2017: things that didn't quite make the cut

This year we've covered gadgets and geeky things from 1907, 1927, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007 and 2012 (and actually even 2017). Out of all these years, 1977 stands out as the year that gave us the Commodore PET, Apple II, TRS-80 Model I, Atari VCS and DEC VAX. All of these were ground-breaking technologies that helped to shape the world we live in today.

But there were a few other things that didn't quite make the cut which are worth making a note of.

1927 may have been the year of the Jaffa Cake, but it was also the year that Newcastle Brown Ale was launched. Unusually for a brown beer, it comes in a clear bottle and the recipe has only slightly changed over the past 90 years to remove the caramel colouring. A huge export success, Newcastle Brown has been a little taste of home for Geordies the world over.

As well as chunky telephones and fancy cars, 1967 also brought the world's first Automated Telling Machine (ATM) in Enfield, London. Despite the rise of cashless payments, ATMs are still very common fifty years later... and perhaps just a little bit too common.

Another computer system launched in 1977 was the NASCOM-1 which was a computer kit built around a single board. Popular in its day due to the relatively low cost, it couldn't really compete with the fully assembled systems from rivals.

Newcastle Brown Ale (1927), ATM (1967), NASCOM-1 (1977)

 1977 also saw the release of the classic Crowther and Woods Colossal Cave Adventure. Featuring a rudimentary natural-language processor and some fiendish plot twists, Colossal Cave ended up being ported to a huge variety of computer systems and was massively popular.

We talked about the 1977 Matra Rancho, a stylish affair that looked like it could go anywhere but couldn't. Launched the same year, the Lada Niva actually could go just about anywhere but the 1970s Soviet styling couldn't compete with the chic French Matra. Thanks in part to its lightweight unibody design and dependabili, the Niva survives to this day (called the Lada 4X4 in most markets) where its simple and rugged charms start at less than €11,000 for a new one.

In 1987, personal computers were becoming more powerful with the likes of the IBM PS/2, Apple Macintosh II and Acorn Archimedes but they were also becoming more portable. The Compaq Portable III replaced the small CRT of previous models with a 10" plasma screen. At 9 kilograms it was still no lightweight, but it was finally a practical and reliable business computer that could be used on the move.

Colossal Cave Adventure (1977), Lada Niva (1977), Compaq Portable III (1987)

That's the lot for this year. See you in 2018.

Image credits:

Rob Beard via Flickr

Michael Fajardo via Flickr

Ning Ham via Flickr

Autopilot via Wikimedia Commons

Gökhan via Flickr

macronix via Flickr

Jerusalem Virus (1987)

Not a screenshot of the actual virus

Discovered October 1987

Thirty years ago we saw a maturing of the personal computer market, but this was also joined by the rise of the phenomenon of malware. 1987 brought not only the Stoned virus, but also the infamous Jerusalem virus… discovered in Jerusalem in October 1987.

Where Stoned wasn’t deliberately destructive (but was accidentally, due to bugs), the Jerusalem virus was. On each Friday 13th (except for 1987), the virus would try to delete any program run on the DOS PCs it infected. It was an executable file infector, adding its code to the applications themselves.

Of course, this would be a trivial thing to recover from if you had the original installation diskettes, but in those days it was extremely common for software installed on a PC to be a copy of a copy of a copy, and many people didn’t have the disks. And of course, the act of copying software itself helped the virus spread from infected PCs to other PCs via infected programs on the floppy disks.

Back in 1987 anti-virus software was also in its infancy, with products such as McAfee VirusScan being early entrants into that market. Few people had anti-virus software, and given the high levels of piracy of applications it took some years for the first wave of computer viruses to be brought under control.

Later variants of the Jerusalem virus were created, but eventually they all vanished completely. File infecting viruses do still exist these days, but are still quite rare and old DOS viruses such as Jerusalem won’t even run on Windows. However, thirty years of PC malware evolution have led to things that are much, much nastier than the Jerusalem virus.

Image credit: Gugganij via Wikimedia Commons

Stoned Virus (1987)

Stoned virus  hexcode

Created 1987

Computer viruses and other malware have been around for a long time, with early reports going back as far as 1982 with "Elk Cloner". However, one of the first really widespread viruses made an appearance thirty years ago - the Stoned virus.

Stoned first appeared in New Zealand in 1987 and spread on IBM PC compatibles via floppy disks. Now, it's quite possible that you have never used a PC with a floppy disk as they largely vanished from new PCs in the early 2000s, but on an early PC the floppy disk would be the A: drive (and if you had a second floppy, it would be the B: drive).

PCs would boot from the floppy first, even if they had a hard disk and because people would tend to leave floppy disks in the drive when they powered off the machine, this gave the virus an opportunity to spread. The PC would attempt to boot from the infected floppy and appear to fail - at which point most people just removed the floppy and pressed a key to boot from the hard disk. Unknown to them, the Stoned virus was then in memory and it would write itself to the hard disk when the machine booted up. One on the hard disk, Stoned would then try to infect all floppy disks put into the machine, and if an infected floppy was taken away and put in another PC then the process would begin again.

Ancient IBM PC of some description

The PC would sometimes display messages such as “Your PC is Now Stoned!” and “Legalize Marijuana” on boot up, and it would tend to corrupt anything other than basic 360Kb floppies. Other than that, it spread quietly.

And because the most common way to share files in those days was to swap floppy disks, spread it did. Not quickly at first, but like a zombie apocalypse eventually almost every PC in an organisation could become infected. And of course, any contemporary anti-virus product would stop it… but in those days many organisations didn’t take malware seriously or thought that security products were too expensive.

The virus continued to infect machines for years, but even though anti-virus software could stop the PC becoming infected then millions of floppy disks with it on meant that it would keep trying to come back. Eventually of course floppies fell out of fashion and then vanished altogether – and it’s quite likely that those decades-old disks have now degraded to the point of unreadability.

It wasn’t the last time that a virus used similar techniques to spread. The Conficker worm from 2008 could spread through USB devices and is still a problem nearly a decade later. Even more ancient malware such as the 2003 SQL Slammer worm still flares up from time to time. Of course, malware is not a gadget… but it seems to be an unwelcome companion to technological advances.

Image credits: Wikipedia and Luke Jones via Flickr

Acorn Archimedes (1987)

Acorn Archimedes A310 (1987)

Released June 1987

We've covered a few of the landmark devices in early personal computing such as the PET, Apple II from the 1970s, and the Atari ST and Amiga from the 1980s. But one of the most important computers to be launched in the mid 1980s is one that you may not even have heard of.

Released in June 1987, the Acorn Archimedes was a revolutionary computer in many ways… but the true revolution was what powered it. Thirty years ago, the Archimedes was the first consumer product to feature the ARM processor.

Today the ARM processor core is found in almost all smartphones, devices such as the Raspberry Pi and embedded systems in domestic appliances, cars and many more applications. Billions of devices with ARM processors have shipped worldwide in the past few decades, making it arguably the most popular processor platform in the world.

The ARM's debut was in a funny little computer made by Acorn Computer in the UK.  Acorn had some success selling their range of 8-bit BBC Microcomputers in Europe, especially to schools. Based on the popular 6502 processor from the 1970s, the BBC Micro had pushed the boundaries of what could be done with this technology and it was time to move on.

BBC A3000 (1989)

Acorn engineers Roger (now Sophie) Wilson and Steve Furber had been impressed by the speed and simplicity of the 6502, but they were also influenced strongly by research coming out of California into Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) architecture which sought to make processors faster by making them simpler, which went against the trend of adding complexity.

To use an analogy - if you want to make a car faster you could either create a bigger engine with turbochargers and all sorts of electronic and mechanical trickery, or you could simplify the car and make it smaller and lighter. RISC architecture took the latter approach, and by making the design simpler they could make the processor very fast indeed. Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars famously said "simplify, then add lightness" which is exactly what the RISC processor did.

When the Archimedes hit the market, it wasn't the first RISC-based computer. But it was the first one aimed at consumers and schools, and it came at a time when most rivals such as the Amiga, ST and Apple Mac were running some sort of version of the older Motorola 68000 CPU. Where computers such as the Amiga were powerful because of the addition of coprocessors and other speed-enhancing technologies, the Archimedes was fast in its own right.

The 1987-era ARM was a 32 bit CPU running at 8MHz, in the Archimedes it would typically be paired with 1MB of RAM. Graphics and sound were pretty good for the time, and it could theoretically do everything that any other microcomputer of the era could do. One major problem was that the OS wasn't really ready at launch, with a simple GUI called "Arthur" giving way to the more capable RiscOS in 1989. Some models of the Archimedes were official "BBC Microcomputers" and had red function keys, the others were grey.

Acorn RiscPC (1994)

The Archimedes sold well into markets where Acorn already had a foothold with the 8-bit BBC. Educational markets in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand were a mainstay but the platform also appealed to hobbyists, computer scientists and others who wanted fast, cheap computing. Or those who wanted to play Zarch.

Over the next few years upgrades and variants came out, typically with faster CPUs but also with other performance additions. In 1994 the Archimedes was replaced by the RiscPC, but by then Acorn was coming to the end of its life.

In the end, two things killed Acorn. By the mid-1990s, IBM PC compatibles ruled the roost (unless you used a Macintosh). Sales were dwindling, but development costs were still high. It's quite possible that Acorn could have found its niche as a workstation manufacturer, but there was another problem..

..that problem was the company now called ARM Holdings. ARM Holdings (then ARM Ltd) was a venture between Acorn, VLSI Technology (who made the silicon, now part of NXP Semiconductors) and - perhaps surprisingly - Apple. Apple were interested in the ARM processor to power its MessagePad line, and although that device is considered a failure it did demonstrate the usefulness of the ARM CPU in mobile devices. On top of that, the small size of the ARM CPU core meant that it was ideal for embedded systems too.

RiscOS 4 OS (2001)

ARM Holdings didn't make the processors itself, but licenced the technology to others. During the 1990s the company had grown very quickly and was becoming quite valuable. As it happens, Acorn still owned a very large stake in ARM.. and the problem was that the stake was actually worth more than Acorn itself. So, anyone who bought out Acorn would instantly own an even more valuable set of stocks in ARM. And that is exactly what happened.

In the end, Acorn was broken up and the technologies were sold on to other companies where they either faded from view or ended up in odd places such as set-top boxes. However, the ARM processor was a huge success.

These days there is still a lively community around these devices, and Archimedes and RiscPC machines (and their variants) are pretty commonly available. You can even run a version of RiscOS on the ARM-based Raspberry Pi which kind of completes the circle. RiscOS Virtual Machines are available too.

In the end, the Archimedes is often an overlooked device. But the ARM processor it used was massively influential, and it's quite possible that RISC architecture would never have been so widespread without it. Today ARM Holdings is owned by Softbank of Japan and turns over around a billion pounds every year. Not a bad legacy for a little computer company.

Image credits:

mikkohoo via Wikimedia Commons

Dave Jones via Flickr

Christof Efkemann via Wikimedia Commons

RiscOS.info

IBM PS/2 (1987)

Launched April 1987

In 1981 IBM launched its first mass-market microcomputer, the IBM PC. The upgraded XT followed in 1983 and in 1984 the significantly more advanced 286-based AT hit the market. Based mostly on off-the-shelf components, the IBM PC became a huge success.. but it didn't take long for upstart competitors to make computer that were either faster or cheaper than IBM's (often both).

With the PC, IBM had created a monster but they began to realize that they no longer controlled the monster. IBM's response was to try to create a new monster that it could control more easily. As a result they developed the IBM PS/2 and the OS/2 operating system. Neither succeeded.

IBM PS/2 range

There were technical limitations with the IBM PC. Essentially based on software and hardware rooted in the 1970s, IBM was looking forward to the 1990s. The idea with the PS/2 was to introduce multitasking, plug-and-play expansion cards, better memory management and of course more powerful processors. Obviously, these were things that customers wanted too - but IBM decided that customers didn't need much in the way of backwards compatibility, and customers decided that... well, they did actually... and they stayed away in droves.

It's easy to criticise IBM for wanting to push things forward even if customers were resistant, but the place IBM was in during the late 1980s was not the same place as Apple in the late 2010s. Companies such as Compaq could offer something better than the IBM PC while still being compatible, where the PS/2 wasn't. In changing direction, IBM lost what little control it still had over the PC marketplace.

The OS/2 operating system was late as well. Originally developed by both IBM and Microsoft the idea was to create a next-generation version of Windows based on the OS/2 core. However, the first really usable version of OS/2 appeared a year after the PS/2 leaving early versions of the hardware running IBM's version of MS-DOS (called PC-DOS). It took until the mid-1990s for OS/2 to become rather good with the launch of OS/2 Warp, but by that time it was competing against both Windows 95 and Windows NT.

The PS/2 soldiered on into the 1990s and it was accompanied by some desperate efforts by IBM to regain market share, such at the PC compatible PS/1, Aptiva, NetVista and ThinkCentre ranges. It took IBM nearly two decades to throw in the towel, divesting the PC business to Lenovo in 2005.

Oddly enough though, the PS/2 was hugely influential in other ways. The PS/2 introduced VGA graphics and the 15 pin D-type cable still seen today (just about), it helped popularise the 3.5" floppy drive and memory on 72-pin SIMM modules, and it created the mini-DIN connection for mice and keyboards commonly known as a PS/2 connector. All of these features ended up in the products of rivals. Not least the PS/2 range was nice to look at, giving a welcome boost to standards of industrial design.

Image credits: Raymangold22 via Wikimedia Commons

D-Kuru via Wikimedia Commons

Apple Macintosh II and Macintosh SE (1987)

Apple Macintosh SE

Announced March 1987

Announced thirty years ago this month and three years after the original Mac, the Macintosh II and Macintosh SE both improved Apple's lineup, but in different ways.

The most obviously "Mac-like" one of the pair was the SE, which was actually the fifth classic Mac in the range (after the 128K, 512K and 512Ke and the Plus) and the first one to have an internal expansion slot ("SE" stood for "System Expansion"). As with the Mac Plus, the SE included an external SCSI port which was primarily used for mass storage devices. Inside was the familiar 68000 CPU clocked at 7.8MHz with 1MB of RAM as standard (upgradeable to 4MB) and there was an optional 20MB hard drive as well.

The Macintosh II was a very different proposition from the Classic Mac. The first colour Mac, the Mac II was also the first in the line to have the monitor and computer in separate boxes. Inside this was a 68020 CPU running at 16MHz with 1MB of RAM supplied as standard (expandable to 8MB). Monitors came in either 12" or 13" versions and could display up to 640 x 480 pixels in 256 colours, which was impressive for the time. The Mac II also had several internal expansion slots and could support a 40MB or 80MB hard disk in standard configurations.

Apple Macintosh II

Both devices were expensive, the SE starting at $2900 for a basic version with no hard drive, and the II coming in at a whopping $5500 or so. For the equivalent 2017 price you can basically double that.

The Mac II in particular was very much against the "computing appliance" idea that Steve Jobs championed with the original Mac, but he had been forced out of the company in 1985. At the time though, the Mac II didn't really have much competition apart from high-end workstations and probably the closest competition was the Commodore Amiga.  These two products heralded a period of strong revenue growth that came to an abrupt end in the mid 1990s, but despite that Apple became increasingly sidelined against IBM PC compatibles.

Today you can pick up Mac SEs of varying quality and specification for about €150 and upwards, the Macintosh II is a much rarer beast and is hard to put a price on.

Image credits: Ed Hurtley via Wikimedia Commons
Shane Doucette via Flickr

Cambridge Z88 (1987)

Launched February 1987

Launched in February 1987, the Cambridge Computer Z88 (usually just called the "Cambridge Z88") was a Sinclair by any other name. A compact, A4-sized ultraportable computer, the Z88 was a design success even if it didn't quite become the big seller that was hoped.

In 1986, Clive Sinclair had sold the rights to the Sinclair name and product line-up (primarily consisting of the ZX Spectrum) to Amstrad. However, his company still existed under a different name and the Z88 was the product of long running research to produce a portable computer.

As was typical for a high-profile 1980s product, the Z88 was announced a long time before it was available in quantity. First demonstrated in February 1987, it didn't really get to market in any quantity until 1988. And unlike previous Sinclair machines, the Z88 was something of a niche device targeting customers who wanted to do things on the move rather than sitting at a desk.

Measuring 294 x 210 x 21mm the Z88 was the same size and weights as a pad of around 200 sheets of A4 paper. Most of the front of the Z88 was taken up by a large rubbery keyboard, and at the top was an 8-line 640 x 64 pixel STN LCD screen which was very advanced for its time. Underneath, the Z88 had a Z80 CPU running at 3.3MHz with 32K of RAM and it could store data on either volatile RAM cards or an EPROM card which wouldn't lose data when the machine was powered off. The Z88 was powered by four AA batteries which could give up to 20 hours use.

The operating system was called Oz, and the Z88 came with BBC Basic, a terminal emulator, a word processor / spreadsheet application and some personal information management tools. Applications could be suspended and resumed, giving the Z88 a limited multitasking ability. New applications could be added through the EPROM slot, and data could be transferred to and from the Z88 using a serial cable.

The Z88 found a particular niche as a note-taker. The large keyboard was effectively silent (unless the optional click was turned on), and the long battery life and readable screen certainly helped here too. But since the Z88 was a fully-featured 8-bit computer it could do many other things too.

The Z88 became a bit of a cult machine, with after market upgrades to allow Flash memory storage and more RAM becoming available. Accessories and add-ons are still available as well. On the second-hand market the prices for the Z88 vary on condition and accessories, with UK prices ranging from around £50 to £130.

In the end, the Z88 was probably too far ahead of its time. These days we are all used to carrying a computer about in our pocket, but thirty years ago it was a novelty. This was the last computer project from Sinclair's own company and although a variety of other projects were started at a later date they could never repeat the success that Sinclair had in the 1970s and 1980s.

Image credits: Evan-Amos via Wikimedia Commons, Bill Bertram via Wikimedia Commons