The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small team led by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technology. The design team had formerly worked at Motorola on the Motorola 6800 project; the 6502 is essentially a simplified, less expensive and faster version of that design.
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of Tandy Radio Shack, Z80 [microprocessor]. It is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers.
The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different system and a radical departure in design based on the Motorola 6809E processor rather than the Zilog Z80 of earlier models.
Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather-goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store. By the end of the 1950s, under the tutelage of then-CEO Charles Tandy, the company expanded into the hobby market, making leather moccasins and coin purses, making huge sales among Scouts, leading to a fast growth in sales.
VisiCalc is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and then prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later. More than 700,000 copies were sold in six years, and up to 1 million copies over its history.
BBC BASIC is an interpreted version of the BASIC programming language. It was developed by Acorn Computers Ltd when they were selected by the BBC to supply the computer for their BBC Literacy Project in 1981.
Microsoft BASIC is the foundation software product of the Microsoft company and evolved into a line of BASIC interpreters and compiler(s) adapted for many different microcomputers. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first version of BASIC published by Microsoft as well as the first high-level programming language available for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
Sargon is a line of chess-playing software for personal computers. The original Sargon from 1978 was written in assembly language by Dan and Kathleen "Kathe" Spracklen for the Z80-based Wavemate Jupiter II.
VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. Its most famous products were Microchess, Visi On and VisiCalc.
Video Genie is a discontinued series of computers produced by Hong Kong–based manufacturer EACA during the early 1980s. Computers from the Video Genie line are mostly compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I computers and can be considered a clone, although there are hardware and software differences.
Microchess, sometimes written as MicroChess, is a chess program developed for the MOS Technology KIM-1 microcomputer by Peter R. Jennings in 1976, and published by his company Micro-Ware. The game plays chess against the human player at a beginner level, with the player entering moves via a keyboard and the computer responding, both in a custom chess notation. The game was ported to many other microcomputers such as the TRS-80, Apple II, Commodore PET, and Atari 8-bit computers by Micro-Ware and its successor company Personal Software between 1976 and 1980, with later versions featuring graphics and more levels of play. A dedicated hardware version of the game called ChessMate was produced by Commodore International in 1978, and the game's engine was licensed to Novag for its dedicated Chess Champion Mk II chess computer in 1979.
Following the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC, many other personal computer architectures became extinct within just a few years. It led to a wave of IBM PC compatible systems being released.
The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.
The TRS-80 Model II is a computer system launched by Tandy in October 1979, and targeted at the small-business market. It is not an upgrade of the original TRS-80 Model I, but a new system.
The TRS-80 Model 4 is the last Z80-based home computer family by Radio Shack, sold from April 1983 through late 1991.
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.
Sargon II is a sequel to Sargon. Both are computer chess programs for home computers.
Apparat, Inc., was an American software developer, peripheral manufacturer, mail order company, and retailer active from 1978 to 1988 and primarily based in Denver, Colorado. They are best known for NewDos/80, an alternative operating system to TRSDOS for Tandy Corporation's TRS-80 line of home computers, sold through their Radio Shack stores. Apparat themselves sold modified TRS-80s through their mail order catalog. The company pivoted to selling peripherals for the IBM Personal Computer in 1982, continuing in this market until Apparat went defunct in 1988.
