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The Fairchild Channel F, short for "Channel Fun", is a video game console, the first to be based on a microprocessor and to use ROM cartridges instead of having games built-in. It was released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976 across North America at a retail price of US$169.95. It was launched as the "Video Entertainment System", but when Atari released its Video Computer System the next year, Fairchild rebranded their machine as "Channel F" while keeping the Video Entertainment System descriptor.
A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of smaller general-purpose computer developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, The New York Times suggested a consensus definition of a minicomputer as a machine costing less than US$25,000, with an input-output device such as a teleprinter and at least four thousand words of memory, that is capable of running programs in a higher level language, such as Fortran or BASIC.
The 6800 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips. A significant design feature was that the M6800 family of ICs required only a single five-volt power supply at a time when most other microprocessors required three voltages. The M6800 Microcomputer System was announced in March 1974 and was in full production by the end of that year.
The PDP-8 is a family of 12-bit minicomputers that was produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was the first commercially successful minicomputer, with over 50,000 units being sold over the model's lifetime. Its basic design follows the pioneering LINC but has a smaller instruction set, which is an expanded version of the PDP-5 instruction set. Similar machines from DEC are the PDP-12 which is a modernized version of the PDP-8 and LINC concepts, and the PDP-14 industrial controller system.
The PDP–11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of all models were sold, making it one of DEC's most successful product lines. The PDP-11 is considered by some experts to be the most popular minicomputer.
The HP-65 is the first magnetic card-programmable handheld calculator. Introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1974 at an MSRP of $795, it featured nine storage registers and room for 100 keystroke instructions. It also included a magnetic card reader/writer to save and load programs. Like all Hewlett-Packard calculators of the era and most since, the HP-65 used Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) and a four-level automatic operand stack.
Heathkit is the brand name of kits and other electronic products produced and marketed by the Heath Company. The products over the decades have included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, robots, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and the influential Heath H-8, H-89, and H-11 hobbyist computers, which were sold in kit form for assembly by the purchaser.
The Buick Terraza is a five-door minivan marketed by Buick from 2005-2007 model years as a luxury crossover sport van. The Terraza was a badge engineered variant of the Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Saturn minivans sharing the U platform;, all manufactured in Doraville, Georgia.
The Ford Model C is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1904, it was a revision of the Model A with a more modern appearance. It had a slightly more powerful engine and a 6-inch (152 mm) longer wheelbase. Built at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, it was the entry-level car in the Ford model lineup, slotting below the upscale Model B. Production ended in 1905 with 800 cars made; it was replaced by the derivative Model F.
The LGP-30, standing for Librascope General Purpose and then Librascope General Precision, was an early off-the-shelf computer. It was manufactured by the Librascope company of Glendale, California, and sold and serviced by the Royal Precision Electronic Computer Company, a joint venture with the Royal McBee division of the Royal Typewriter Company. The LGP-30 was first manufactured in 1956, at a retail price of $47,000, equivalent to $510,000 in 2022.
In computer architecture, 31-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 31 bits wide.
The MSD Super Disk were a series of 5¼-inch floppy disk drives compatible to some degree with the Commodore 1541 disk drive. produced by Micro Systems Development for use with Commodore 8-bit home computers. Two different versions of the MSD Super Disk were available: the single-drive model, SD-1; and the dual-drive model, SD-2.
The Z-89 is a personal computer produced by Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) in the early 1980s.
HERO is a series of several educational robots sold by Heathkit during the 1980s. The Heath Company began the HERO 1 project in October 1979, with the first release in 1982. Models include the HERO 1, HERO Jr., and HERO 2000. Heathkit supported the HERO robot line until 1995. All three were produced as kits, or for more money, prebuilt by Heathkit. The 1980s models are considered collectors items, due to their rarity. For the most part, they cannot perform practical tasks, but are more geared toward entertainment and education above all.
The NeXTdimension (ND) is an accelerated 32-bit color board manufactured and sold by NeXT from 1991 that gave the NeXTcube color capabilities with PostScript planned. The NeXTBus (NuBus-like) card was a full size card for the NeXTcube, filling one of four slots, another one being filled with the main board itself. The NeXTdimension featured S-Video input and output, RGB output, an Intel i860 64-bit RISC processor at 33 MHz for Postscript acceleration, 8 MB main memory and 4 MB VRAM for a resolution of 1120x832 at 24-bit color plus 8-bit alpha channel. An onboard C-Cube CL550 chip for MJPEG video compression was announced, but never shipped. A handful of engineering prototypes for the MJPEG daughterboard exist.
Heathkit's H8 is an Intel 8080A-based microcomputer sold in kit form starting in 1977. The H8 is similar to the S-100 bus computers of the era, and like those machines is often used with the CP/M operating system on floppy disk.
The Interact Home Computer is a 1978 American home computer made by Interact Electronics, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan. It sold under the name "Interact Model One Home Computer". The original Interact Model One computer was designed by Rick Barnich and Tim Anderson at 204 E. Washington in Ann Arbor, then moving to the Georgetown Mall on Packard St. in Ann Arbor.
The Chevrolet Series FA of 1917–1918 is an American vehicle manufactured by GM's Chevrolet Division. It was a replacement of the Series F which had improvements in engine capacity as well as other features. In this transformation of series, the pre-existing names of the H and F series cars, The Royal Mail and Baby Grand were dropped in favor of the names Roadster and Touring respectively. The FA Series was then replaced by the Chevrolet Series FB in 1919. Production was not interrupted while the United States entered World War I starting in 1917.
The 12-bit ND812, produced by Nuclear Data, Inc., was a commercial minicomputer developed for the scientific computing market. Nuclear Data introduced it in 1970 at a price under $10,000.
The Chevrolet Series F of 1917 was an American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet before they became a division of General Motors. The successor of the Series H, it had a longer wheelbase and other improvements, but kept the same engine. It was replaced the following year by the Series FA in 1918, which had a larger, more powerful engine. It was sold as the larger alternative to the Chevrolet Series 490, and the Model F was available for US$800 as either a roadster or touring sedan. As the Model F and Series 490 were in direct competition with the Ford Model T, sales were recorded at 110,839 for Chevrolet, with 57,692 Series 490 and 3,493 Model F. Chevrolet instituted Knock-down kit assembly where the product was created at Flint Assembly, then shipped by rail to the branch locations and locally assembled using locally sourced items such as tires, glass and other items. In 1917, the Monroe Motor Company was sold to William Small of Flint MI and was no longer sold by independent Chevrolet dealers when they weren't part of GM. Mason Motor Company was merged into Chevrolet once it became a division of GM and was used to supply engines for GM-Chevrolet vehicles.
References
- 1 2 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- 1 2 Heathkit 1978 catalog pages retrieved 2011 July 11
- 1 2 Wise, Deborah (1982-09-13). "Heath joins Zenith to attract hobbyists, businesses". InfoWorld. p. 19. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ↑ 1977 advertising material from Heathkit of Benton Harbor, Michigan.