile phones were becoming popular, and some of these were beginning to blur the line between a phone and a computer with the introduction of smartphones. The <a href="https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail/sony-ericsson-p800" target="_blank">Sony Ericsson P800</a> was a Symbian-based device with a stylus-driven touchscreen and a camera, which is effectively one of the ancestors of modern smartphones today. Due to the high price and complexity, it didn’t sell in huge numbers but it did appeal to those who could see the advantage of having a computer in your pocket.</p><p>If you wanted something simpler and more robust, you could try the rubbery <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_5100-367.php" target="_blank">Nokia 5100</a>. A weird-looking thing by modern standards, the 5100 comes from a golden age of phone design where every new model had its own distinctive looks. The 5100's key selling point was its robustness, although most Nokia phones of that era seemed pretty indestructible. </p><p>Technology was coming to other more mundane devices as well. The <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1448432" target="_blank">Roomba</a> is an autonomous robot vacuum cleaner, first introduced in 2002. Capable of cleaning a floor by itself and then returning to its dock to recharge, the Roomba is more of a pet than a domestic appliance – sometimes needing rescuing when it has gotten itself stuck on something. Twenty years of development have made Roombas even smarter.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkw7eMoWfDGR3Vc62d9hntvJxhJPoAyTQbAbUXJnxg82Y4cgwyYFyZhgnw85x_cTwsMw7oh3lGXmonRLftfky3Ow-T8rbJLPjzRaRHhGqL5ADWirl-oTn_okdWF-v8ZRNnoWYD8FlwST-EQv5ApSokdqOV3W-L3j9PCcllqOYCBpn_iONeDE7Vg/s1147/sep800-nok5100-roomba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sony Ericsson P800, Nokia 5100, 2002-era Roomba" border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="1147" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkw7eMoWfDGR3Vc62d9hntvJxhJPoAyTQbAbUXJnxg82Y4cgwyYFyZhgnw85x_cTwsMw7oh3lGXmonRLftfky3Ow-T8rbJLPjzRaRHhGqL5ADWirl-oTn_okdWF-v8ZRNnoWYD8FlwST-EQv5ApSokdqOV3W-L3j9PCcllqOYCBpn_iONeDE7Vg/w640-h214/sep800-nok5100-roomba.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sony Ericsson P800, Nokia 5100, 2002-era Roomba</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally… well, a different sort of invention altogether. 120 years ago in 1902, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/storyofteddybear.htm" target="_blank">Teddy Bear</a> was invented. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the teddy became the most popular type of <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/09/soft-toys-1880.html" target="_blank">soft toy</a> of all time. Go and cuddle one right now.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqftAexhYzuDoTi-iwurEsl8aM5xpSvJVYERX7uFGA3XZDlJzKDkCW9Z4VzLKuG51yEJomJqhqofp8bakH3dQb345nTapIwSPaZNNSXxVXqf0cKGHZAgYq11OSfgVU5sqIhOvZV_e6kG4yIbnZaWhIdXmjCILESa2_MsVxJfGYjh3R9soUhHNbig/s500/teddy-bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1903 Teddy Bear" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="388" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqftAexhYzuDoTi-iwurEsl8aM5xpSvJVYERX7uFGA3XZDlJzKDkCW9Z4VzLKuG51yEJomJqhqofp8bakH3dQb345nTapIwSPaZNNSXxVXqf0cKGHZAgYq11OSfgVU5sqIhOvZV_e6kG4yIbnZaWhIdXmjCILESa2_MsVxJfGYjh3R9soUhHNbig/w248-h320/teddy-bear.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1903 Teddy Bear</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><i>Image credits:<br />DUKW: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/131561895@N06/51260913042/" target="_blank">270865 via Flickr</a> - CC BY-ND 2.0<br />VW Phaeton: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2004_Volkswagen_Phaeton_%2842694572062%29.jpg" target="_blank">Greg Gjerdingen via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />KITT Replica: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22K.I.T.T%22,_Pontiac_Trans_Am_Knight_Rider_Replica,_Brands_Hatch,_8th_May_2016_%2826821731342%29.jpg" target="_blank">Interceptor73 via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />Namco Pole Position: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/presta/305434903/" target="_blank">Steve McFarland via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0<br />ColecoVision: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Festival_du_jeu_video_20080926_023.jpg" target="_blank">Georges Seguinia via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0<br />Magnavox Odyssey: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Festival_du_Jeu_Vid%C3%A9o_-_2010-09-11_-_Magnavox_Odyssey_1.jpg" target="_blank">Jesmar via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0<br />Ferranti Argus 700: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/37996583811@N01/4714637209/in/photolist-69h5eg-8bBKor" target="_blank">Rain Rabbit via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0<br />Hedy Lamarr: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hedy_Lamarr_in_The_Heavenly_Body_1944.jpg" target="_blank">MGM via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />Gatling Gun: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gatling_gun_1865.jpg" target="_blank">Max Smith via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />DEC Rainbow 100: <a href="https://flickr.com/photos/30456958@N00/3054151290" target="_blank">David Alcubierre via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br />DEC Professional running as VAX Console: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VAX_Console.jpg" target="_blank">Michael L. Umbricht via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br />Prototype Lilith: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/11932978@N00/3804045138" target="_blank">Tomislav Medak via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />Cray XMP: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cray-XMP48-p1010241.jpg" target="_blank">Rama via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0 FR<br />2010s Bloomberg Terminal: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scrippsjschool/13220493035/" target="_blank">E.W. Scripps School of Journalism</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0<br />Jupiter Ace: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soupmeister/5236368026" target="_blank">Soupmeister via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br />Sord M5: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/liftarn/2894080543/" target="_blank">Staffan Vilcans via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br />Elk Cloner: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elk_Cloner_poem.png" target="_blank">Richard Skrenta via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />Sony CDP-101:<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lettore_CD_Sony_CDP-101_-_Museo_della_Scienza_e_della_Tecnologia_Leonardo_da_Vinci.jpg" target="_blank"> Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br />Microsoft Windows 3.1: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microsoft_Windows_3.1_Jpn_box.jpg" target="_blank">Darklanlan via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />IBM ThinkPad: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/qviri/3497552625/" target="_blank">Jarek Piórkowski via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0<br />HP LaserJet 4: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HP_LaserJet_4.jpg" target="_blank">DuffDudeX1 via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />Atari Falcon030: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stiefkind/38364269331/" target="_blank">Wolfgang Stief via Flickr</a> – CC0<br />DEC Alpha 21064: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DEC_Alpha_21-35023-13_J40793-28_top.jpg" target="_blank">Dirk Oppelt via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0<br />Sony Ericsson P800: Sony Ericsson Press Release<br />Nokia 5100: Nokia Press Release<br />Roomba: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roomba_original.jpg" target="_blank">Larry D Moore via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY 4.0<br />1903 Teddy Bear: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/7237653442/" target="_blank">Tim Evanson via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br /></i></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-57169950473957910942022-12-30T16:37:00.001+00:002022-12-30T16:56:56.278+00:00Chocolate, Cheese, Ice-Cream and Fizzy Drink. Oh my.<p>This year sees the anniversary of several well-known food brands, and a few lesser-known ones. It turns out that some have been around for longer than you might imagine… others, not so much.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/brands/philadelphia" target="_blank">Philadelphia Cream Cheese</a> started off life in 1872 in where else, but… errr… New York State. As sometimes happens, Philadelphia was an accident. In an attempt to make a crumbly French-style cheese known as Neufchâtel, too much cream was added which had the happy effect of making it easy to spread. Cream Cheese was born, and the Philadelphia brand became a success that is still widely enjoyed around the world today – although it has had many different owners during that time, today it is owned by Kraft.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhwpZOOKFmx4dVonOa8Fgl3MTglkWvHbHrGZsAglOhXX4xTtMKI18c5ciAD-FuQVJCBAxJ9PeqQ65gQuDNcLKx8aEMsD--XJhSHgHN-Gagcs_0s4J_G6eHCsmJViB-3-1vzWD2UOHjygBAy-rLhFEoayVSP3NUbJeIhnFWgEsNkYNDyETvaItjQ/s1491/philadelphia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Philadelphia Cream Cheese" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1491" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhwpZOOKFmx4dVonOa8Fgl3MTglkWvHbHrGZsAglOhXX4xTtMKI18c5ciAD-FuQVJCBAxJ9PeqQ65gQuDNcLKx8aEMsD--XJhSHgHN-Gagcs_0s4J_G6eHCsmJViB-3-1vzWD2UOHjygBAy-rLhFEoayVSP3NUbJeIhnFWgEsNkYNDyETvaItjQ/w400-h269/philadelphia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philadelphia Cream Cheese<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />A rather more polarising thing to spread on bread is <a href="https://www.marmite.co.uk/" target="_blank">Marmite</a>. Introduced in 1902, this intensely savoury spread is made from yeast extract. More than something to put on your toast (or in a stew or casserole), Marmite also gives rise to a saying in British English that something is a “bit Marmite”, which means that people will either love it or hate it. The distinctive Marmite jars are shipped worldwide, and today the brand is owned by Unilever.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGXh07ruQKlrfUL5dZf0fiMhUxyoclYCL0-3mMrldWFVYp1YWU9Bv18_D9XtDxQYXdRxtArIpIiwjvo-ccipzXvuFiaGU904ocva5gAHHvh5TsvQ6JHUNV8S0pXaAXW2ZVpXbpsOMxeyg6jCNscYHF6btPebxf96ziRWADV4ptWyNgtq8f1owaQ/s1436/marmite.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marmite and toast" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1436" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGXh07ruQKlrfUL5dZf0fiMhUxyoclYCL0-3mMrldWFVYp1YWU9Bv18_D9XtDxQYXdRxtArIpIiwjvo-ccipzXvuFiaGU904ocva5gAHHvh5TsvQ6JHUNV8S0pXaAXW2ZVpXbpsOMxeyg6jCNscYHF6btPebxf96ziRWADV4ptWyNgtq8f1owaQ/w400-h279/marmite.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marmite and toast</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yeast extract is a key ingredient in <a href="https://www.jacobs.co.uk/products/twiglets/" target="_blank">Twiglets</a>, another British snack, introduced in 1932. Starting off life as a way to use up leftover dough, these unusual twig-shaped snacks are very savoury and are traditionally eaten at Christmas. Again, the brand has had a few owners and it is today a product of Jacobs, part of United Biscuits.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamjL_MX0fg339u0bCtbbIGgSUCRMQb3Ln-LkKOZ6DFwHvbYO9qYnY1bZWwe3NXlF89WiNPe3XpSiVbkRxydv8qtwx7qoMywEKJFXFiXXZV1PqHu_1e2Gcgeu4alnVt_qhWbxuMNed1NtZWxNKLWbBaGW1CKtq3OW5u5EMYDDfflmoxt1hF6ei9A/s1891/twiglets.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two bags of Twiglets" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1891" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhamjL_MX0fg339u0bCtbbIGgSUCRMQb3Ln-LkKOZ6DFwHvbYO9qYnY1bZWwe3NXlF89WiNPe3XpSiVbkRxydv8qtwx7qoMywEKJFXFiXXZV1PqHu_1e2Gcgeu4alnVt_qhWbxuMNed1NtZWxNKLWbBaGW1CKtq3OW5u5EMYDDfflmoxt1hF6ei9A/w400-h211/twiglets.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two bags of Twiglets</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The <a href="https://www.marsbar.co.uk/" target="_blank">Mars Bar</a> was invented in the same year – 1932 – by the British arm of Mars Incorporated. A worldwide success – with slightly different ingredients according to market – the British Mars Bar contains nougat and caramel coated in milk chocolate. The flavour of the bar is quite distinctive and has found its way into many authorised spin-off products. Somewhat less authorised in the artery-clogging <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar" target="_blank">deep-fried Mars Bar</a> found in Scotland.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-He8iJJHu0NWFvewFJQfOOHfpyGBTDHW2yrWnUCWtybJUE5aIEIZr5WIvIWMYJhusYxfON5Hb4bx1ZLAGCFe_NAtNsXQs07TOAeoHznMwWeP7bGQwHgvufgD9MU1tOvLGmHVbUEHUV7HElBmcRY05wsrvQLA_DPQ5BPh8GTY6SlE597ty-rjjGA/s1481/mars-bar.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Partially-eaten Mars Bar" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1481" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-He8iJJHu0NWFvewFJQfOOHfpyGBTDHW2yrWnUCWtybJUE5aIEIZr5WIvIWMYJhusYxfON5Hb4bx1ZLAGCFe_NAtNsXQs07TOAeoHznMwWeP7bGQwHgvufgD9MU1tOvLGmHVbUEHUV7HElBmcRY05wsrvQLA_DPQ5BPh8GTY6SlE597ty-rjjGA/w400-h270/mars-bar.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partially-eaten Mars Bar</td></tr></tbody></table><br />1932 was a good year for snacks. The <a href="https://www.thefactsite.com/terrys-chocolate-orange-facts/" target="_blank">Terry’s Chocolate Orange</a> is another British product with strong sales around Christmas. Shaped like an orange, it consists of 20 segments of chocolate infused with orange oil, giving it a distinctive texture and taste. In order to separate the segments it needs to be hit on a hard surface first, giving way to the long-running advertising slogan “tap it and unwrap it”. Traditionally made from milk chocolate, other varieties are available plus a chocolate bar. The Terry’s company has had several different owners over the years, including Kraft, but is now owned by Carambar and made in France.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu37Bf1XG8lccFc7AxqAc6iJBPB9aLIckmdzpckTZsSVYavwYt6-QhOLq4JdSa998oeZ9ryYsfw6f4zlXfBCHQLWfcPtRHbCtft7byOOKWYvc0m9scaWk4uHn5FlpxhAZAHY23eL8KXOWwCKy0FeRRt9o_ZGYkAwFZaccEzAf2SaS-RVUUB7xvog/s1439/terrys-chocolate-orange.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Terry's Chocolate Orange" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1439" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu37Bf1XG8lccFc7AxqAc6iJBPB9aLIckmdzpckTZsSVYavwYt6-QhOLq4JdSa998oeZ9ryYsfw6f4zlXfBCHQLWfcPtRHbCtft7byOOKWYvc0m9scaWk4uHn5FlpxhAZAHY23eL8KXOWwCKy0FeRRt9o_ZGYkAwFZaccEzAf2SaS-RVUUB7xvog/w400-h278/terrys-chocolate-orange.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry's Chocolate Orange</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Skip forward thirty years to 1962 and another iconic chocolate product was created by British firm Rowntree. <a href="https://www.nestle.co.uk/en-gb/brands/chocolate_and_confectionery/boxed" target="_blank">After Eight</a> mints are very thin chocolate mints, containing a fondant filling and traditionally served in a small box with each chocolate in an individual sleeve. Unlike many chocolate products marketed at young people, After Eights were marketed to adults as an upmarket product that could be eaten after dinner with coffee. Today the product is owned by Nestlé and made in Germany.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzXhqSDptawi0_M48FwoMqVwtK4z4FunTAw_nqJerH6E8zA51ypQB6Cqa-hY5blpOxrlc6RQNFhS_9gJBNXX0s96zGpbYTdYcq_gCU2TKIlRz_UWe7wlLI92NfQ-WckActtZVjKSah1zlWSD3sr323wrpB6TAecgiLZ8dtx7OAvAKKpPnXwEAfA/s1333/after-eights.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Box of After Eight mints" border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1333" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzXhqSDptawi0_M48FwoMqVwtK4z4FunTAw_nqJerH6E8zA51ypQB6Cqa-hY5blpOxrlc6RQNFhS_9gJBNXX0s96zGpbYTdYcq_gCU2TKIlRz_UWe7wlLI92NfQ-WckActtZVjKSah1zlWSD3sr323wrpB6TAecgiLZ8dtx7OAvAKKpPnXwEAfA/w400-h211/after-eights.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box of After Eight mints</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Switching back to cheese from chocolate and moving away from big corporations, we come to <a href="https://www.charlesmartell.com/products/stinking-bishop/" target="_blank">Stinking Bishop</a>. This aromatic (some might say “smelly”) soft cheese was originally developed in 1972 by Charles Martell. Produced from the milk of rare Old Gloucester cows, the distinctive smell comes from the cheese being washed with a locally-produced perry (pear wine) made with the Stinking Bishop pear. The “stinking” part of the name came from the nickname of the ill-tempered farmer who grew them. The cheese itself would have remained obscure, but it ends up as a key plot device in the 2005 movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. As a product it remains stubbornly unavailable in supermarkets, but can be found at cheese specialists, delicatessens and some high-end retailers.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13j2VFlz9j3x_116Z3jP-BZpZv7ohD6iDPqT_fRFtyQxRh4T_Y_3QsuneFb2PsXBJIQMd1JLZut7iSjwaoufzjPgF3e7FKUEDFu2eeO-8t3Y72tdKcFIP6jJUi2GMjn03dQ9ffGXg6-GQzi64Ia9sIPL2oEg8e-8SbbcHWJJqf5YLSnUk0JPiGA/s1333/stinking-bishop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Stinking Bishop cheese" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13j2VFlz9j3x_116Z3jP-BZpZv7ohD6iDPqT_fRFtyQxRh4T_Y_3QsuneFb2PsXBJIQMd1JLZut7iSjwaoufzjPgF3e7FKUEDFu2eeO-8t3Y72tdKcFIP6jJUi2GMjn03dQ9ffGXg6-GQzi64Ia9sIPL2oEg8e-8SbbcHWJJqf5YLSnUk0JPiGA/w400-h300/stinking-bishop.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stinking Bishop cheese</td></tr></tbody></table><br />One thing that goes nicely with a nice piece of cheese is some nice bread. One of the best-known types of bread worldwide is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciabatta" target="_blank">ciabatta</a>. You might think that this is a traditional Italian product, but in fact it was only developed in 1982. This white bread is notable for its inclusion of olive oil, giving it a unique texture and taste. The bread was developed in response to the success of the French baguette which was taking over the Italian market, and became a worldwide success in its own right… one that you wouldn’t think was just 40 years old.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTimu6yJxeXhtNL8O1RDtr50mS2nyU18H9fg0wFBmZWrE4XUIUZejbHZOwiC9IOeYX7YZtdTW8tG7jTl6n5ZH87-hd2UigKu3BAD3B5VObqKxVQgghoeVRsnh6luWcV1gj-bdtMmA4r0_ca3D1ZfKdnlhWP9nEx7gniYgGefIU1SjKGh2cPymQ9Q/s1333/ciabatta.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Slices of ciabatta" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTimu6yJxeXhtNL8O1RDtr50mS2nyU18H9fg0wFBmZWrE4XUIUZejbHZOwiC9IOeYX7YZtdTW8tG7jTl6n5ZH87-hd2UigKu3BAD3B5VObqKxVQgghoeVRsnh6luWcV1gj-bdtMmA4r0_ca3D1ZfKdnlhWP9nEx7gniYgGefIU1SjKGh2cPymQ9Q/w400-h300/ciabatta.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slices of ciabatta</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Something that sounds Italian but isn’t, <a href="https://www.wallsicecream.com/uk/our-brands/viennetta.html" target="_blank">Viennetta</a> is a brand of ice-cream also introduced in 1982. Consisting of layers of rippled ice-cream with very thin layers of chocolate in between, the Viennetta is a high-distinctive looking product. Despite the name, Viennetta was developed in the UK by Walls and the brand is now owned by Unilever.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQRdgOCT9R__jI_tzpJOpRDL6Cku43MTuOgTPcDHihaoRFnNCg0YENWBsbb1lvbl3P_IUu31LuY5Ax3irnYr1-eKXseEgpiTp31r4NQ9rLS-MhkqskULmQZwArTZWNI-S4gOPIUH8Wz-YMc_4n65c3k3kUdSwLQRfqq5uF0WSwV5y99U6gdNarg/s1603/vienneta.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A very small Viennetta" border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1603" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzQRdgOCT9R__jI_tzpJOpRDL6Cku43MTuOgTPcDHihaoRFnNCg0YENWBsbb1lvbl3P_IUu31LuY5Ax3irnYr1-eKXseEgpiTp31r4NQ9rLS-MhkqskULmQZwArTZWNI-S4gOPIUH8Wz-YMc_4n65c3k3kUdSwLQRfqq5uF0WSwV5y99U6gdNarg/w400-h266/vienneta.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very small Viennetta</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Another brand that isn’t as old as you might think is <a href="https://www.dietcoke.com/" target="_blank">Diet Coke</a>, introduced in 1982 and the perfect thing to wash down some high-calorie ice-cream. Although the Coca-Cola Company had made a sugar-free cola since 1963 under the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_%28drink%29v" target="_blank">Tab</a>” brand, they wanted to keep the “Coke” name associated with their flagship product only. However, the success of rival Diet Pepsi led to a change of plans and Diet Coke was born. Diet Coke has a slightly different taste from normal Coca-Cola, and in 2005 the company also introduced Coca-Cola Zero which has a taste closer to the original. Diet Coke (and similar products) are widely available, and are one of the few drinks you can reliably find if you want to avoid sugar.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsKM4FmnWUEi9Qu1Cl3BjsZwjxXHs3d9TlX-0FyZluwwxeG-S4KIP7vITa2bOdom1pAErYgW9AOWgO6d7r9YqdfWKMqHAnnPEfNppIl7RKkGxSx-UpYam9B1sjVQhY_-U0Us-OJGEz_IHC3iUj2GSNcWIGKgJowetu4C1sYRFvTkQJla0GXFF6g/s1603/diet-coke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Quite a lot of Diet Coke" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1603" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsKM4FmnWUEi9Qu1Cl3BjsZwjxXHs3d9TlX-0FyZluwwxeG-S4KIP7vITa2bOdom1pAErYgW9AOWgO6d7r9YqdfWKMqHAnnPEfNppIl7RKkGxSx-UpYam9B1sjVQhY_-U0Us-OJGEz_IHC3iUj2GSNcWIGKgJowetu4C1sYRFvTkQJla0GXFF6g/w400-h250/diet-coke.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite a lot of Diet Coke</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Of course, other types of food are also available and you might want to balance out all the fat and processed ingredients with something healthy like a salad (invented some time in antiquity) and maybe a nice glass of water…<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br />Philadelphia: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%A1%D1%8B%D1%80_%D0%A4%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%8F.JPG" target="_blank">POSt18 via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />Marmite: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhinoneal/4433783666/" target="_blank">Rhino Neal via Flickr</a> – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<br />Twiglets: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/slice/1041594128" target="_blank">Adam Kuban via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<br />Mars Bar: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mars_bar_bitten.jpg" target="_blank">Asim18 via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br />Terry’s Chocolate Orange: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/51937894060/" target="_blank">Brett Jordan via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />After Eight Mints: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/like_the_grand_canyon/6674463159/" target="_blank">Like_the_Grand_Canyon via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0<br />Stinking Bishop: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/srboisvert/5797224874/" target="_blank">Stephen Boisvert via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />Ciabatta: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tuhfe001/350313388/" target="_blank">tuhfe via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br />Vienneta: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclonebill/7123617743/" target="_blank">cyclonebill via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br />Diet Coke: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/505176492/" target="_blank">Niall Kennedy via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0</i><br /><br /></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-42589931331217176252022-11-23T22:10:00.000+00:002022-11-23T22:10:23.551+00:00Nokia 1011 (1992)<p><b>Introduced November 1992</b><br /><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTqtuH13Nsx5j_8P5PpJlqVf5AXeQNJEqi2cLybvPPWfs1fn4URw1MUjEiFVoOB0jjbJUE5seltGvMYxRkREjvADISLGQgiOo9_cdiJWye-t7vz4ixBiN5d-CW9WinTu223FXyB8SDOZ0-sjFmZvIr4RwerULLayIM6VWXkE4RjImteumHA0JoQ/s1920/nokia-1011-2-orig.webp" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nokia 1011" border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="719" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTqtuH13Nsx5j_8P5PpJlqVf5AXeQNJEqi2cLybvPPWfs1fn4URw1MUjEiFVoOB0jjbJUE5seltGvMYxRkREjvADISLGQgiOo9_cdiJWye-t7vz4ixBiN5d-CW9WinTu223FXyB8SDOZ0-sjFmZvIr4RwerULLayIM6VWXkE4RjImteumHA0JoQ/w240-h640/nokia-1011-2-orig.webp" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nokia 1011</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The <a href="https://www.nokia.com/blog/thirty-years-on-from-the-call-that-transformed-how-we-communicate/" target="_blank">Nokia 1011</a> wasn’t the world’s first GSM mobile phone – that was the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/05/orbitel-tpu-901-1992.html" target="_blank">Orbitel TPU 901</a> – but that was always a bit of a niche product, and it was Nokia who took this technology and mass-produced it.<br /><br />Nokia had been in the mobile phone business for a few years at this point. Starting off in wood pulp in the 19th century, Nokia had diversified into rubber, then electric cable, then electronics and by the 1980s, Nokia was a large industrial conglomerate. By the early 1990s, Nokia had started to focus on communications products – although mobile phones were more commonly branded “Mobira” rather than “Nokia”.</p><p><br />So when the Nokia 1011 was launched on 10th November (possibly the reason for the phone’s name) it was also sold as the Mobira Cityman 2000. Physically rather similar to Nokia’s analogue phones, the 1011 was a fully digital 2G GSM device. Compared to earlier networks, GSM offered better call quality, and it couldn’t be listened to by eavesdroppers. The 1011 also supported SMS (like the Orbitel), although you’d need to find someone with another SMS-capable phone to exchange messages.<br /><br />It was a big and heavy device, coming in at nearly 500 grams. It was also massively expensive, costing 2470 Deutschmarks at launch (about £1000 at the time, or £2500 today). Prices very quickly dropped, however and in just a few years an equivalent model would only cost a few hundred pounds. The Nokia 1011 didn’t last long on the market either, being replaced two years later by the 2010 and 2110 devices.<br /><br />If your mobile carrier still supports 900MHz GSM, then the Nokia 1011 should work today, with an estimated price of £300 or so if you can find one. It’s not really a practical device for everyday use, and it’s not really one of the more iconic Nokias either.. but it <i>is </i>one of the most important.<br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://www.nokia.com/about-us/newsroom/media-resources/media-library/nokia-history-photos/" target="_blank">Nokia</a></i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-91423273300300304692022-11-08T21:15:00.001+00:002022-11-08T21:15:06.086+00:00Ford Mondeo (1992)<p><b>Launched November 1992</b></p><p>A decade after the launch of the icon 1982 <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/10/ford-sierra-vs-mercedes-benz-190-w201.html" target="_blank">Ford Sierra</a>, the Ford Motor Company was losing its way. Instead of being the engineering and design-led company that had been successful in previous decades, the beancounters had taken over and Ford’s cars in the late 1980s had a reputation for being built to maximise profit rather than for driver pleasure. This lack of attention to customer needs had a stark impact on the bottom line, Ford <a href="https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/ford-company-chronology/" target="_blank">went from posting a record profit of $4.6 billion in 1987 to a record loss of $2.3 billion</a> in 1991.<br /><br />Changes were afoot though. Ford had started working on a replacement for the Sierra in 1986 – just four years after it launched – and six years and an astonishing $6 billion later they had the replacement, the <a href="https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/ford/mondeo/357734/ford-mondeo-history-farewell-icon" target="_blank">Ford Mondeo</a>.<br /><br />The Mondeo was meant to be a world car (the Latin word for “world” is “mundus”) which could be sold in every market on earth with minimum modifications. At the time, Ford’s worldwide markets were fragmented with very different models which shared very little, apart from perhaps engines.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2amWRGHonkjxAzqOEZWaezXD7_NJ32XZcFYM-L79StIVTx6FIs7UBthHZT2uApDBp-8SLVEzqCuCFr9rQgH2xaThRyu9CHCWlnCC2u0Ka_QyW9_ACi06m_G8nqmE76lPQSVMR5PH9fa8WAkk9OmKAvudFliYDH4mMGsc96eVwn2BpJKxnWOmZlg/s1906/ford-mondeo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Early Mondeos were conservatively styled, but Ford became bolder with later models" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1906" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2amWRGHonkjxAzqOEZWaezXD7_NJ32XZcFYM-L79StIVTx6FIs7UBthHZT2uApDBp-8SLVEzqCuCFr9rQgH2xaThRyu9CHCWlnCC2u0Ka_QyW9_ACi06m_G8nqmE76lPQSVMR5PH9fa8WAkk9OmKAvudFliYDH4mMGsc96eVwn2BpJKxnWOmZlg/w640-h336/ford-mondeo-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early Mondeos were conservatively styled, but Ford became bolder with later models<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Finally making the shift from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive, the Mondeo was somewhat conservatively styled for the early 1990s but did have the flexibility of coming in a hatchback, saloon or estate configuration at launch which was something the Sierra lacked.<br /><br />Interior design was good for the time, and the Mondeo had excellent driving dynamics. It could also be loaded with the latest automotive technology – at a price – including traction control, a heated front windscreen, ABS and an airbag. The car was designed to take just about any engine from the Ford range, which meant that the engine bay was larger than some rivals which impacted on cabin space. Engine sizes varied from a basic 1.6 litre 90HP engine at launch to an impressive 202HP 2.5 litre V6 engine in the final year’s ST200 model.<br /><br />The first generation of Mondeo lasted until 2000, with a substantial facelift in 1996 which replaced almost all the body panels, lights and grille and improved the interior. But it never quite got to be the world car it wanted to be – North American versions were heavily reworked into the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, but it went a long way to rationalising Ford’s fractured product range.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmLBzxJ_qdmK7fdycBAkHPfFUsmb8WvdhnuhZb9X9Lw9B0g9elRG_0yC2XIxFifB_ywesLBgoG0gsfDZwXPQQ3lrOCqcUbeObn9kEU7BSJw0UF71Pr8jmtMorIYb-S5MCpBPb0G6o_kN9L_S43jiYpMxmP-TC2VbSjdMRfr-Q_U4yw9oVm1y1iw/s1833/ford-mondeo-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1833" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmLBzxJ_qdmK7fdycBAkHPfFUsmb8WvdhnuhZb9X9Lw9B0g9elRG_0yC2XIxFifB_ywesLBgoG0gsfDZwXPQQ3lrOCqcUbeObn9kEU7BSJw0UF71Pr8jmtMorIYb-S5MCpBPb0G6o_kN9L_S43jiYpMxmP-TC2VbSjdMRfr-Q_U4yw9oVm1y1iw/w640-h350/ford-mondeo-2.jpg" title="Perhaps unfairly sales reps sometimes called it the "Mon-dreary-o". But the higher the spec of Mondeo, the higher your rank as a rep." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perhaps unfairly sales reps sometimes called it the "Mon-dreary-o". But the higher the spec of Mondeo, the higher your rank as a rep.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The car was a significant success, particularly outside North America. In 2000 the second-generation Mondeo was launched, built on the same platform as the original but completely reworked with a more European flavour. The third generation was launched in 2006 and lasted another six years until 2012, when the fourth and final generation was launched. In 2022 Ford discontinued the Mondeo in worldwide markets, with the last one produced in March of that year. <br /><br />After thirty years the Mondeo died, a consistently good car that lost sales to SUVs and crossovers. Although a fifth-generation Mondeo is built in China, it is not for worldwide markets. Indeed, the Mondeo isn’t the only Ford casualty to crossovers, the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/09/ford-fiesta-mark-i-1976.html" target="_blank">Ford Fiesta</a> was also discontinued late in 2022.<br /><br />Most early Mondeos are as cheap as chips, except for high-end models such as the ST200 which easily command prices north of £10,000. When you consider that the price for the current model of Ford Focus – one size down from the Mondeo – starts at an eye-watering £27,000 then perhaps that doesn’t seem so expensive…<br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br />Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0 <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1995_Ford_Mondeo_Si_2.0_Front.jpg" target="_blank">[1]</a> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1995_Ford_Mondeo_Si_2.0_Rear.jpg" target="_blank">[2]</a></i><br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-45336310964394369862022-10-15T11:53:00.000+01:002022-10-15T11:53:27.871+01:00Ford Sierra vs Mercedes-Benz 190 (W201) vs Citroën BX vs BMW 3 Series (E30) (1982)<p><b>Introduced September / October / November 1982</b><br /><br />If you were looking for a classy family or small executive car in 1982, you were spoiled for choice. During the autumn of that year there were four models that came to market that helped to redefine motoring.<br /><br /><b>Ford Sierra</b><br /><br />Cars of the 1970s and earlier tended to suffer from poor aerodynamics, being about as smooth as a brick. Best-selling models such as the <a href="https://www.autoevolution.com/ford/cortina/" target="_blank">Ford Cortina</a> certainly looked the part in design terms, they had poor ergonomics and the high wind resistance contributed to poor fuel economy.<br /><br />The <a href="https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/ford/sierra/the-cars-ford-sierra-development-history/" target="_blank">Ford Sierra</a> dropped the Cortina name and was utterly different to look at. A slippery design made it much more aerodynamic than its predecessor, and the liftback design gave much greater versatility than the Cortina’s saloon. Inside, the dashboard was centred around the driver, making it very much a driver’s car. Higher-end models featured advanced electronics.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuu4Clq2-QqRjzvo6Eu5YrCjZ0ZWHDQpqJoE3mGfVcnpq1-cBCxFQHGz2-N-iPwbebp_zsVAuGJ3VhQ4MNIVUtmEI5bb77CyD_e2rKAMYBot_f8Sw1dIIoO3nRZ2ykdHy3XTsmUng7w4K4d69L5gXke-FX2wtpsUiw9DKuJG3k18QFmWsEBwzPQ/s3152/ford-sierra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three early models of Ford Sierra" border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="3152" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuu4Clq2-QqRjzvo6Eu5YrCjZ0ZWHDQpqJoE3mGfVcnpq1-cBCxFQHGz2-N-iPwbebp_zsVAuGJ3VhQ4MNIVUtmEI5bb77CyD_e2rKAMYBot_f8Sw1dIIoO3nRZ2ykdHy3XTsmUng7w4K4d69L5gXke-FX2wtpsUiw9DKuJG3k18QFmWsEBwzPQ/w640-h186/ford-sierra.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three early models of Ford Sierra</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Underneath the unconventional shell was a more conventional drivetrain using a traditional rear-wheel drive layout with some often quite elderly engines up at the front. At a time when cars in this sector were becoming front-wheel drive, it seemed a bit of a throwback.<br /><br />It was a troubled car though. The “jelly mould” shape may seem more familiar today, but buyers in the early 1980s thought it went a bit too far – many still wanted a saloon rather than a liftback, and it took five years for Ford to come up with an answer to that. Conversely, the futuristic design may not have gone far enough, especially when it came to the traditional windows and rather ugly base model grille. <br /><br />Sales were slow at first, but during 11 years of continuous development and product improvement, the Sierra turned into a remarkably successful car. It had a sound pedigree, with designers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_Bahnsen" target="_blank">Uwe Bahnsen</a> (designer of various generations of Capri, Escort, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/09/ford-fiesta-mark-i-1976.html" target="_blank">Fiesta</a> and Cortina), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lutz_%28businessman%29" target="_blank">Bob Lutz</a> (BMW 3 Series, Ford Escort III) and <a href="https://www.bcu.ac.uk/architecture-and-design/the-student-experience/our-graduates/patrick-le-qu%C3%A9ment" target="_blank">Patrick Le Quément</a> (Ford Cargo and later the Renault Espace, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/renault-avantime-vs-renault-vel-satis.html" target="_blank">Avantime</a>, Twingo and Megane).<br /><br />The “jelly mould” certainly broke the mould of car design, although many elements look dated today. Despite being something of a design icon, the Sierra suffers from being relatively unloved. In the UK there were still a million on the road in 1995, but today it’s just a <a href="https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/ford_sierra" target="_blank">paltry 2000 or so</a>. When was the last time you saw one in the wild?<br /><br /><br /><b>Mercedes-Benz 190 (W201)</b><br /><br />Like the Sierra, the <a href="https://www.benzinsider.com/2007/03/mercedes-history-the-201-series-1982-1993/" target="_blank">Mercedes-Benz 190</a> was part of the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-segment" target="_blank">D Segment</a> of cars. Unlike the Sierra, the 190 had a very different design philosophy.<br /><br />It was – at the time – the smallest car ever made by Mercedes whose previous “smallest” model was the W123 luxo-barge. The 190 took all of the stylistic cues of the whole Mercedes range and subtly smoothed them out into something that could be quite understated and modern.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZR7dKZ_z0JAllPSWF3VdQw1ttgIIbB9L-Bx4qA_Oy2XVwLqhBX7wK0yjQwWpCfEfsyt33tCpha__Rpgkz-C6Ly1OR_RPJYjWhtI49fWtcnPgLmcptwl31DsE-QGzKsdf83IWknTjXk8lNK1Hp3WM4dV6c4GIZdANkb7RYe9i4Xx4236ZvT-lqpQ/s5331/mercedes-190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A trio of Mercedes-Benz 190s" border="0" data-original-height="1675" data-original-width="5331" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZR7dKZ_z0JAllPSWF3VdQw1ttgIIbB9L-Bx4qA_Oy2XVwLqhBX7wK0yjQwWpCfEfsyt33tCpha__Rpgkz-C6Ly1OR_RPJYjWhtI49fWtcnPgLmcptwl31DsE-QGzKsdf83IWknTjXk8lNK1Hp3WM4dV6c4GIZdANkb7RYe9i4Xx4236ZvT-lqpQ/w640-h202/mercedes-190.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A trio of Mercedes-Benz 190s</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The elegant looks of the 190 were mostly down to <a href="https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/exclusive/classic-magazine/bruno-sacco/" target="_blank">Bruno Sacco</a> who was responsible in part for almost every Mercedes from the 1970s to 1999. The 190 helped to create a Mercedes house style that still persists today, especially espousing the concepts of “horizontal homogeneity” (where all cars in the range share identifiable styling features) and vertical affinity (where the design is not rendered obsolete or out-of-date by its successors). This meant that the 190 and the cars that followed were all immediately identifiable as Mercedes, but none ever looked old-fashioned.<br /><br />A huge range of models followed, from reliable executive cruisers that could eat up the motorway miles to complete turbonutterbastard models powered by a Cosworth engine. Despite the more traditional design than the Sierra, the 190 was about as efficient when it came to aerodynamics.<br /><br />The 190 is a car that aged very well. In not trying too hard to be fashionable, it still looks quite contemporary. Like the Sierra, it had an 11-year production run – but although it was quite an uncommon car at the time, there are now more 190s – <a href="https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/mercedes_190" target="_blank">around 2900</a> – on the road than Sierras..<br /><br /><b>Citroën BX</b><br /><br />The Sierra broke new ground in design, the 190 modernised the traditional… but those weren’t the only options. French manufacturer Citroën always had an eye for quirky, non-traditional designs and the BX was certainly one of those. All straight lines and radical angles, the BX appealed to those who wanted something different.<br /><br />As with the other cars, the BX had a legendary designer – in this case <a href="https://www.designindex.org/designers/design/marcello-gandini.html" target="_blank">Marcello Gandini</a> who designed high-end cars for Lamborghini, Maserati, De Tomaso, Alfa Romeo, Iso, Lancia and more affordable vehicles for Fiat and the timeless Renault 5 Supercinq. In this case, the BX was directly influenced by two prototype designs, the <a href="https://uk.motor1.com/photo/1478011/1977-reliant-fw11/" target="_blank">Reliant FW11</a> and the <a href="https://www.motorsportimages.com/photos/?year=1979&race_type_id=202&event_id=260267" target="_blank">Volvo Tundra</a>. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVIY-9pAe6WE5yPhNs1xMRii60Acmd3bGaxSU5IoO7ElgRKer73yX1ClFVSP9YwLd9Y83rgszAIaFWNQR1R2G9ypbq2R4ombMW6l_1k-PPh6wprkfrHac6HhOqY9PswuYPOuwxu46BiqXblczxuhlqM3fVumbQgixUAOEIiqhzT2-1qroHght8Q/s1500/citroen-bx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Late model 16V Citroën BX" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVIY-9pAe6WE5yPhNs1xMRii60Acmd3bGaxSU5IoO7ElgRKer73yX1ClFVSP9YwLd9Y83rgszAIaFWNQR1R2G9ypbq2R4ombMW6l_1k-PPh6wprkfrHac6HhOqY9PswuYPOuwxu46BiqXblczxuhlqM3fVumbQgixUAOEIiqhzT2-1qroHght8Q/w400-h266/citroen-bx.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late model 16V Citroën BX</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A very lightweight design with a large number of plastic body panels, the BX had a drag coefficient even lower that the Sierra and standard 190 models. A high variety of engines filled out the range, including a Group B rally car. More mundanely, the BX was a popular estate car. And unlike the other cars mentioned here, the BX was a modern front-wheel drive layout.<br /><br />The BX logically fitted in a range below the shark-like <a href="http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-cars/psa/cx/cx-01.html" target="_blank">CX</a> and above the <a href="http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-cars/psa/ax/ax1.html" target="_blank">AX supermini</a>. This classic range of Citroën cars only coexisted for 3 years in the later 1980s, after which Citroën slow slipped into more boring designs. However, today the BX still looks fresh and doesn’t seem to have dated as much as competitors from the same era. However, it hasn’t survived well and there are just a <a href="https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/citroen_bx" target="_blank">few hundred examples</a> on British roads today.<br /><br /><b>BMW 3 Series (E30)</b><br /><br />The BMW 3-Series had been around for a generation by 1982, but the <a href="https://bmwguide.net/bmw-3-series/generation-e30/" target="_blank">second-generation E30</a> is quite possibly the quintessential 3-Series design. A smoothed-off version of the previous E21, the E30 was sleeker and more elegant while retaining a timeless BMW design. Of all the cars mentioned here, the E30’s understated looks probably make it the most modern of the four.<br /><br />During twelve years of production, the E30 had engines ranging from the sedate and economic to the insanely fast fitted. Apparently, the E30 did also include indicators although these were seldom used. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyIeQZg_xqRoqt0kebe_fhu8-DLp5NxD1Oy8Dd6s2viItjx6sNHKE2U_uesGrm3546RhzAr9-pC_MZIqVrC3lm4Jlcub-4YnObCySgWDhRqUtoot6GxcPndCZjAgHrgx9d7EIi2DQyy8qPw0GACgGPBguZyjwadGePIhtd8lhWWmBAb61RMO_kg/s1686/bmw-e30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="BMW 3-Series (E30)" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1686" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyIeQZg_xqRoqt0kebe_fhu8-DLp5NxD1Oy8Dd6s2viItjx6sNHKE2U_uesGrm3546RhzAr9-pC_MZIqVrC3lm4Jlcub-4YnObCySgWDhRqUtoot6GxcPndCZjAgHrgx9d7EIi2DQyy8qPw0GACgGPBguZyjwadGePIhtd8lhWWmBAb61RMO_kg/w400-h238/bmw-e30.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BMW 3-Series (E30)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Again, the pedigree of the designers was excellent, with <a href="https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-the-cars-of-claus-luthe/" target="_blank">Claus Luthe</a> and <a href="https://driventowrite.com/tag/boyke-boyer/" target="_blank">Boyke Boyer</a> having a hand in almost everything BMW designed during this era. Elegant both inside and outside, the E30 is one of the high points of BMW styling. Modern BMWs look rather like they have been <a href="https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/xm/356604/new-bmw-xm-super-suv-goes-sale-ps144980" target="_blank">drawn by a lunatic with a box of crayons</a>, so it’s difficult to understand how they have fallen so far.<br /><br />Out of all of them though, the E30 is the most common sight on British roads with around 3800 still registered. If in good condition, the E30 is a timelessly stylish as a good suit or a nice pair of shoes. There are <a href="https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/bmw_3_series#!manufacture" target="_blank">around 4000</a> E30s still left on UK roads.<br /><br />All four cars were distinctive in their own ways and influenced vehicles that came afterward. Many are highly desirable – high-end Ford Sierra Cosworths can easily cost the best part of £100,000 or more – but more mundane models also have their charms. <br /><br />Do any of them really look forty years old? The Sierra perhaps has dated more than most, despite being the most futuristic looking. The BX still looks fresh and not a million miles away from some of the things on the market today. The Mercedes and BMW have aged very gracefully. Which one would you choose?<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_different_Sierra_MkI_models.jpg" target="_blank">Wouter82 via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Classics_and_Coffee_Stuttgart_1X7A0395.jpg" target="_blank">Alexander Migl via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BX16V.jpg" target="_blank">Keith Adams via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halle_77_28.05.2022_JM_%2826%29.jpg" target="_blank">Johannes Maximilian via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0</i><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-30066436790163467182022-08-28T22:50:00.001+01:002022-08-28T22:50:02.529+01:00Dragon 32 (1982)<p><b>Introduced August 1982</b><br /><br />By 1982 the home computer market in the UK was getting quite sophisticated with the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Micro</a>, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/04/sinclair-zx-spectrum-1982.html" target="_blank">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a> and <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/08/commodore-64-1982.html" target="_blank">Commodore 64</a> all competing for attention. To compete with these three extremely capable systems you were going to need something very good indeed. The <a href="https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/hardware/dragon-32/" target="_blank">Dragon 32</a> was not that computer. Not by a long chalk. Yet somehow it managed to carve out a fairly respectable slice of the market for a couple of years, and it all started so promisingly.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YToiYE6ETnlGCJ-FBLJ3KttnhzE-KU7P0nBgMHfjXsjfwKHJBTRL9-B94Q_e-k947nj4UXEPvbSCDLTCcIRd0mozMWq616eLSP5FCo_oScDJ01mN-KnS2UC8ksk4o8aZJJh3XRm9dVzi5eptTHCvdI6cqgY-Qns4T3FezeZI7uL-sCjX5Fvmlw/s1204/dragon-32-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1204" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YToiYE6ETnlGCJ-FBLJ3KttnhzE-KU7P0nBgMHfjXsjfwKHJBTRL9-B94Q_e-k947nj4UXEPvbSCDLTCcIRd0mozMWq616eLSP5FCo_oScDJ01mN-KnS2UC8ksk4o8aZJJh3XRm9dVzi5eptTHCvdI6cqgY-Qns4T3FezeZI7uL-sCjX5Fvmlw/w400-h333/dragon-32-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dragon 32</td></tr></tbody></table><br />British toy firm <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mettoy" target="_blank">Mettoy</a> – manufacturer of Corgi Toys – had spotted that children were becoming increasingly interested in computers and decided to enter the market, creating a factory in Wales to build the Dragon. Mettoy knew a lot about marketing and distribution, and in particular it understood export markets. However, Mettoy got into technical difficulties and the Dragon Data business ended up under the control of the industrial giant <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Electric_Company" target="_blank">GEC</a>.<br /><br />The Dragon 32 itself was based on a Motorola reference design and used their 6809E processor, rather than the more common Zilog Z80 or MOS 6502s that rivals used. The dragon wasn’t the only machine built to the same basic design – the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/09/trs-80-color-computer-1980.html" target="_blank">TRS-80 Color Computer</a> (CoCo) launched in the US two years earlier was very similar and was somewhat compatible when it came to software.<br /><br />Making a sort-of-clone of a two-year old computer in 1982 – when technology was moving at a breath-taking rate – may not have been a great start, but the 6809E was a capable CPU, the machine was very well built and you could connect up joysticks, a printer and a decent monitor. RAM was 32KB, a so-so amount for the time (a later 64KB version, the Dragon 64 was launched not long after) and it had simple sound capabilities. The inbuilt Microsoft BASIC was pretty good to program, which was one of the main things people liked to do in those days. Software could be ported across from the CoCo with a few modifications. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhBpxFEk-Xgxf5p1BcYjYgqD2oiN3nPsUAclY42y7IeBttNZ8mglgUf0sbVTVZVIARUNdy8vt_IBx9n-zkixxVVjn5V2KOEmd9DL903penQq5Qz28d6tKnnKzmGf0c3__pZPWgXnNHGQno3raZhKWuQo_4KFOMMZ5_T3jcC8xXD7GaYy82i04TQ/s1333/dragon-32-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dragon 64 in use" border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhBpxFEk-Xgxf5p1BcYjYgqD2oiN3nPsUAclY42y7IeBttNZ8mglgUf0sbVTVZVIARUNdy8vt_IBx9n-zkixxVVjn5V2KOEmd9DL903penQq5Qz28d6tKnnKzmGf0c3__pZPWgXnNHGQno3raZhKWuQo_4KFOMMZ5_T3jcC8xXD7GaYy82i04TQ/w240-h320/dragon-32-2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dragon 64 in use</td></tr></tbody></table><br />On the more negative side – the graphics were terrible, especially when it came to the colour palettes. The Dragon was also incapable of displaying lowercase characters without modification, which limited its appeal as an educational or business computer, and you couldn’t easily mix text and graphics at the same time. Although the Dragon 32 was popular enough to have many best-selling games titles ported to it, the poor graphics meant that they didn’t look as good as games played on rival machines.<br /><br />Overall it wasn’t a bad system, but it was up against more capable competition. It might have been a contender but by 1983 the home computer market was imploding, with an oversupply of systems, brutal price wars and a fragmented array of available systems that frankly needed shaking out. Dragon Data was one of the victims, going bust in 1984, but the assets being bought up by a Spanish company named Eurohard which sold the product line until 1987, when it too went bust.<br /><br />Despite market failures, the Dragon 32 retains a following in the hobbyist market with many additional modifications including improved operating systems and peripherals, including modern add-ons such as memory card readers in lieu of tape or disk drives. Working systems can command prices in of a few hundred pounds, depending on condition and accessories. <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dragon_32.jpg" target="_blank">Liftarn / Pixel8 via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY-SA 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/37996583811@N01/34630039210/" target="_blank">Rain Rabbit via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0</i><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-39493711905093589782022-08-24T20:22:00.003+01:002022-08-24T20:22:30.466+01:00Commodore 64 (1982)<p><b>Released August 1982</b><br /><br />This – ladies and gentlemen – is the big one as far as 8-bit computers go. The biggest-selling single model of computer of all time, and a system that had success worldwide and is still remembered fondly today. I give you… the <a href="https://www.commodore.ca/commodore-products/commodore-64-the-best-selling-computer-in-history/" target="_blank">Commodore 64</a>.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwNztwt8sutCrQ3iz6WEa-eWbeU_ha7J8---3j0WCc4Fg9MCQR2HBlNL7gDPBFYS7Abo4KV0exe9Dxuw3I1APIqMMkfED66edTUu1SfbQEbg2SX5xu3DJGVjKBdX7Q51TERsi9pdwJmGvRWbceHdQJ-ZZuKMLgKOOxDKn3GeAOsBtCcH471pD3A/s1899/commodore-64.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Commodore 64 original "breadbin" case" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1899" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwNztwt8sutCrQ3iz6WEa-eWbeU_ha7J8---3j0WCc4Fg9MCQR2HBlNL7gDPBFYS7Abo4KV0exe9Dxuw3I1APIqMMkfED66edTUu1SfbQEbg2SX5xu3DJGVjKBdX7Q51TERsi9pdwJmGvRWbceHdQJ-ZZuKMLgKOOxDKn3GeAOsBtCcH471pD3A/w640-h338/commodore-64.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commodore 64 original "breadbin" case<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />At first glance, the C64 is difficult to tell apart from the previous year’s <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/01/commodore-vic-20-1981.html" target="_blank">VIC-20</a> as it shipped in a near-identical case at first. Inside though this was a much more powerful machine, running on a MOS Technology 6510 CPU, essentially a custom version of the popular 6502. The “64” in the Commodore 64 name comes from the amount of available RAM. The C64 used clever paging techniques where the CPU can page between ROM and RAM and rearrange most of the computer’s internal memory map to maximise available memory. This sophisticated scheme gave programmers much more RAM to play with than the competition who mostly used a flat memory configuration where ROM and RAM had to share the same space.<br /><br />Graphics were a huge improvement over the VIC-20, with 320 x 200 pixels in 16 colours plus sprites, controlled by the MOS VIC-II graphics processor. Another MOS chip, the 6581 sound generator, gave multichannel sound. There was a built-in joystick port. By default the C64 shipped with a tape drive, or you could add on an incredibly slow floppy disk or the IEEE 488 serial bus which also supported printing. The hardware was subject to constant revision which sometimes produced compatibility problems.<br /><br />Software support was excellent, with around 10,000 titles produced during the lifetime of the machine. Initially some of this shipped on a ROM cartridge, but this had a limit of just 16Kb so eventually tape became more common for complex games. In terms of games, few platforms even game close to the C64.<br /><br />Excellent software and hardware made it an attractive proposition, but Commodore were keen to make this as affordable as possible. The initial launch price of $595 continually dropped, reaching $300 by 1983 (with cheaper deals available if you shopped around), easily undercutting the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2019/11/atari-400-800-1979.html" target="_blank">Atari 400/800</a>, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/apple-ii-1977.html" target="_blank">Apple II</a> and crucially the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/06/texas-instruments-ti-994a-1981.html" target="_blank">Texas Instruments TI-99/4A</a>. <br /><br />There was a lot of bad blood between Commodore and Texas Instruments... TI had nearly bankrupted Commodore in the 1970s during the <a href="https://www.storiesintek.com/home/the-calculator-wars-of-the-70s" target="_blank">pocket calculator wars</a>. Commodore boss <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tramiel" target="_blank">Jack Tramiel</a> wanted revenge, firstly the low-end VIC-20 piled on the pressures and the price-cutting on the Commodore 64 forced Texas to sell their system at a huge loss in order to compete. Not only did this force Texas to crash out of the home computer market, but it also inadvertently started a huge shake-out in the home computer market too.<br /><br />If you were a teenager in the UK at the time, you would probably have had endless playground arguments comparing the Commodore 64, <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/04/sinclair-zx-spectrum-1982.html" target="_blank">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a> and <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Microcomputer</a>. The argument could never be won because – in retrospect – all three platforms were really good and had their own strengths and weaknesses… but try telling kids that.<br /><br />Sales were strong throughout the 80s, but competition grew tougher. Commodore attempted to diversify the C64-based offerings, notably with the luggable <a href="https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/collection/sx64.htm" target="_blank">Commodore SX-64</a> (the first colour portable computer), the wedgy <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=998" target="_blank">Commodore 64C</a> and <a href="https://www.giantbomb.com/commodore-128/3045-58/" target="_blank">Commodore 128</a> plus an unsuccessful attempt at a games console with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64_Games_System" target="_blank">Commodore 64GS</a>. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmSzi4T7X61o9AT6N5Q5x-FpHFslAU7tF-l4qFNTaFwpHotxCJXzM1S_aH3Rn_h8pipX8HhaeyikP-jzAvdK-tTZarMplONRYQTgSLzvHo61oGR5SpbgarsnIHOFHnKJnjWGd3SfifZgRRhnL4ZEAeKFVFE4U73S6kX7G-dd_-bt3JU9U3sv9CQ/s1200/commodore-64c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Commodore 64C in the "wedge" case" border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1200" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmSzi4T7X61o9AT6N5Q5x-FpHFslAU7tF-l4qFNTaFwpHotxCJXzM1S_aH3Rn_h8pipX8HhaeyikP-jzAvdK-tTZarMplONRYQTgSLzvHo61oGR5SpbgarsnIHOFHnKJnjWGd3SfifZgRRhnL4ZEAeKFVFE4U73S6kX7G-dd_-bt3JU9U3sv9CQ/w400-h276/commodore-64c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commodore 64C in the "wedge" case<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />At least 12 million Commodore 64 units were shipped up until 1994, only stopping when Commodore folded that same year. Over 12 years of production, the C64 was a massively influential machine – even today. Modern clones such as <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Koch-Distribution-RGLA03-UK-61ST-Electronic-Games/dp/B07TLCKPQY" target="_blank">The C64</a> carry the torch, or used systems can typically be had for a few hundred pounds. Alternatively there are <a href="https://learn.adafruit.com/commodore-64-retro-guide/emulation" target="_blank">software emulators available</a>. There's no doubt that even 40 years after launch, the C64 still has its fans.<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commodore-64-Computer-FL.jpg" target="_blank">Evan-Amos via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C64c_system.jpg" target="_blank">Bill Bertram via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 2.5</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-65095871973830741442022-07-16T09:07:00.004+01:002022-07-16T09:07:53.764+01:00Grundy NewBrain (1982)<p><br /><b>Launched July 1982</b><br /><br />Largely forgotten today and not even very well remembered at the time, the <a href="https://www.theregister.com/Print/2012/07/02/newbury_labs_grundy_business_systems_newbrain_is_30_years_old/" target="_blank">Grundy NewBrain</a> is one of those microcomputers that could have been a contender in the early 1980s personal computer market. <br /><br />A compact Z80-based machine, the NewBrain featured exceptionally accurate floating point numbers and very high resolution monochrome graphics, which made it attractive to scientists and engineers. It could output to a monitor and TV, and interestingly most models sold had a 16 character display built into the case itself. Internal memory was split between 32KB of ROM and 32KB of RAM, a typical configuration. Additional paged memory could be added in 64KB blocks, theoretically giving a maximum of 2 megabytes. Expansion options included printers, disk drives and pretty much everything you’d expect for a microcomputer of this era. A portable version was also produced, utilising the inbuilt display plus a battery. The compact size of the NewBrain was due in part to a complex multi-layered motherboard that you tinkered with at your peril.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPWxBa9AwW6aodPGWbHkVaB_g-O4UG0TLpm-myUJSZS2hNp0DkDRrER0SlsjFKNLvwV2ZhFrdaFGIabHwn9BZrELSfZbEeUYjiFVwGrHAeTsVhE1ww5q5hHItk8lvQgLzsdc2GZ72UtCHWXC74g3sow6TE9YM0AvhYm3DG2UJ1YnjV-lmoDdD_g/s1566/newbrain-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Grundy NewBrain" border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1566" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPWxBa9AwW6aodPGWbHkVaB_g-O4UG0TLpm-myUJSZS2hNp0DkDRrER0SlsjFKNLvwV2ZhFrdaFGIabHwn9BZrELSfZbEeUYjiFVwGrHAeTsVhE1ww5q5hHItk8lvQgLzsdc2GZ72UtCHWXC74g3sow6TE9YM0AvhYm3DG2UJ1YnjV-lmoDdD_g/w640-h426/newbrain-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grundy NewBrain</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The hardware is pretty interesting, but the story of the development and eventual demise of the NewBrain is a slice of 1980s technology drama. Originally, the NewBrain was a project at Sinclair Radionics who were looking for a low-cost competitor to the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/apple-ii-1977.html" target="_blank">Apple II</a>. However, Sinclair Radionics were looking at a sub-£100 machine and the NewBrain was never going to be that cheap to build. Instead of going forward with the NewBrain, Clive Sinclair instead developed the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/01/sinclair-zx80-1980.html" target="_blank">ZX80</a> under his other company, Science of Cambridge.<br /><br />Sinclair Radionics found itself in financial difficulties. This original Sinclair company had developed small radio sets and pocket calculators, but the money ran out and Radionics was rescued by the National Enterprise Board (NEB) who transferred the NewBrain to another NEB-owned company, Newbury Labs.<br /><br />About this same time, the BBC was starting work on its computer literacy project, which would involve partnering with a manufacturer to create the BBC Microcomputer. The BBC was steered in the direction of the NEB-owned NewBrain which certainly ticked most of the boxes. It should have been a done deal, but when the BBC came calling the NewBrain wasn’t ready… and rival manufacturers had gotten wind of the BBC Micro and had insisted that they be allowed to tender. In the end, Acorn won the tender and their version of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Microcomputer</a> was born.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGAOGacZd1HUxUxPOWs7TXJPIzEUZL3X3E5j7HSCYcA3yMW-YDA6Q70YFhFqRpP3xIcFxxhpbUdGtq_RbjjDJ2FpT5ak0x5uboAoLzWSfwh2nzuvUkXIew2_IrroiL9Vr7NVSjaz5adQoIsbbLV2GaexVUjfI_um8wRhmRGK_wfKtzywcbBJlug/s1566/newbrain-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Grundy NewBrains with and without integrated displays" border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1566" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGAOGacZd1HUxUxPOWs7TXJPIzEUZL3X3E5j7HSCYcA3yMW-YDA6Q70YFhFqRpP3xIcFxxhpbUdGtq_RbjjDJ2FpT5ak0x5uboAoLzWSfwh2nzuvUkXIew2_IrroiL9Vr7NVSjaz5adQoIsbbLV2GaexVUjfI_um8wRhmRGK_wfKtzywcbBJlug/w640-h480/newbrain-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grundy NewBrains with and without integrated displays</td></tr></tbody></table><br />So, the NewBrain missed out on being both a Sinclair machine and a BBC Micro. In the end it ended up with a rather obscure company called Grundy Business Systems, who Newbury Labs sold the design to. It wasn’t an immediate market success, but it looked promising. So promising in fact that Grundy built a lot of them… but the hoped-for sales didn’t appear and by 1983 Grundy was in serious trouble. Essentially by 1983 it was all over, most remaining stocks were liquidated and the NewBrain ended up as a casualty of the early 1980s microcomputer crash.<br /><br />Although it was a limited success in the UK, it was rather more successful in the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece and – for some reason – Angola. Had it been ready when the BBC were interested then it might have been the first of a series of machines, but in the end the NewBrain’s potential was never realised. <br /><br />Today these are highly collectible machines, with working systems often commanding prices of £1000 or more. Alternatively, if you are a former NewBrain owner and want to rekindle old memories, then <a href="https://www.newbrainemu.eu/" target="_blank">an emulator is available</a>. <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Brain_IMG_4242.jpg" target="_blank">Rama & Musée Bolo via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0 FR<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mwichary/2190360426/" target="_blank">Marcin Wichary via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-61113568734753529642022-06-23T22:05:00.001+01:002022-06-23T22:05:27.656+01:00Jaguar XJ220 vs McLaren F1 (1992)<p><b>Launched 1992</b><br /><br />If you wanted a really fast British supercar in 1992 and you have about half a million pounds in your pocket, you had an intriguing choice between the <a href="https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/jaguar/104871/jaguar-xj220-buying-guide-review-1993-1994" target="_blank">Jaguar XJ220</a> and the <a href="https://cars.mclaren.com/gb-en/legacy/mclaren-f1" target="_blank">McLaren F1</a>. Thirty years later, one of these cars is considered to be a success and one a relative failure. But which is which?<br /><br />Let’s start with the Jag. By 1992, Jaguar was owned by Ford but had spent the previous few years struggling with a range of increasingly elderly cars. However, a successful foray into racing (largely thanks to TWR) had resulted in a supercar project… not just any car, but a street-legal machine capable of hitting 200 miles per hour.<br /><br />The concept version of the car caused a shockwave. An all-wheel-drive sports car powered by a mighty 6.2L V12 engine mounted in the back, this version of the XJ220 also had scissor doors and the slippery design made it look like no other Jag. The “220” part of the name was the top speed that Jaguar was hoping for and despite the then eye-watering price tag of £470,000 there were 1500 people who put down a deposit.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCxmdbTjBkJeG5ZsZxxijJ7MtIJKJTYOlh9-ZEAq0q--XMN2e07ZSuW2betCQFIto3CnWQ5zt-imxAP6GbK0Pf4CsQCLpBdtowsPO52mRlnQIo563MK51B5he58GKmE-CS7_syhHB4jBlfiKgUhW63rp8F0TlAm06WbmmI7sPEJm6TtmwizTXLQ/s1790/jaguar-xj220-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jaguar XJ220 - not your grandfather's Jag" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1790" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibCxmdbTjBkJeG5ZsZxxijJ7MtIJKJTYOlh9-ZEAq0q--XMN2e07ZSuW2betCQFIto3CnWQ5zt-imxAP6GbK0Pf4CsQCLpBdtowsPO52mRlnQIo563MK51B5he58GKmE-CS7_syhHB4jBlfiKgUhW63rp8F0TlAm06WbmmI7sPEJm6TtmwizTXLQ/w640-h358/jaguar-xj220-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaguar XJ220 - not your grandfather's Jag</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Between concept and product though there were several changes. Perhaps the most significant was the engine. The V12 that Jaguar had proposed was big and heavy and also had problems meeting emissions standards, but Jaguar had ended up with the rights to the engine in the short-lived but legendary <a href="https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austin/metro/mg-metro-6r4/" target="_blank">MG Metro 6R4</a> rally car. The 6R4 had a relatively lightweight V6 unit somewhat inspired by the (also) legendary Rover V8. It was a promising engine for Rover, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_B" target="_blank">Group B</a> rallying was banned in 1986 after a series of accidents, and the 6R4 and its engine became essentially redundant. Jaguar took the 6R4 V6 and thoroughly reworked it, adding twin turbos in the process, giving about 542 horsepower. It was arguably a better engine than the V12, but people were expecting a V12 and not a V6. In addition, one other major change were the door – the scissor doors were dropped in favour of more conventional ones, and the car moved to a simpler rear-wheel-drive configuration. Many customers were very unhappy, and these changes plus a recession in the early 1990s led to many cancellations.<br /><br />The XJ220 was extremely aerodynamic, including the underneath of the car. Body panels and the chassis were made from aluminium. Advanced technologies could be found everywhere from the braking system to the transmission… Jaguar were not short changing customers on kit. Being a Jag, the inside was a lovely place to be. Top speed was around 212 MPH, not quite as much as the 220 in the name, but nonetheless blisteringly fast.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lSNDOkaK3HRfqMPhJvefQI60fmEgBS7wYC6lTw0oacTN33nS-US-5mkUFOuYplwbwnn-u9HFpLlR4u4qxsnHlrdsiuXhDkGhGOROhSYm9uYaYtl-6Sgb2PYbHmeG3Nvg0woWZk5jjI0UEFjcCHJ0W2-qvpVz3mnrfORMdG1fpESi2obcFOiQ1A/s1933/jaguar-xj220-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The XJ220 concept had a massive V12 engine, the production car a more compact V6" border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1933" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lSNDOkaK3HRfqMPhJvefQI60fmEgBS7wYC6lTw0oacTN33nS-US-5mkUFOuYplwbwnn-u9HFpLlR4u4qxsnHlrdsiuXhDkGhGOROhSYm9uYaYtl-6Sgb2PYbHmeG3Nvg0woWZk5jjI0UEFjcCHJ0W2-qvpVz3mnrfORMdG1fpESi2obcFOiQ1A/w640-h222/jaguar-xj220-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The XJ220 concept had a massive V12 engine, the production car a more compact V6</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The bad points? Well, it was more than two metres wide and lacked power steering and ABS, so it wasn’t much fun as a daily driver. There was also limited luggage space (despite the huge size) making it impractical as a grand tourer as well.<br /><br />It wasn’t a sales success – Jaguar had never intended it to be a high-volume car, but with just 281 built they fell short of their targets. It did help to raise Jaguar’s profile as a sports car manufacturer, but ultimately the XJ220 was a little too flawed and compromised. The XJ220 was in production for just two years – and Jaguar never made another production car that was anything like it afterwards.<br /><br />At around the same time, McLaren were developing their first road car around similar themes. A bit more expensive than the XJ220 at £540,000 (in 1992 money), the McLaren F1 wasn’t saddled with the compromises that the Jaguar possessed. The F1 was powered with a normally aspirated (i.e. not turbocharged or supercharged) V12 like the XJ220 concept. McLaren chose the normally aspirated route for reasons of control and predictability – early 1990s turbochargers gave uneven power and suffered from turbo lag, so a normally aspirated engine was much smoother. McLaren shopped around for a suitable V12 eventually settling on a power plant made by BMW.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1ks--hT4_oicldJ2l3C8QjVXhxAOPhrekJpWpHCx5IKCXSfZxRHTvmTJ3w_VCZIi1FL6GiL_cC-efa8vJS_I8KhJO_Zo2J0bQgiVnC141WdWw5foAeRXwo3b5s7tWUbZkJ2_jJDZMod00ckC9iQSCdJnbZVcb58qOjUzs18jpyFRHZ8jI0Afjw/s1840/mclaren-f1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The McLaren F1 would look fast parked up in Sainsbury's" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1840" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1ks--hT4_oicldJ2l3C8QjVXhxAOPhrekJpWpHCx5IKCXSfZxRHTvmTJ3w_VCZIi1FL6GiL_cC-efa8vJS_I8KhJO_Zo2J0bQgiVnC141WdWw5foAeRXwo3b5s7tWUbZkJ2_jJDZMod00ckC9iQSCdJnbZVcb58qOjUzs18jpyFRHZ8jI0Afjw/w640-h348/mclaren-f1-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The McLaren F1 would look fast parked up in Sainsbury's</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The body of the F1 made extensive use of carbon fibre, except for the engine bay which has gold foil acting as a heat shield. A combination of other lightweight and strong materials are found throughout the car, including magnesium, Kevlar and titanium. The whole body shape produces downforce rather than having a fat spoiler, but one clever trick was the introduction of two fans in the base of the car with both produced extra downforce and cooling at the same time. The top speed? The McLaren F1 was (and still is) the world’s fasted normally aspirated car with a top speed of 240 MPH.</p><p>----<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpr2KBsrr2dto9dT5UZEQo6wThKezG6xJrYHfGCIPklEnzAi6kHwTgjwgL4sONQUtQ3RMLY-8_HISd9CYYP3XJ1rpd7VpM14T-_dvbA1bjz4v73lTVrkifDJxYYvtoJuESWbvPd8zaznchb9yeDiEPs21B7-O598cG0Ft4pGUrmfDMY9eUzmts9w/s1892/mclaren-f1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The McLaren F1's three seats practically make it an MPV" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1892" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpr2KBsrr2dto9dT5UZEQo6wThKezG6xJrYHfGCIPklEnzAi6kHwTgjwgL4sONQUtQ3RMLY-8_HISd9CYYP3XJ1rpd7VpM14T-_dvbA1bjz4v73lTVrkifDJxYYvtoJuESWbvPd8zaznchb9yeDiEPs21B7-O598cG0Ft4pGUrmfDMY9eUzmts9w/w640-h338/mclaren-f1-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The McLaren F1's three seats practically make it an MPV</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Inside the F1 is highly unusual, featuring three seats – the driver sits in the centre and slightly in front of the two passengers either side in the rear. Entrance to the cabin was through the dihedral (scissor-like) doors, something the XJ220 sorely lacked. Luggage compartments are hidden around the car, although best used with the proprietary matching bags. The F1 also included air conditioning and a number of other aids to make it usable on the roads, transforming the F1 into an almost practical grand tourer as well as a sports car. It wasn’t designed as a track car, but it was pretty good at that two with race variants such as the F1 GTR being made. </p><p>----<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcutdPksne-hdnHVVwWvcbcxVbrJIr9YnCoJRT1dJva2ClnOQVqsni6C6UE_qfPp-d445IONKrKR3HgO6KbF_IK99i5bWslu47WqqfWOyv2qhqNmW2TXyQyuglFrLtRxbEOTstEwC8hXyKpQA4KKoGwGQSoNw2j1SMngmJq-4XU8uvsBRXfEt8Q/s1566/mclaren-f1-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The McLaren F1 looks purposeful from the back as it disappears over the horizon" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1566" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcutdPksne-hdnHVVwWvcbcxVbrJIr9YnCoJRT1dJva2ClnOQVqsni6C6UE_qfPp-d445IONKrKR3HgO6KbF_IK99i5bWslu47WqqfWOyv2qhqNmW2TXyQyuglFrLtRxbEOTstEwC8hXyKpQA4KKoGwGQSoNw2j1SMngmJq-4XU8uvsBRXfEt8Q/w640-h408/mclaren-f1-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The McLaren F1 looks purposeful from the back as it disappears over the horizon</td></tr></tbody></table><br />However, despite the advanced engineering, only 106 cars were produced (including prototypes). McLaren did turn a modest profit on the F1 during the six years of production, ending in 1998. McLaren didn’t build another road car until 2011. Nonetheless, the F1 was an engineering success and it didn’t make the compromises that the XJ220 did.<br /><br />Today a McLaren F1 is worth around £16 million, but an XJ220 is only worth about £450,000 – about the same as it was new in actual pounds, but adjusted for inflation the XJ220 cost around £1 million when new. According to collectors at least, the F1 is a far more desirable car. <br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1993_Jaguar_XJ220_3.5.jpg" target="_blank">Vauxford via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaguar_XJ220_engine_room_Heritage_Motor_Centre,_Gaydon.jpg" target="_blank">Morio via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 3.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaguarcarsmena/7005580482/" target="_blank">Jaguar Cars MENA via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1996_McLaren_F1_Chassis_No_63_6.1_Front.jpg" target="_blank">Craig James via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McLaren_F1_GT,_GIMS._2015_%28Ank_Kumar,_INFOSYS_Limited%29_13.jpg" target="_blank">Ank Kumar via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/86507786@N00/29055325197" target="_blank">Neilhooting via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-40270868316064690592022-06-12T10:08:00.001+01:002022-06-12T10:08:20.663+01:00Columbia Data Products MPC 1600<p><b>Introduced June 1982</b><br /><br />No wait. Don’t go. The <a href="https://www.si.edu/object/columbia-data-products-mpc1600-microcomputer%3Anmah_1820625" target="_blank">MPC 1600</a> is a hugely important milestone in computing, just one you may not have heard of. Let me explain.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13_94F-nkeIJ5eC1jEQICDtX1g_mwT6f_2bFoHOGo7jSkDqBv4oECg0blYwGB2Ttmchns2sZcRa350Ce6ygLCU_wwFMij9Wrm1XRm7fDmtvmMS_FFCklbRgqYVLyH15phtq7KB9VqcM165ta5PPGUZ7qKPdkKvT7dicrqSHaxPZZ2xD2OMU754w/s2674/mpc-1600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Columbia Data Products MPC 1600" border="0" data-original-height="2674" data-original-width="2627" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13_94F-nkeIJ5eC1jEQICDtX1g_mwT6f_2bFoHOGo7jSkDqBv4oECg0blYwGB2Ttmchns2sZcRa350Ce6ygLCU_wwFMij9Wrm1XRm7fDmtvmMS_FFCklbRgqYVLyH15phtq7KB9VqcM165ta5PPGUZ7qKPdkKvT7dicrqSHaxPZZ2xD2OMU754w/w393-h400/mpc-1600.jpg" width="393" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Columbia Data Products MPC 1600</td></tr></tbody></table><br />August 1981 saw the launch of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> into the fast-growing microcomputer marketplace. It wasn’t the most advanced microcomputer on the market, but it did have the magic letters “IBM” on it which made it attractive to corporate buyers. <br /><br />Unlike other IBM products, the PC was made largely of off-the-shelf components that anyone could buy. IBM had also documented everything in painstaking detail in order to attract third-party developers to create hardware and software for the new platform. Theoretically anyone could build a machine like the IBM PC except for one major component… the BIOS.<br /><br />The BIOS is an oft-forgotten part of the PC. Lying somewhere between hardware and software in the layer known as “firmware”, the BIOS provides the most basic software functions that a PC relies on. Unlike most of the rest of the IBM PC, the BIOS was strictly proprietary. However, developers needed to understand how that BIOS worked, so IBM provided full specification of the functionality. Not enough to clone the BIOS… or so they thought.<br /><br />So when Columbia Data Products (or CDP) wanted to make a machine just like the IBM PC but better value, the BIOS was an obstacle. However, IBM had published the full BIOS specifications (but not the code) to help developers, CDP took the specifications and created a clean room design of the BIOS which replicated the functionality but used none of the code.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjs8x5N8BFc68Ew2-Ld36AqJcD3zrNcbTuVFIcglmhgQhStc80Q9BpG7T1aIFddhRO8F7sj24dlMqE8y8CiiOKIZ3Mp3gXNjisSMLQ0GL8uEfrxRZEQPT4GmQC1s8Sqykr9jU8l8sPCHgS1Xg5r4l-PDUPMdywqfM9Pl9b3dxZBeigUavYmAzKsw/s1396/mpc-1600-ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1982 ad for the MPC 1600" border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjs8x5N8BFc68Ew2-Ld36AqJcD3zrNcbTuVFIcglmhgQhStc80Q9BpG7T1aIFddhRO8F7sj24dlMqE8y8CiiOKIZ3Mp3gXNjisSMLQ0GL8uEfrxRZEQPT4GmQC1s8Sqykr9jU8l8sPCHgS1Xg5r4l-PDUPMdywqfM9Pl9b3dxZBeigUavYmAzKsw/w458-h640/mpc-1600-ad.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1982 ad for the MPC 1600 with funky Lear Siegler terminals<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />When launched in 1982, the Columbia Data Products MPC 1600 was about half the price of the IBM, but had more memory, more built-in features and more expansion. It was a quality machine in both terms of hardware and the 100% compatilibity with the genuine IBM PC, usually measured in those days by being able to run Microsoft Flight Simulator. For people who wanted an IBM PC but didn’t want to pay IBM prices, it was an attractive deal.<br /><br />CDP’s sales grew quickly and expanded their range, but the problem was that they weren’t the only players in the market. Other firms joined the fray, usually competing on price and squeezing the very thin margins the clone makers had even further. Initial success gave way to red ink, and by 1985 CDP was bankrupt. However, that wasn’t the end for CDP and subsequent rescue led to a change of emphasis, and <a href="http://www.cdpi.com/" target="_blank">Columbia Data Products still exists today</a> making data backup products.<br /><br />Today, the chances are that the computer you use is a PC clone. It was always likely that IBM would create a beast that it couldn’t control and that clones would take over, so even if Columbia Data hadn’t been the first it would likely be someone else. But the fact remains that they <i>were</i> the first… <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_Data_Products_MPC_1600.jpg" target="_blank">Ben Franske via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&lpg=RA1-PA394&pg=RA3-PA311#v=onepage" target="_blank">PC Magazine, November 1982</a></i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-50834248490505881192022-05-22T12:50:00.003+01:002022-05-22T12:54:43.781+01:00Sun-1 (1982)<p><b>Available May 1982</b><br /><br />If you wanted to put a computer on your desk in 1982, there were a wide variety of choices. Businesses might go a system like the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> or <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/04/victor-9000-act-sirius-1-1981.html" target="_blank">Victor 9000</a>, home users might go for something like a <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/01/commodore-vic-20-1981.html" target="_blank">VIC 20</a> or <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/06/texas-instruments-ti-994a-1981.html" target="_blank">TI-99/4A</a>. If you had more exotic requirements there were high-end devices such as the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/04/grid-compass-1982.html" target="_blank">GRiD Compass</a> or <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/04/xerox-star-8010-1981.html" target="_blank">Xerox Star</a>. The <a href="https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/computer-graphics-music-and-art/15/218/615" target="_blank">Sun-1</a> workstation – first shipping in May 1982 – fell firmly into the last category, putting minicomputer power in the hands of the individual.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA0YCiJ1HXhLT79600IJs3eD5wzJlDt9r6uufqfmCOMAlDixF2ct1xmkEtsitrzhbRb-BoxuuynXUL_63Wc0QYelZenTTiAfLRxECBWvD9JGyRF_aaERxXdp9Fix6oKr7Zk8QHiibmN9_ngvDlyUiSawsVoBQaUZx1tj1X-ssUuynqGUcU6eERg/s1000/sun-1-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sun-1 Workstation" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA0YCiJ1HXhLT79600IJs3eD5wzJlDt9r6uufqfmCOMAlDixF2ct1xmkEtsitrzhbRb-BoxuuynXUL_63Wc0QYelZenTTiAfLRxECBWvD9JGyRF_aaERxXdp9Fix6oKr7Zk8QHiibmN9_ngvDlyUiSawsVoBQaUZx1tj1X-ssUuynqGUcU6eERg/w400-h400/sun-1-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun-1 Workstation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The Sun-1 was the first commercial product of <a href="https://thenewstack.io/sun-microsystems-a-look-back-at-a-tech-company-ahead-of-its-time/" target="_blank">Sun Microsystems</a>, which had grown out of a workstation project started at Stanford University – the name “SUN” was derived from “Stanford University Network”. The original series of Sun workstations were built for on-campus use only, but the Sun-1 took that experience and turned it into a commercial product.<br /><br />Designed to be powerful enough to run UNIX or other multitasking OSes, the CPU was the surprisingly modest Motorola 68000 coupled with 256KB of RAM out of the box, which was upgradeable to 2MB. Custom Sun silicon enabled the CPU to reliably support multitasking, the 1024 x 800 pixel graphics also had hardware acceleration. The standard display was a 17” CRT although other options were available. Although it was designed as a single-user computer, you could hook up to two text terminals to the back to use it as a small-scale minicomputer.<br /><br />Expansion options were comprehensive including Ethernet, mass storage and other peripherals. In a rackmount version the Sun-1 made a capable server, but its real home was sitting on a desk or in a lab where all the power could be used by just one person. It wasn’t cheap of course, starting at $8900 at 1982 prices (around $25,000 today) so it was limited to those organisations that had the budget and the need for that much computing power.<p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gz-Jwr3l93Ca6nAqGAQue3OrGbHy7Q_U3528hXVapjeQZwiWO_UtUH9xGRNyzU700Zkg2qKWrrxuNBBBSgpVXpUsOcFonfRGl0bKa7iH5DUvQen72p8F1gDtXEXt9gO8RxwgWWykaynQwFaWIEYhIoJbJfbUSc1rWAfQKrX7jQSAZQ5VeoyNIw/s1153/sun-1-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sun-1 Workstation" border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_gz-Jwr3l93Ca6nAqGAQue3OrGbHy7Q_U3528hXVapjeQZwiWO_UtUH9xGRNyzU700Zkg2qKWrrxuNBBBSgpVXpUsOcFonfRGl0bKa7iH5DUvQen72p8F1gDtXEXt9gO8RxwgWWykaynQwFaWIEYhIoJbJfbUSc1rWAfQKrX7jQSAZQ5VeoyNIw/w348-h400/sun-1-2.jpg" width="348" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Sun-1 Workstation<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />As a product it was still a little rough around the edges, but a year and a half later the Sun-2 came out with both improved internal hardware and a more professional external design. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-2" target="_blank">Sun-2</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-3" target="_blank">Sun-3</a> (launched in 1985) established Sun Microsystems as the player to beat in the workstation market. <br /><p></p><p>Sun itself thrived until 2001 when it was badly hit by the collapse of the dot-com bubble, and the following years were dominated by red ink in the balance books, caused in part by more powerful Intel-based machines running Windows and Linux which could outperform and undercut Sun's products at the same time. In 2009 Sun were bought out by Oracle, and although Oracle still sells servers based on Sun architecture you probably wouldn't know it. Oracle - after all - has a reputation of where good products go to die.</p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/31935230886/" target="_blank">Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/10900132@N02/2041103820" target="_blank">Carlo Nardone via Flickr</a> - CC BY-SA 2.0</i><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-5907666941414850672022-05-07T10:13:00.004+01:002022-05-07T10:13:40.369+01:00Orbitel TPU 901 (1992)<p><b>Launched May 1992</b><br /><br />Early mobile phones were terrible things. Not only were they big and clunky, but the old analogue networks that they ran on had terrible call quality, poor reliability and were very insecure. These early technologies such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Mobile_Phone_System" target="_blank">AMPS</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Access_Communication_System" target="_blank">TACS</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Mobile_Telephone" target="_blank">NMT</a> became retrospectively known as “1G” – these days often forgotten and unloved.<br /><br />By 1992 these 1G networks had been around for a decade or so and their weaknesses were becoming obvious. The market was ripe for something better, and in 1992 the world’s first 2G GSM networks came online. These digital networks had better call quality, security and required a smaller slice of the radio spectrum, and the first certified GSM phone to be available was the <a href="https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail/orbitel-901" target="_blank">Orbitel TPU 901</a>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYY-X4vv89DwGwl6rp_SgPxgilEDPSx1R-gpcAZ-j_WsruOxWiscmWz2aorglXyhuN0lbaeo1c7qGPz_W3QsJk9cBXYUTEYBVpSdxUIWOCVw_4umTeSJ0YyaM_BQOFmQYq0a-4L6RD1-3favkYTCJphKViyzBIA0Rgkhri8hL7pkDPG4kxD1iKw/s1536/orbitel-901-1-orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1536" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYY-X4vv89DwGwl6rp_SgPxgilEDPSx1R-gpcAZ-j_WsruOxWiscmWz2aorglXyhuN0lbaeo1c7qGPz_W3QsJk9cBXYUTEYBVpSdxUIWOCVw_4umTeSJ0YyaM_BQOFmQYq0a-4L6RD1-3favkYTCJphKViyzBIA0Rgkhri8hL7pkDPG4kxD1iKw/w640-h480/orbitel-901-1-orig.jpg" title="Orbitel TPU 901" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orbitel TPU 901</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A bulky device even by the standards of the time, the 901 had a handset connected to the base station via a curly cord and it weighed a whopping 2.1 kilos. It wasn’t a big seller – smaller and cheaper GSM phones were not far off – but the Orbitel TPU 901 does have the distinction of receiving the world’s first SMS text message with the words “Merry Christmas” sent in December the same year.<br /><br />Orbitel was a British-based joint venture between Racal (who owned Vodafone) and Plessey which eventually ended up in the hands of Ericsson and effectively vanished in the noughties. Today the TPU 901 (and the car-mounted TPU 900) should still work on 900MHz GSM networks, if you ever managed to get your hands on one.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVoHlHq4XOuOs2Qpmfh6LXFKW2VxV22g_bXvx0-__nsZj1MjiPfw_8lwu7_RxGXH4eTcaT5YpIU0hzwB2CC6oBQiXYSpNRDbYbpfh8r0S4p99lHfC4myn2pPGunWXtZ4e1Ace8q2Lh5uA5bBqi4Jah6opeFnW_hk8DB8pHANaXQzOpH-Ehu75yA/s1536/orbitel-901-2-orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Orbitel TPU 901" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1150" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVoHlHq4XOuOs2Qpmfh6LXFKW2VxV22g_bXvx0-__nsZj1MjiPfw_8lwu7_RxGXH4eTcaT5YpIU0hzwB2CC6oBQiXYSpNRDbYbpfh8r0S4p99lHfC4myn2pPGunWXtZ4e1Ace8q2Lh5uA5bBqi4Jah6opeFnW_hk8DB8pHANaXQzOpH-Ehu75yA/w300-h400/orbitel-901-2-orig.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orbitel TPU 901</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Of course, the 901 was the first of many GSM phones on the market, more memorably the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_International_3200" target="_blank">Motorola International 3200</a> launched later in 1992 with a memorable brick-like design that summed up the era perfectly. About a million others followed, but the Orbitel TPU 901 – largely forgotten today – was the very first.<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br />Science Museum Group - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/images/66/165/large_2013_0135_0001__0004_.jpg" target="_blank">[1]</a> <a href="https://coimages.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/images/66/162/large_2013_0135_0001__0001_.jpg" target="_blank">[2]</a><br /></i><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-23468979564574343012022-04-28T22:50:00.002+01:002022-04-28T22:50:59.251+01:00Raspberry Pi (2012)<p><b>Available April 2012</b><br /><br />Single board computers were common in the early days of microcomputers, with the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/04/mos-technologies-kim-1-1976.html" target="_blank">KIM-1 </a>offering a relatively low-cost way of playing with the then-new 6502 CPU and later devices such as the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2019/03/acorn-system-1-1979.html" target="_blank">Acorn System 1</a> made it cheaper still. But single board computers appealed most to hobbyists, and as technology developed so did microcomputers, eventually evolving into complete systems that were easier for novices to use.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV31EFWETN9G-7G8vmFoVIYcJ6qpl5R2mQ4rS7NaRFrFJj7C3vVcWEfv_xObNYFYPi1GTc2uwi1B7_sN6seR4bgegtOhqGp4b1yydwKx_ATJ9iusu-TG_7AvRvTM2f5xxPcWsXPNbn96ZC7KKzy0OdyLiDmXTyYbCLxNDMF9cFlG2J9OT8qnofXg/s1333/raspberry-pi-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Original Raspberry Pi Model B" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV31EFWETN9G-7G8vmFoVIYcJ6qpl5R2mQ4rS7NaRFrFJj7C3vVcWEfv_xObNYFYPi1GTc2uwi1B7_sN6seR4bgegtOhqGp4b1yydwKx_ATJ9iusu-TG_7AvRvTM2f5xxPcWsXPNbn96ZC7KKzy0OdyLiDmXTyYbCLxNDMF9cFlG2J9OT8qnofXg/w400-h300/raspberry-pi-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Raspberry Pi Model B</td></tr></tbody></table><br />As the decades rolled on, the amount of computing power that could be squeezed into a board computer grew. First came <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino" target="_blank">Arduino</a>, a series of open source board computers that could be used for microcontrollers. A few years later, TI came up with the <a href="https://beagleboard.org/" target="_blank">BeagleBoard</a> which was a general purpose computer on a single board. But perhaps the best know modern single board computer is the Raspberry Pi, shipping to customers in April 2012.<br /><br />Unlike some other designs, the Pi was a complete system on a compact board. With built-in USB, video and networking ports all that was required was a memory card with an operating system and a monitor, keyboard, mouse and power supply. These are all pretty common peripherals, and in most cases Pi users could just re-purpose old equipment used elsewhere. The Pi didn’t come with a case so a cottage industry started up making them, all of this echoing the rather do-it-yourself approach of the original <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/07/apple-i-1976.html" target="_blank">Apple I</a>.<br /><br />The first Raspberry Pi models were announced in February 2012, coming to market in April the same year. Like the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Micro</a>, there were two launch models of the Pi – A and B. B was the most popular, based around a Broadcom chipset that included an ARM CPU, RAM and all of the other silicon needed on a single chip. But perhaps the biggest breakthrough was the price – this complete computer system cost just $25 or the local equivalent for the simplest model.</p><p></p><p>Coincidentally, the ARM CPU in the Pi was originally designed by Acorn, whose experience with the 6502 (starting with the Acorn System 1 board computer) <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/acorn-archimedes-1987.html" target="_blank">inspired them to create</a> an inexpensive, simple but very fast processor based on similar principles.<br /><br />The target market was initially education – instead of expensive laptops, students could simply plug their own Pi into a PSU, monitor, network socket, mouse and keyboard and do whatever they wanted with it. The easily swappable memory card meant that different configurations could be experimented with easily. But the appeal turned out to be far greater, everyone from hobbyists to engineers wanted to play with one and the Pi became a significant success. Raspberry Pi devices can be seen in almost any application from controllers to servers, often performing tasks as well as machines costing hundreds of times as much.<br /><br />A decade on, the Raspberry Pi is still going strong. Later models offered more ports, a faster processor and more memory and even cheaper models such as the Pi Zero and Pi Pico slotted into the range below the fully-featured Pi. A wide range of peripherals are available for almost any application, and OS support has grown from Linux-only to include <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot/" target="_blank">Windows 10 IoT</a> and even a version of RISC OS (originally designed for the very first ARM-based computer, the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/acorn-archimedes-1987.html" target="_blank">Archimedes</a>).<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBm0SlHlQfsBo1owAt7ounJrrJ5xUnZ9oRWnst6ETSS372hr0GAgbEs_pq-dE-vy5m3k5kBgQ2_nGhGV9TPJBS0X0tmAfzpHJdEkyksAFv6vQ5xYvwZ8zvMZZVSDrvtvV-CmH_Xq5LbpTG98HAX3fAH4gmcRDs_BlEeXivPA-LymHdPEf-f7plwg/s2163/raspberry-pi-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Raspberry Pi emulating a DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2163" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBm0SlHlQfsBo1owAt7ounJrrJ5xUnZ9oRWnst6ETSS372hr0GAgbEs_pq-dE-vy5m3k5kBgQ2_nGhGV9TPJBS0X0tmAfzpHJdEkyksAFv6vQ5xYvwZ8zvMZZVSDrvtvV-CmH_Xq5LbpTG98HAX3fAH4gmcRDs_BlEeXivPA-LymHdPEf-f7plwg/w640-h296/raspberry-pi-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raspberry Pi emulating a DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Millions of devices and a decade later, the Pi has proved to be an antidote to the anodyne world of modern personal computing. The Pi helped to re-ignite some of the early hacker ethic of early micros and taught a new generation that what they could do with a computer was only limited by their imagination. Not too shabby for just $25.<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/8764442@N07/8626662243" target="_blank">osde8info via Flickr</a> – CC BY-SA 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52924836@N00/48930244332/" target="_blank">Wolfgang Stief via Flickr</a> – CC0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-58411857716486666792022-04-23T16:34:00.000+01:002022-04-23T16:34:00.752+01:00GRiD Compass (1982)<p><b>Released April 1982</b><br /><br />Even though practical microcomputers had only been around for a few years by 1982, there was a growing market for portable devices such as the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2022/03/kaypro-ii-1982.html" target="_blank">Kaypro II</a> which offered all the computing power you probably needed in a luggable package. <br /><br />Back then people accepted that a portable computer would weigh something like 13 kg and come in a huge case. Practically speaking you’d typically carry it between a desk and car. Unlike modern “laptop” computers, most portables of the early 1980s would possibly break your knees if you tried to use them on the sofa.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwAGKisj0AuApgcabVP452bOik70NhiO0QcSJgu7Z7Q6QQjsIFltYYhHdnBnDcsiJwY10KIAh-X4DpG2FFjOFc9azYEiJA1I5T63qZ1-rOYrz_isTmZGvB0G95M7_aMZkzL6sAdkBmdlxGzJ9xqw1_lCkpc-o_2eSGcrAZtQ85OQF6UKN3d_m-Q/s895/grid-compass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="GRiD Compass" border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="895" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwAGKisj0AuApgcabVP452bOik70NhiO0QcSJgu7Z7Q6QQjsIFltYYhHdnBnDcsiJwY10KIAh-X4DpG2FFjOFc9azYEiJA1I5T63qZ1-rOYrz_isTmZGvB0G95M7_aMZkzL6sAdkBmdlxGzJ9xqw1_lCkpc-o_2eSGcrAZtQ85OQF6UKN3d_m-Q/w640-h475/grid-compass.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GRiD Compass<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The first practical laptop computer is widely considered to be the <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/nasas-original-laptop-the-grid-compass" target="_blank">GRiD Compass</a>. A clamshell on the front of the device held a 320 x 240 pixel electroluminescent display and a keyboard in a format instantly recognisable today. Although the display was relatively small, it was sharp and clear compared to early LCD panels and the limited resolution was actually pretty competitive with most computers of the time.<br /><br />Inside was an <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/06/intel-8086-1978.html" target="_blank">Intel 8086</a> CPU with an 8087 maths coprocessor, but this was no DOS-compatible computer. Instead the Compass ran a proprietary OS called GRID-OS which was menu-driven and quite friendly. One novelty was storage – the Compass used <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_memory" target="_blank">magnetic bubble memory</a> giving 340Kb of non-volatile storage. Most production systems also included a modem, and an IEEE interface bus was standard. The lightweight but strong magnesium alloy case contributed to the relatively light weight of around 5 kg.<br /><br />This was a highly advanced machine, and it came with a substantial price tag starting at $8500 in 1982 money which is around $25,000 today. OK, it <i>is</i> possible to spend more than that on a computer today (a high-end Mac Pro can cost $60,000 or more) but that was nearly six times the price of the Kaypro and to be honest it couldn’t do as much for a typical end user.<br /><br />Where it did find a niche was in government sales. The tough but lightweight design lent itself well to military applications, and the Compass was also certified for use on board the Space Shuttle. Large corporations were drawn to it as a practical and highly portable device, but few found their way to private users due to the high price.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrQaLLzTuMx_Ztv9zfjjPzHD5rmaOvRrajhS6x7cXFA6TnGs1JWU6FQ_vHgTwQj8HG-1mZutP_Lv9TNRBqhwRq1dFpTLmdkdNK1plNUN-Be5HTFswaPuqTcHAwZH25NrBazy7aMrp5FPrVw3mA4RvskrEe2WyKfnfi35gEdCv51zz7TXhkpESXA/s1177/grid-compass-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="GRiD Compass running a spreadsheet" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1177" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQrQaLLzTuMx_Ztv9zfjjPzHD5rmaOvRrajhS6x7cXFA6TnGs1JWU6FQ_vHgTwQj8HG-1mZutP_Lv9TNRBqhwRq1dFpTLmdkdNK1plNUN-Be5HTFswaPuqTcHAwZH25NrBazy7aMrp5FPrVw3mA4RvskrEe2WyKfnfi35gEdCv51zz7TXhkpESXA/w640-h544/grid-compass-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GRiD Compass running a spreadsheet</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This was the first in line of several GRiD systems, and on top of healthy sales they also owned a patent for several of the elements of the clamshell design, meaning that other laptop manufacturers had to pay GRiD a fee for each system built. GRiD was taken over by Tandy in 1988 followed by a management buyout in 1993 which moved the company from California to the UK. The company – now called <a href="https://www.griduk.com/products/rugged-laptops/" target="_blank">GRiD Defence Systems</a> – still makes ruggedized laptops and other hardware.<br /><br />The Compass set the pattern for all modern laptop designs, years before they became commonplace. Today first-generation GRiD Compass systems are very rare and you can expect to pay between £5000 to £10000 for a working system. <br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18732295/" target="_blank">Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum</a><br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/113345305/" target="_blank">Niall Kennedy via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0</i><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-44330775496711485562022-04-14T22:02:00.002+01:002022-04-14T22:02:49.892+01:00Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982)<p><b>Introduced April 1982</b><br /><br />If you were a British child of the 1980s, the chances were that you possessed one of the holy trinity of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/12/bbc-microcomputer-1981.html" target="_blank">BBC Micro</a>, <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/commodore-64" target="_blank">Commodore 64</a> or the <a href="https://interestingengineering.com/a-history-of-vintage-electronics-the-game-changer-sinclair-zx-spectrum-celebrates-its-38th-anniversary" target="_blank">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a>. A rivalry leading to many playground arguments, these three machines duked it out for years with no clear winner.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0Enrt89FfXgi-PGtvGsjakpYedhF5iYiMo0v5mhcfE49OA0I5fpnBxhZta_sAK-wJAB8gL-wpwe8mkRCHu5EqXvsaKfeq6VIdifdDl7ttSfiQjhCvmAgljiXRBsuxJLd6-pyU4emEqNECxH06E8ijaC1L5gbNDGxT5-4FDIrhTG_1sHhD3StRQ/s1450/zx-spectrium-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1450" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0Enrt89FfXgi-PGtvGsjakpYedhF5iYiMo0v5mhcfE49OA0I5fpnBxhZta_sAK-wJAB8gL-wpwe8mkRCHu5EqXvsaKfeq6VIdifdDl7ttSfiQjhCvmAgljiXRBsuxJLd6-pyU4emEqNECxH06E8ijaC1L5gbNDGxT5-4FDIrhTG_1sHhD3StRQ/w640-h442/zx-spectrium-1.jpg" title="Sinclair ZX Spectrum" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sinclair ZX Spectrum<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Out of the three, the cheapest and most popular (for a while) was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Sinclair’s follow-on to the ultra-low-cost <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/03/sinclair-zx81-1981.html" target="_blank">ZX81</a> launched the year before, the Spectrum added rudimentary but usable colour, graphics and sound in a package with either 16kB or more desirably 48Kb of RAM in a stylish package – all at a very attractive price.<br /><br />Like the ZX81, the Spectrum was based on a Z80 processor. But where the ZX81 struggled to do anything due to its clever-but-simple design, the Spectrum was highly competitive with the new generation of early 1980s home computers.<br /><br />It wasn’t a big machine – roughly the size of a sheet of A5 paper and weighing around 550 grams – but Rick Dickinson’s industrial design consisting of a black case, grey keys and the 1980s-on-a-stick rainbow flash on the corner looked far more impressive than the competition. Those keys were something else though – each one performed up to six functions in the Spectrum’s capable BASIC environment, but the strange rubberiness of the keys felt like touching dead flesh.<br /><br />The multifunction keys bear some examination. All the BASIC keywords were assigned to a key which would activate depending on context, or with the CAPS SHIFT and SYMBOL SHIFT keys. This layout was first seen on the ZX80 and while it reduced errors and made programming more accessible, it was becoming more fiddly as the version of BASIC evolved. The Spectrum’s version of BASIC was pretty sophisticated – not as good as the one in the BBC but better than the Commodore 64. Budding programmers took to the Spectrum and coded furiously from their bedrooms.<br /><br />As standard the Spectrum loaded and save programs to a cassette, which was quite slow. Video output was to a domestic TV set, so the Spectrum could easily plug into what you probably already had in the house. The desirable 48Kb version cost just £175 at the time (equivalent to around £650 today) but you really didn’t need anything else if you had a TV and cassette recorder.<br /><br />Like the BBC, the Spectrum could address only 64Kb of memory. The ROM was simpler than the BBC, taking up just 16Kb which left up to 48Kb of RAM available. The Spectrum’s curious colour graphics mode didn’t eat up much memory either, meaning that there was quite a decent amount of RAM available for programs, something that the BBC struggled with.<br /><br />The colour graphics were rather strange. The 256 x 192 pixel resolution could display up to 15 colours, but you could only have one foreground (INK) and one background (PAPER) could in each 32x24 pixel character grid. This made it tricky to code colour games (for example) but it was very memory efficient. Sound output was fairly simple with a one channel output, but it was good enough for most purposes.<br /><br />Like the ZX81 and ZX80, and edge connector on the back of the machine allowed access to pretty much all hardware functions. Sinclair’s official accessories on launch included a tiny thermal printer and the ZX Microdrive, which was a high-speed tape cartridge which was plagued with delays. Popular third-party addons included the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kempston_Micro_Electronics" target="_blank">Kempston Micro Electronics</a> joystick interface but also various adapters for disk drives, speech, serial and parallel ports and perhaps most important a variety of aftermarket keyboards that improved on the Spectrum’s unpleasant chicklet affair.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNFZrbrL7cvRbZLkr9n572a7uVeEo9EUMXPrCs4JGfl0Xxb85LprPojnJrDeS2cailNg3fGT1vUzFXxDvutHBDx_lX0FkkpgPM150swEEKDaCEm6q9oApnfBCJQ3gM6fqcgqeeUFudSAAxbCImT5lrRXW6kODDYyfGyl2zgyYadDLlGFzG9eP0A/s3204/zx-spectrium-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Spectrum with daisy-chained ZX Microdrives and sound enhancements" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="3204" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNFZrbrL7cvRbZLkr9n572a7uVeEo9EUMXPrCs4JGfl0Xxb85LprPojnJrDeS2cailNg3fGT1vUzFXxDvutHBDx_lX0FkkpgPM150swEEKDaCEm6q9oApnfBCJQ3gM6fqcgqeeUFudSAAxbCImT5lrRXW6kODDYyfGyl2zgyYadDLlGFzG9eP0A/w640-h200/zx-spectrium-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spectrum with daisy-chained ZX Microdrives and sound enhancements</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br />The Spectrum was an enormous success - the combination of pricing, features and the brand recognition of the “Sinclair” name were key factors. Success bred success with huge variety of games and other applications along with hardware enhancements coming to market. Few competitors had a fraction of the third-party support that the Spectrum did.<br /><br />1982 and 1983 were probably the peak years for the home computer market in the UK. Sinclair found itself up against increasing competition from less well-known machines which were often better (though rarely cheaper). In 1984 the <a href="http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrumPlus" target="_blank">Spectrum+</a> was launched, essentially a 48K Spectrum in a <a href="http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/SinclairQL" target="_blank">Sinclair QL</a>-style case. A 128Kb version dubbed the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2015/09/sinclair-zx-spectrum-128-1985.html" target="_blank">Spectrum 128</a> was launched the year after, using memory paging to break the 64Kb limit. In 1986 Sinclair found itself in difficulties and was bought by Amstrad who styled new models after their popular <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2015/08/amstrad-cpc-6128-1985.html" target="_blank">CPC range</a> leading to the <a href="http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/3648/Sinclair-ZX-Spectrum-2/" target="_blank">Spectrum +2</a> with an integrated cassette recorder in 1986 and the <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=222" target="_blank">Spectrum +3</a> which included a built-in 3” floppy disk drive, launched in 1987. This +3 was the ultimate development of the Spectrum platform, capable of running CP/M but it wasn’t 100% hardware compatible with the original which caused problems. The last Spectrum models in production were the +2B and +3B which were basically hardware fixes of previous versions, production ended in 1992 giving the Spectrum platform an impressive ten year lifespan.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRTdzNWjZk5L5t5WV27zBk121idhsqxlN98jSUtXOFqJvCJ2NZOBvhukVNYYr_Qg2nRU0R9_4uvEJMbr0y-Saobvu39Bxxq6GO6XVI_S8q9loaXBIk8IdgsgQxCdzU8uc_OUpUUjvANCckQaNqUnvxUrJ0SGMvjRqzZHd3b2JJo6mMoCypw0iDw/s2066/zx-spectrium-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="ZX Spectrum +3 with 128Kb RAM and a 3" floppy drive" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2066" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGRTdzNWjZk5L5t5WV27zBk121idhsqxlN98jSUtXOFqJvCJ2NZOBvhukVNYYr_Qg2nRU0R9_4uvEJMbr0y-Saobvu39Bxxq6GO6XVI_S8q9loaXBIk8IdgsgQxCdzU8uc_OUpUUjvANCckQaNqUnvxUrJ0SGMvjRqzZHd3b2JJo6mMoCypw0iDw/w640-h310/zx-spectrium-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ZX Spectrum +3 with 128Kb RAM and a 3" floppy drive</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In addition to the official Sinclair version, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZX_Spectrum_clones" target="_blank">licensed and unlicensed clones proliferated</a> – notably licensed variants made Timex in the US and Europe, and a huge number of bootleg clones in Eastern Europe and South America into the 1990s. In the 2010s there were several attempts to recreate the Spectrum with modern technology, perhaps most significantly with the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53765852" target="_blank">ZX Spectrum Next</a>.<br /><br />Despite the success of the Spectrum in the market, ultimately it was something of a dead end – even though fondness for the platform lingers on four decades later. However, the significance of the Spectrum was profound in the markets it succeeded in: this low-cost, easy-to-use and versatile device inspired a generation of programmers and computer enthusiasts, many of whom went on to carve careers out in the IT industry. This simple but effective machine not only help to shape lives, but also whole economies. Not bad for a cheap computer with a nasty rubber keyboard.<br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ZXSpectrum48k.jpg" target="_blank">Bill Bertram via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY-SA 2.5<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ZX_Spectrum_%2B3_%286952355908%29.jpg" target="_blank">ccwoodcock via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY 2.0<br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ZX_Spectrum_with_three_Microdrives,_Interface_2_and_Stonechip_Echo_Amplifier_%287091693407%29.jpg" target="_blank">ccwoodcock via Wikimedia Commons</a> – CC BY 2.0 </i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-7246649681607939112022-03-24T21:46:00.002+00:002022-03-24T21:46:13.125+00:00Nokia 3510 (2002)<p><b>Introduced March 2002</b><br /><br />It is sometimes said that there are only two things that would survive a nuclear war: cockroaches and old Nokia phones. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3510" target="_blank">Nokia 3510</a> – launched in 2002 – has the potential to be something that a future cockroach civilisation would unearth and worship as some type of cockroach god.<br /><br />Maybe in this future roach utopia the 3510 might find itself in an epic Godzilla vs Kong battle with the legendary <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/02/nokia-3310-2000-vs-nokia-3310-2017.html" target="_blank">Nokia 3310</a>, but the 3510 takes the indestructible design of the 3310 including the funky changeable Xpress-on covers and adds polyphonic ringtones, bigger screen, GPRS and a WAP browser. Indeed, the 3510 was once of the very first popular consumer phones to offer GPRS.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-EDDNl1hp6oDMJ576KxG0ss3_2Swve7YLqSzkG4lXCoDNT-i8kfeMj6_VVxtud_i1j_MctKyLEiR8AkOjdMaR9TJf2MUDuEz5CCeXOFcyPTiLhSwtdab0MLb758b_oIg1NS-GUDToUmp3e1otiytIoVcBu_AEWzTZTpPcRy0lCGVyhybTC8aIQ/s1764/nokia-3510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sober or funky, the Nokia 3510 had interchangeable covers" border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1764" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-EDDNl1hp6oDMJ576KxG0ss3_2Swve7YLqSzkG4lXCoDNT-i8kfeMj6_VVxtud_i1j_MctKyLEiR8AkOjdMaR9TJf2MUDuEz5CCeXOFcyPTiLhSwtdab0MLb758b_oIg1NS-GUDToUmp3e1otiytIoVcBu_AEWzTZTpPcRy0lCGVyhybTC8aIQ/w640-h360/nokia-3510.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sober or funky, the Nokia 3510 had interchangeable covers</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Like the 3310, the 3510 could survive a direct strike from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba" target="_blank">Tsar Bomba</a> – but it couldn’t quite wrestle the roach god crown from the 3310. But a few months later the <a href="https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3510i-344.php" target="_blank">3510i</a> arrived, adding not only a colour screen but also support for Java games. The bugs raised temples in its honour.<br /><br />Although the 3510 (and 3510i) are primitive by modern standards, they form part of the golden age of mobile phone design where every new handset looked different and new technologies were being introduced at a rapid rate, here with colour screens and Java but also including cameras, Bluetooth, media players, expandable memory and so much more.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglApC7R9EoL7wbwekch4wPpjELDhUUjhSpbDBSD5pymTvaeLjxcm7wygybmGRrN3reqnpDM1cYAvPwlYVdPGT3Ce_8U9K8xrAH4wzCdVKFM-0yWVONxG_8HUWdpDF9_wSc4M7Em_926nvYilMAe5wxdF54GERshf7eOmvxXxFyebnYUbrm3tv8Lg/s1594/nokia-3510i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="XpressOn covers allowed a high degree of personalisation with the 3510i" border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1594" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglApC7R9EoL7wbwekch4wPpjELDhUUjhSpbDBSD5pymTvaeLjxcm7wygybmGRrN3reqnpDM1cYAvPwlYVdPGT3Ce_8U9K8xrAH4wzCdVKFM-0yWVONxG_8HUWdpDF9_wSc4M7Em_926nvYilMAe5wxdF54GERshf7eOmvxXxFyebnYUbrm3tv8Lg/w400-h250/nokia-3510i.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">XpressOn covers allowed a high degree of personalisation with the 3510i</td></tr></tbody></table><br />If you fancy a retro Nokia like this then you’ll be pleased to know that they are as cheap as chips, buy enough of them and you could even make a Nokia Stonehenge for future cockroach archaeologists to puzzle over. <br /><br /><i>Image credits: Nokia</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-21182813401685790262022-03-23T21:45:00.001+00:002022-03-23T21:45:00.985+00:00Kaypro II (1982)<p><b>Introduced March 1982</b><br /><br />A few years after the introduction of the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/08/trs-80-model-i-1977.html" target="_blank">first</a> <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/apple-ii-1977.html" target="_blank">generation</a> of <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/01/commodore-pet-1977.html" target="_blank">practical</a> microcomputers, manufacturers started to look at the possibility of having a computer that you could take anywhere rather than have tied to a desk. Perhaps the best known of this first generation of “luggable” microcomputers was the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/04/osborne-1-1981.html" target="_blank">Osborne 1</a>, launched in 1981.<br /><br />The Osborne had plenty of limitations, not least the tiny screen. The market was ready for something better, and something better certainly turned up with the <a href="http://dunfield.classiccmp.org/kaypro/index.htm" target="_blank">Kaypro II</a>. It was designed by a company called (at the time) Non-Linear Systems (or just “NLS”), who up until this point had made lab equipment. NLS knew how to make reliable, rugged and portable electronics and they turned this expertise to a microcomputer.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXjeLcndoOrzHAmfrkr0RunOPKxnj2upfYaYT_g4Det9eo_KyYKZvJKvAWa4HDXYIsIMqJwJlSBC1LWYFgAIFM2LUHXFFaLW5bVaK4yqIUATK9pmUA9tpR04hl2f0aJBWSl5uaTD2i6FSvqtkFZ4SbIm0KU71ejbPYeN5UNnj-TkSxvNlqWnX3Q/s1307/kaypro-ii-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A Kaypro II with several other vintage portables" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1307" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXjeLcndoOrzHAmfrkr0RunOPKxnj2upfYaYT_g4Det9eo_KyYKZvJKvAWa4HDXYIsIMqJwJlSBC1LWYFgAIFM2LUHXFFaLW5bVaK4yqIUATK9pmUA9tpR04hl2f0aJBWSl5uaTD2i6FSvqtkFZ4SbIm0KU71ejbPYeN5UNnj-TkSxvNlqWnX3Q/w640-h490/kaypro-ii-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Kaypro II with several other vintage portables</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Running the de-facto standard CP/M operating system and running on a 2.5MHz Z80 CPU with 64Kb of RAM and dual floppy disks, the Kaypro II had highly competitive specs for the era. Built into the high-quality painted aluminium case was a pin sharp 9 inch display which you could comfortably use all the time. The keyboard was also a high-quality design and it clipped firmly into place on the case making a practical if somewhat hefty 13 kilogram computer.<br /><br />It wasn’t just the hardware that made the computer competitive. The Kaypro II was bundled with an office suite from Perfect Software that included a wordprocessor, spreadsheet and database, plus a version of BASIC that could be compiled into CP/M .com programs. Eventually the bundled programs included the class-leading WordStar wordprocessor and SuperCalc spreadsheet. The bundled software theoretically cost many hundreds of dollars, making the Kaypro II seem more of a bargain. If what you wanted wasn't in the box, then there was a wide range of business and home software available, including the legendary <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/12/zork-i-1980.html" target="_blank">Zork</a>.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0As96IRIVJxVS1yYcL75LkmhX88YNzcUU2pZV1GRfGO-mP580IogQSQ7mbl8skNDjKfVMREtb6LjbtBxzOiqGe28DbicrToya4EdGDcN6_ZSgx0R2Cq0q0Sxi-Pbwa7-9PlKScB2mZtICXG2NpVhYK3wCYq3W4Pr7T7yFOPtEHSthNMVWz3eNZA/s1668/kaypro-ii-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Please give this Kaypro II a home" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1668" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0As96IRIVJxVS1yYcL75LkmhX88YNzcUU2pZV1GRfGO-mP580IogQSQ7mbl8skNDjKfVMREtb6LjbtBxzOiqGe28DbicrToya4EdGDcN6_ZSgx0R2Cq0q0Sxi-Pbwa7-9PlKScB2mZtICXG2NpVhYK3wCYq3W4Pr7T7yFOPtEHSthNMVWz3eNZA/w640-h384/kaypro-ii-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please give this Kaypro II a home</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This was a high-quality, reliable, well-designed and inexpensive product and it became quite a success. If you took one home from the store there really wasn’t much you needed to do except plug a few cables in. Everything else was in the box, making this an extremely consumer friendly-product.<br /><br />It ended up as a popular tool with writers. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/09/16/349027131/the-kaypro-ii-an-early-computer-with-a-writers-heart" target="_blank">Arthur C Clarke had one</a>, as did <a href="https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-09" target="_blank">Jerry Pournelle</a>. Although it was always a bit of a niche system, the Kaypro II was enough of a success to make NLS a major player in the early 1980s market.<br /><br />Curiously, there was never a Kaypro I as such. Aping the rival Apple II, NLS decided on making their first commercial machine another “II”. In 1983 it was followed by the improved <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1156670" target="_blank">Kaypro IV</a> and <a href="https://vintagecomputer.com/kaypro-10.html" target="_blank">Kaypro 10</a> (with a 10Mb hard disk), then in 1984 followed the <a href="https://www.nightfallcrew.com/15/04/2012/non-linear-systems-inc-kaypro-corporation-kaypro-484/" target="_blank">Kaypro 4</a> and <a href="https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102766385" target="_blank">Kaypro 2X</a> which were confusingly named, and if you thought <i>that </i>was confusing another <a href="http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/cctalk/1999-September/1276.html" target="_blank">Kaypro 2</a> followed in 1985 and the <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=831" target="_blank">Kaypro 1</a> in 1986 (because why the heck not call it the “1”). All those Kaypro machines ran CP/M, it took until 1985 for Kaypro (as it changed its name to) to come up with a PC-compatible system with the <a href="https://ancientelectronics.wordpress.com/2019/05/23/kaypro-pc-kaypro-exp/" target="_blank">Kaypro PC</a> and the <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1044&&c=1044&" target="_blank">Kaypro 286i</a>, which was the world’s first AT-compatible system. Kaypro also adapted their luggable boxes with the MS-DOS capable <a href="http://www.mrmartinweb.com/computer.html" target="_blank">Kaypro 4 Plus 88</a> and <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=519" target="_blank">Kaypro 16</a>. Kaypro even managed an early MS-DOS laptop with the slightly peculiar <a href="http://oldcomputers.net/kaypro2000.html" target="_blank">Kaypro 2000</a> and the qurkly and deeply unreliable CP/M <a href="https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=278" target="_blank">Kaypro Robie</a>. Somewhere along the line NLS changed its name to “Kaypro” as well.<br /><br />Kaypro went from boom to bust quite quickly. The II was launched after the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> but before it became really popular. It took four years for Kaypro to come up with their own PC, by which time the rapidly-evolving market had moved on. Despite soldiering on for a few years, Kaypro went bankrupt in 1992.<br /><br />As with almost all microcomputer companies of the era, the success of Kaypro was relatively short-lived. However, they were the first company to come up with a practical and affordable portable computer, furthermore one that required very little work to get it fully operational, with a high-quality build and smart looks. The Kaypro II undoubtedly influence other computer designs of the same and next generation. <br /><br />Today the Kaypro CP/M portables are somewhat collectable, although many have become separated from the floppy disks that held the software. Most available systems are in the US but some can be found in Europe, but expect to pay several hundred pounds <br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/diaper/5398153758/" target="_blank">Diaper via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dabcanboulet/14991851016/" target="_blank">Daniel Boulet via Flickr</a> - CC BY-NC 2.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-47383414800378035642022-03-13T11:53:00.002+00:002022-03-13T12:01:49.228+00:00LINC (1962)<p><b>First delivered in March 1962</b><br /><br />The <a href="https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html" target="_blank">LINC</a> – short for Laboratory INstrument Computer - was one of the world's very first minicomputers, helping to break the computer out of the corporate machine room and making it available to individual departments, labs and (at a stretch) homes.<br /><br />Designed at MIT for academic work, most LINC machines were built by Digital Equipment Corporation, who were based in Massachusetts as is MIT. By 1962, DEC had already launched the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/11/dec-pdp-1-1960.html" target="_blank">PDP-1</a> (another candidate for the world’s first minicomputer) but the LINC was considerably cheaper and more compact.<br /><br />Based on a 12-bit architecture, one innovation with the LINC was the tape drive (the <a href="https://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/linc.html" target="_blank">LINCtape</a>) which could store up to 400Kb and allowed a slow but reliable form of random access storage (somewhat like a very slow disk drive). The LINCtape evolved into DECtape, a common feature on DEC’s PDP line.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVoeTkOwTa_k4TlCYBaWCD5WSUoljb4mQHHkWNMWTOtTl51ykOUkTKhkwDhnJfY44lW947bUXH9KyFmXKuJeuhq5dW5UfbLdxjJLOfS9MwOxgO7XBlgEikzIWK7Pjt0HuRiiq2cSgJjpwWUItRHDppGilGBUWx06sZO0o9Bi5Z6K0bYMc9hjybng=s1500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Digibarn's LINC system" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVoeTkOwTa_k4TlCYBaWCD5WSUoljb4mQHHkWNMWTOtTl51ykOUkTKhkwDhnJfY44lW947bUXH9KyFmXKuJeuhq5dW5UfbLdxjJLOfS9MwOxgO7XBlgEikzIWK7Pjt0HuRiiq2cSgJjpwWUItRHDppGilGBUWx06sZO0o9Bi5Z6K0bYMc9hjybng=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/" target="_blank">Digibarn's LINC system</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />A small CRT could be used for output, and a rather clunky keyboard from Soroban Engineering (responsible for many computer keyboard of the same period) allowed input. Additional output could be made to a teletype, and the LINC could also be controlled by a set of rotary knobs which were essentially a precursor (pun intended) to the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/12/doug-engelbarts-mother-of-all-demos-1968.html" target="_blank">mouse</a>.<br /><br />The key application for the LINC was interfacing with lab equipment through the inbuilt A-to-D (analogue to digital) and D-to-A interfaces. This made the LINC a successful lab machine, although only 50 were built so it didn’t exactly change the world.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4To44k5lxSzLe6x2e-W07GBOLs4_XRnupCieA2JJc-bZcLwaAxQQACwinM9sbDHnLCWI9I18iv2d3v8ZI0QCIenO3kOCw1IRT13LEEQqOS1o8W-hOZqfRT74QlLuhTQg2Odb4XRET0pvg1FxyWFWeSDQwEM5dgIxN_ioHLYIVdzSj--DLOwVUrA=s1222" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="LINC exhibit at the Computer History Museum, California" border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4To44k5lxSzLe6x2e-W07GBOLs4_XRnupCieA2JJc-bZcLwaAxQQACwinM9sbDHnLCWI9I18iv2d3v8ZI0QCIenO3kOCw1IRT13LEEQqOS1o8W-hOZqfRT74QlLuhTQg2Odb4XRET0pvg1FxyWFWeSDQwEM5dgIxN_ioHLYIVdzSj--DLOwVUrA=w328-h400" width="328" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LINC exhibit at the Computer History Museum, California<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Significantly though, the LINC may be the world’s first home computer. Programmer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Allen_Wilkes" target="_blank">Mary Allen Wilkes</a> had a LINC system installed in her home, something that would be unfeasible with the 730kg PDP-1. It would take another 15 years or so before home computers became something that you could just go to the local electronics store to buy..<br /><br />The LINC architecture grew into the PDP-5, PDP-8, PDP-12 and DECmate well into the 1970s. In the end though, the 16-bit PDP-11 and 32-bit VAX architecture (which were unrelated) moved things forward from there. <br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingdutchphotos/2790561813" target="_blank">Jonathan Assink via Flickr</a> - CC BY-ND 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ddebold/5900038265/" target="_blank">Don DeBold via Flickr</a> – CC BY 2.0</i><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-25639735750775484092022-02-22T22:20:00.007+00:002022-02-22T22:20:54.946+00:00Intel 80286 (1982)<p> <br /><b>Launched February 1982</b><br /><br />By 1982, Intel was on a roll. Their <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/06/intel-8086-1978.html" target="_blank">8086 processor series</a> (launched in 1978) was gaining widespread acceptance and in particular had found itself in the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2021/08/ibm-personal-computer-model-5150-1981.html" target="_blank">IBM PC</a> launched the previous summer.<br /><br />Four years is a very long time in the microprocessor market, and by 1982 things had moved on. While the 8086 was good enough for a single-user business computer, more sophisticated systems needed a more sophisticated CPU. Intel wanted to capitalise on the success of the 8086, but come up with a processor that could be use in more powerful multiuser systems while maintaining a good deal of compatibility with the older CPU.<br /><br />The resulting <a href="https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/80286/index.html" target="_blank">Intel 80286</a> processor was launched in February 1982, and it became commonly referred to as the “Intel 286” quite quickly. A 16-bit CPU clocked at 5 to 8 MHz at launch, the 286 could either run in “real mode” which was directly compatible with the 8086, or a “protected mode” which was more suitable for multitasking operating systems. Up to 16MB of RAM could be addressed, although few systems would come equipped with that much memory due to the price.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-_HXhbbluvJpYqzeuS1HgamrU3qPlzqqtJa2vD9FvWQ5aZmv2ppvvHzLH9aFZk1E77gfmq5cn2iVBSpN1ygreUEKwNSptztWV0uk5AgZ5p7XlWJFrPcb_Zi51w2rEKjRn8F7ogAyWH5f7FDpxPr0Y-osh5Y5TmpKphvv2RcUsdrVWf8iP8mfaBQ=s1500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Intel 80286" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-_HXhbbluvJpYqzeuS1HgamrU3qPlzqqtJa2vD9FvWQ5aZmv2ppvvHzLH9aFZk1E77gfmq5cn2iVBSpN1ygreUEKwNSptztWV0uk5AgZ5p7XlWJFrPcb_Zi51w2rEKjRn8F7ogAyWH5f7FDpxPr0Y-osh5Y5TmpKphvv2RcUsdrVWf8iP8mfaBQ=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intel 80286</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Although you could multitask with the 286, you could not run virtual “real mode” sessions. So it was impossible (for example) to run multiple DOS sessions on the computer. Switching between modes required either a reboot or some clever hardware and firmware trickery. <br /><br />Some operating systems did use the full power of the 80286, including Microsoft’s long-forgotten version of UNIX called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix" target="_blank">XENIX</a> and a couple of other Unix-like OSes. These were niche markets, instead probably the best-known use of the 80286 was 1984’s IBM PC/AT which was a redesign of the original PC with the 286 dropped in, along with a new bus and various other improvements. Although the PC/AT still ran DOS and didn’t use the full features of the 286, it was much faster than the original PC which was frankly a bit of a tortoise.<br /><br />Because IBM and other suppliers insisted on a second source for the 80286, Intel licenced the processor to other manufacturers. These included IBM, AMD, Harris, Siemens and Fujitsu. Harris pushed the speed of the processor up to 25MHz, twice as fast as the top-of-the-line Intel 80286 which ran at just 12.5MHz. For AMD, the second sourcing of the 286 gave them an entry into the Intel-compatible CPU market where they are still the only real competition to Intel today.<br /><br />The 286 certainly moved things forward, but in terms of the PC it wasn’t the technological leap forward that it needed. In 1985, Intel launched the 80386 which could run multiple virtual 8086 real modes… this meant that a PC could run several DOS applications at once which was a key factor in the uptake of Windows rather than MS-DOS in the PC marketplace. <br /><br />Although Intel officially dropped the 286 in 1991, Harris and AMD continued to develop it and provided some serious competition to Intel’s new 386 for quite a while. Today these 286 CPUs are still used in some embedded systems, and the Renesas CS80C286 is still available today for these applications.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgf_vSbaNzlpwVRP8y2enT91iKML2PP7Ax2jrTCFicyH5okxTqwahzcN4jYy_Y-O-q1ryxOLpVT52meuIvAmn30nuFw6gmQdcfF5hqg4FhxdYkBe8xEVi_lfDkk8hjn4OOSVcT-o9IH4xnqbO6o_08k9tasv_vHLvDuf-jzdzrzXm4vfjrQNEc7ZA=s1250" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Second source AMD 286 variant" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgf_vSbaNzlpwVRP8y2enT91iKML2PP7Ax2jrTCFicyH5okxTqwahzcN4jYy_Y-O-q1ryxOLpVT52meuIvAmn30nuFw6gmQdcfF5hqg4FhxdYkBe8xEVi_lfDkk8hjn4OOSVcT-o9IH4xnqbO6o_08k9tasv_vHLvDuf-jzdzrzXm4vfjrQNEc7ZA=w400-h320" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second source AMD 286 variant</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The 80286 established that the PC architecture wasn’t a one-off design, and marked the beginning of a continual evolution of the platform which of course is still with us today. Because it couldn’t multitask DOS programs, its impact was more limited than the 80386 that followed. However, Windows supported the 286 until version 3.1 (launched in 1992). Many 286-based PCs soldiered on well into the 1990s, some even making it to the Internet age with applications such as <a href="https://www.techspot.com/article/2077-netscape-navigator/" target="_blank">Netscape Navigator</a> – far outliving the usefulness of the previous generation.<br /></p><p><i>Image credits:<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Intel_C80286-6.jpg" target="_blank"><br />Thomas Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons</a> - CC BY-SA 4.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/3536246838/" target="_blank">Pascal via Flickr</a> – CC0<br /></i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216515530093728843.post-41259178161312687152022-01-23T16:56:00.003+00:002022-01-23T16:56:39.983+00:00Apple iMac G4 (2002)<p><b>Launched January 2002</b><br /><br />Apple is a company with more ups and downs than most. By 2002, Apple had already had success with the original <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2017/06/apple-ii-1977.html" target="_blank">Apple II</a> in 1977, wobbled a bit with the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2020/11/apple-iii-1980.html" target="_blank">Apple III</a> in 1980 but then moved on to more success with the original <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K" target="_blank">Macintosh</a> in 1984. Successes followed, but during the 1990s the company’s fortunes declined significantly and by 1997 it was a whisker away from bankruptcy. But in 1997 Steve Jobs returned to Apple and injected some new ideas, and aided by now legendary design <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jonathan-Ive" target="_blank">Jony Ive</a> the company came up with the iconic iMac G3 – launched in 1998 – which fundamentally changed Apple’s fortunes.<br /><br />The <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2018/08/apple-imac-g3-1998.html" target="_blank">iMac G3</a> is one of Apple’s best-loved designs. Beautifully designed around the shape of the cathode ray tube (CRT) contained inside in translucent candy-coloured cases, the G3 caused a monumental stir in the market. Here was a computer than both looked beautiful and just worked out of the box. Sure, the basic design idea had been around for more than 20 years (the <a href="https://www.retromobe.com/2016/07/lear-siegler-adm-3a-1976.html" target="_blank">ADM3A</a> being a notable example)… but Apple did it better.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0zXGcIbvhn4NN3FsYTecPTpDgJPWjDKdMwPJBPzwhfC7_sAyqqXziVjQ5lMCrIHW4v3Zhx9Nw2DTyd1i679teIJ5CN9IfadYGJuwGx_NQtJ3QnbF_IDhVwpiLUxQyKClMR9yJiZij7iBb1l0ZK6flNe6buDUT8z0vILqQPdyTeW3QXS4GaXki4w=s1400" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Apple iMac G4" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1400" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0zXGcIbvhn4NN3FsYTecPTpDgJPWjDKdMwPJBPzwhfC7_sAyqqXziVjQ5lMCrIHW4v3Zhx9Nw2DTyd1i679teIJ5CN9IfadYGJuwGx_NQtJ3QnbF_IDhVwpiLUxQyKClMR9yJiZij7iBb1l0ZK6flNe6buDUT8z0vILqQPdyTeW3QXS4GaXki4w=w640-h458" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple iMac G4</td></tr></tbody></table><br />By 2002 though technology had changed. Just four years previously the CRT was the standard display for almost all desktop computers, but by the early 2000s there was a shift towards LCD panels which were rapidly dropping in price and increasing in capabilities. Although CRTs still had a bit more life in them, the obvious choice for a forward-looking company such as Apple was to go with LCDs for their next-generation iMac.<br /><br />In design terms though, the LCD panel necessitated a completely different design from the CRT in the G3. It wouldn’t make any sense to replicate the G3’s design when most of the box would be empty space with an LCD, but the G3 had set an incredibly high bar in design terms. So where could Apple go next?<br /><br />So the Apple design team – led by Jony Ive – came up with something completely different. Instead of tucking all the system components in close to the display, the <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/563365/imac-g4-design-memory-ergonomics.html" target="_blank">Apple iMac G4</a> featured the LCD mounted in an adjustable arm with the actual computer tucked into a large dome at the base. The base contained everything, including an optical drive, and it gave the G4 a distinctive look in the manner of an oversized desk lamp. <br /><br />Inside was a PowerPC processor running at between 700 MHz and 1.2 GHz. Maximum memory was 1 or 2GB depending on model, but a rather more modest 128 or 256MB was supplied in the box. Internal expansion was limited as this was a compact all-in-one unit like its predecessor, but peripherals could be added via USB or FireWire. A modem and wired Ethernet port were built in, a wireless network adapter was available as an option.<br /><br />It was an elegant – if odd-looking solution – with everything you needed in the box which required minimal effort to get working. However, the LCD panels were still pricey compared to CRTs so a few months later the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMac" target="_blank">eMac</a> was launched, the last CRT-based Mac which was a fair bit cheaper than the iMac and sold well to educational markets.</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsczW7Rw8OriYL9Yik6zEZjo67fdg9xOSD6-jcHCLXcC-kOSjGOP9bBTz7UKfTRmwApdYx4hhhNfbg9C6cgYm4WQhARTkvFyupeV0IrcJqnY4Qb2hTu4h61Gu9Xp0fYKhESlZenaNS0-PsxIXj0AqdDmz99YHvvLrLz5-0u324KxtdUgPo2vxihg=s1270" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Alternatively you could have bought a PC in a beige or grey box" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1270" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsczW7Rw8OriYL9Yik6zEZjo67fdg9xOSD6-jcHCLXcC-kOSjGOP9bBTz7UKfTRmwApdYx4hhhNfbg9C6cgYm4WQhARTkvFyupeV0IrcJqnY4Qb2hTu4h61Gu9Xp0fYKhESlZenaNS0-PsxIXj0AqdDmz99YHvvLrLz5-0u324KxtdUgPo2vxihg=w640-h504" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alternatively you could have bought a PC in a beige or grey box<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The G4 stayed in production for just two and a half years before being replaced by the rather more sober G5. Today collectors can pick up a G4 for less than the price of the G3 with typical prices for a working system being just £120 or so. <br /><br /><i>Image credits:<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/maximeraphael/11587806975/" target="_blank">Maxime Bober via Flickr</a> - CC BY 2.0<br /><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mac_users_guide/4135805369/" target="_blank">Carl Berkley via Flickr</a> - CC BY-ND 2.0</i><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0