Work - Overview
The tools, rules, and relationships of the workplace illustrate some of the enduring collaborations and conflicts in the everyday life of the nation. The Museum has more than 5,000 traditional American tools, chests, and simple machines for working wood, stone, metal, and leather. Materials on welding, riveting, and iron and steel construction tell a more industrial version of the story. Computers, industrial robots, and other artifacts represent work in the Information Age.
But work is more than just tools. The collections include a factory gate, the motion-study photographs of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and more than 3,000 work incentive posters. The rise of the factory system is measured, in part, by time clocks in the collections. More than 9,000 items bring in the story of labor unions, strikes, and demonstrations over trade and economic issues.
"Work - Overview" showing 11 items.
Page 1 of 2
Data General-One Portable Computer
- Description
- Data General was primarily a mini-computer company. But in 1984, it introduced the Data General-One (DG-1), a breakthrough personal computer laptop. The Data General One weighed nine pounds, ran MS-DOS, had dual 3 ½" diskettes, 79-key full stroke keyboard, 128 KB to 512 KB of RAM, and a monochrome LCD screen. It ran on a CMOS 80C88 processor. Unlike other "luggable" computers of the era, the DG-1 was light enough to carry on travel, but also powerful enough to emulate a desktop.
- The DG-1 enjoyed only mediocre success. Its 3 ½" diskettes were slightly ahead of their time, and much popular software was not available in 3 ½" format. Adding to the problem, software copyright protection made copying into the 3 ½" format difficult. In addition, the DG-1 base price was relatively high at $2,895, and the real cost tended to be even higher, because users generally needed both more RAM and an external 5 ¼" drive to run disks from their desktop machines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1984
- maker
- Data General Corporation
- ID Number
- 1995.0069.01
- accession number
- 1995.0069
- catalog number
- 1995.0069.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Pronto Series 16 Personal Computer
- Description
- Pronto Systems, Inc. introduced its Pronto Series 16 computer in 1983. It represented the high end of business computing of its era. The Pronto pioneered innovative design features, including a tilting and swiveling monitor, small foot print, a streamlined and adjustable keyboard, and an expandable cord that allowed the processor to be stored as much as six feet away from the monitor. These features won a 1983 design award from Industrial Design Magazine. The computer offered the first tower system—a design that later became common in the industry.
- Inside, the Pronto 16 was a powerful machine designed for the full range of business applications. It had a 16-bit Intel 80186 microprocessor. It was shipped with MS-DOS 2.0. It had 128 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 1 MB. The standard hard drive was 5.6 MB, and it was removable. The computer had dual 800 KB floppy drives (5 ¼"), dual serial ports, one parallel port, and a high-resolution monochrome monitor. Users could buy a color monitor as an option. Base price was $3,000.
- Over 1,000 systems were sold from 1983 to 1987. The company had to file for bankruptcy when the stock market crashed while the company was in the process of going public through an Initial Public Offering.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983-1987
- maker
- PRONTO Computers, Inc.
- ID Number
- 2001.0255.01
- catalog number
- 2001.0255.01
- accession number
- 2001.0255
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
AT&T 6300 Computer and VirtualVideo Producer Software
- Description
- Debuting in June 1984, model 6300 was AT&T's first entry into IBM compatible computers. It was the low end of the AT&T computer line. The machine was built by Olivetti in Italy. In comparison to the IBM PC XT, which used an 8 bit, Intel 8088 chip running at 4.7 MHz, the 6300 used a 16 bit, Intel 8086 chip that ran at 8 MHz. Although the 6300 was a good machine in its class, AT&T did not follow it up, and within several years, the company abandoned the PC clone computer market.
- This particular computer was used by computer multi-media pioneers Robert Morris and Trip Denton to create a digital multimedia authoring software, VirtualVideo Producer. Introduced in 1986—a year before hypercard—this software allowed users to produce multi-media shows with their PC and an image capture board. It is one of the first, if not the first, multi-media authoring system on the market. The presentations could incorporate images, video, text, and animations. Morris and Denton created a company, V_Graph to develop and market their product. The Smithsonian has a range of materials that document the early history of the firm. By the early 1990s, VirtualVideo Producer had matured and was bundled as Tempra with products from Creative Laboratories, Mathematica, and others. Over 300,000 copies were eventually distributed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1984-1986
- maker
- American Telephone & Telegraph Company
- ID Number
- 2004.0117.01
- catalog number
- 2004.0117.01
- accession number
- 2004.0117
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
NorthStar Horizon Personal Computer
- Description
- Northstar developed from a computer store called "The Original Kentucky Fried Computer." It changed its name due to impending litigation by Kentucky Fried Chicken! The company's first product was a Floating Point Math Board for S-100 computers. They then developed an inexpensive floppy drive system. This led the way to the Horizon, one of the first computers with built in floppy drives.
- Announced in November 1977, the Horizon was sold in a wooden cabinet, as opposed to the more usual metal or plastic. The initial price was $1,899 assembled and $1,599 unassembled. The Horizon ran on a Z-80 microprocessor that ran at 4 MHz. It contained 16 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 64 KB and 1 KB of ROM. The operating system was both CP/M and Northstar DOS. The machine was among the first to offer floppy drives, and customers could order one or two 90 KB 5 ¼" drives. Northstar was also one of the first machines to offer a hard disk drive. This was called an HD-18, and had 18 Megabytes on an 18" platter. The Northstar Horizon was suited for business, education, and software development applications.
- This particular machine was donated to the Smithsonian by Peter A. McWilliams, author of the popular book, The Personal Computer book, (1983) which became a runaway bestseller. This was his first computer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1977
- maker
- Northstar
- ID Number
- 1989.0354.01
- catalog number
- 1989.0354.01
- accession number
- 1989.0354
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Kaypro IV Portable Computer
- Description
- Kaypro was a manufacturer of portable microcomputers running the CP/M operating system. Its first commercial model, Kaypro II, was launched in 1982. The Kaypro IV was introduced in 1983. Surprisingly, it is not the same as the Kaypro 4, which was released in 1984.
- The Kaypro IV was basically a Kaypro II with added Double Sided/Double Density Drives. It had a Z80 microprocessor that ran at 2.5 MHz. The memory included 4 KB of RAM and 2 KB of ROM. Kaypro IV had a 9" monochrome monitor and a built-in speaker. The operating system was CP/M 2.2. The Kaypro IV included the word processor Wordstar, which was included in the Perfect Software Suite.
- The introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 led to the rapid growth in popularity of the MS-DOS operating system for personal computers. Software developers migrated to writing for MS-DOS instead of CP/M. Kaypro was slow to make the transition in their machines, and the company never gained the kind of prominence in the MS-DOS arena that it had enjoyed with CP/M. A prime competitor for the MS-DOS portable market was Compaq, which sold an "all in one" computer that was similar to its own CP/M portable. In March 1990 Kaypro filed for bankruptcy.
- This Kaypro IV was purchased with funds from a research grant obtained by Robert M. Smith, of the Department of Space History of the National Air and Space Museum. Smith's book, The Space Telescope, was written in part on this computer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- Kaypro
- ID Number
- 1992.0522.01
- catalog number
- 1992.0522.01
- accession number
- 1992.0522
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Digital Equipment Rainbow 100 Computer
- Description
- In the early 1980s, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was the second largest computer company in the United States, following IBM, and was the leading producer of minicomputers. DEC had missed the initial development of personal computers, but decided to enter the market with a 16 bit machine. In 1982, it introduced the DEC Rainbow 100, for a price of $2,500.
- The Rainbow 100 had both a Z-80 and an Intel 8088 microprocessor that ran at 4 MHz. It had 64 KB or RAM and 24 KB of ROM and had two built in floppy drives that could accommodate 400 KB single-sided quad density disk. It had three operating systems: MS-DOS, CP/M-86, and CP/M. Users made a selection by a menu at boot time. The Rainbow could be used for word processing, spreadsheets, and games, although it had a monochrome screen. In addition to operating as a stand-alone computer, the Rainbow worked effectively as a VT-100 or VT-220 terminal emulator on larger machines, such as DEC's minicomputers. Although the Rainbow was a powerful and effective personal computer, it was not fully compatible with IBM systems, and eventually was overshadowed and undersold by IBM clones.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1982
- maker
- Digital Equipment Corporation
- ID Number
- 1994.0078.01.1
- accession number
- 1994.0078
- catalog number
- 1994.0078.01.1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple IIGS Personal Computer
- Description
- The computers in the Apple II family were among the most popular personal computers in the late 1970s and 1980s. The last model and most impressive of the Apple II family was the Apple II GS (GS=graphics + sound). When it was released in September of 1986—Apple's 10th anniversary—at the price of $999 (without a monitor—or $1498 with an RGB monitor), the Apple II GS competed against other computers such as the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST.
- The Apple II GS used the Western Design Center 65816 16 bit microprocessor, which ran at 2.8 Mhz. It had 256 KB of RAM, which could be expanded to 8 MB. There were seven slots to accommodate an expansion of memory. It was the first computer to utilize the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) which linked standard input device such as keyboards, mice, and graphics tablets. This made it possible for Apple to sell a single set of peripherals that both the Apple Computer and later the Macintosh could use. The IIGS display had a 600 X 200 pixel mode with 2-bit palletized cooler and a 320 X 200 pixel mode with a 4-bit palletized color. The Apple II GS could display 256 colors on the screen. Its ProDOS 16 as system software allowed users to handle any number of open files at the same time.
- The IIGS seemed well positioned to capture a large market. However, by the time it was released, Apple was putting its energy into developing the Macintosh and the IIGS suffered from limited marketing. Apple discontinued the line in December 1992.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1986
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 1998.0199.01
- catalog number
- 1998.0199.01
- accession number
- 1998.0199
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Timex Sinclair 1000 Personal Computer
- Description
- The Timex/Sinclair 1000 was the U.S. version of the Sinclair ZX-81, which was made by Sinclair Research, Ltd. One of the earliest versions of the home computer, the TS-1000 hit stores in 1981. At $99 it was certainly one of the most affordable early machines, and Timex sold over 600,000. Its introduction caused other companies to lower their prices and include more features in their computers in order to compete.
- The size of a book and weighing 20 ounces, the Timex/Sinclair used a television set as a monitor. Data was stored on cassette tape. The processor was a Z80A microchip running at 3.5 MHz, and the ROM was 8 KB (the earliest version had only 1 KB). The computer keyboard was flat and the keys used black characters on a white background. The Timex could be used around the home for such tasks as budget management, checkbook balancing, and entertainment, but the limitations of the machine made tasks rudimentary. Users could also write programs in BASIC. Accessories included a small "adding machine" type printer and a 16 KB RAM drive. Purchasers of it could also buy pre-programmed cassettes, among them BASIC versions of games such as space invaders.
- This particular computer was given to the Smithsonian by Daniel Ross, Vice-President of Computer Products of the Timex Computer Corporation. It was one of a series of TS-1000s donated to science museums across the United States.
- Despite brisk sales, Timex dropped out of the computer market in the spring of 1984.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1981-1984
- maker
- Timex Computer Corporation
- ID Number
- 1983.0289.01
- catalog number
- 1983.0289.01
- accession number
- 1983.0289
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple "Classic" Macintosh Personal Computer
- Description
- The Apple Macintosh introduced a graphic user interface (GUI) to the Apple line of computers. The idea had originated at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, but Xerox was slow to commercialize it. Apple proved far more successful when it introduced the Macintosh in January 1984, with a splashy television advertisement during the Superbowl. The original price was around $2,500.
- Instead of typing out names of programs on command lines, users with a GUI could click "icons," or pictures that represented the programs they wanted to run. They could also execute functions like saving, moving, or deleting files by clicking and dragging the icons around the screen with a pointing device called a mouse. Apple's version of the mouse had a single button, which became an Apple standard. The first Macintosh had only 128K RAM, and users quickly found this insufficient. The Macintosh 512 KB, nicknamed "Fat Mac," was introduced in September 1984. It gave users four times as much memory, and allowed them to keep several major programs open simultaneously. The vertical processor case and 9" monochrome screen were distinguishing features of all the early Macintosh line.
- The Macintosh 512 KB contained a Motorola 68000 microprocessor which ran at 8 MHz. It contained 512 KB of RAM and 64 KB of ROM and initially had a 400 KB Floppy disk drive. Applications included MacWrite, a word processor, and MacPaint, a drawing program that turned the mouse into a paintbrush. Shortly after the 512 KB appeared, Apple also introduced a LaserWriter printer, which enabled desktop publishing for individuals and small businesses. Over time, Apple computers would appeal most strongly to artists and designers, while the IBM/DOS line of computers sold better in business markets.
- After selling hundreds of thousands of units, Apple discontinued the "Mac Classic" line of computers in April 1986.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1984
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 1985.0118.01
- catalog number
- 1985.0118.01
- accession number
- 1985.0118
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Apple II Personal Computer
- Description
- In 1976, computer pioneers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs began selling their Apple I computer in kit form to computer stores. A month later, Wozniak was working on a design for an improved version, the Apple II. They demonstrated a prototype in December, and then introduced it to the public in April 1977. The Apple II started the boom in personal computer sales in the late 1970s, and pushed Apple into the lead among personal computer makers.
- The Apple II used a MOS 6502 chip for its central processing unit. It came with 4 KB RAM, but could be extended up to 48 KB RAM. It included a BASIC interpreter and could support graphics and a color monitor. External storage was originally on cassette tape, but later Apple introduced an external floppy disk drive. Among the Apple II's most important features were its 8 expansion slots on the motherboard. These allowed hobbyists to add additional cards made by Apple and many other vendors who quickly sprung up. The boards included floppy disk controllers, SCSI cards, video cards, and CP/M or PASCAL emulator cards.
- In 1979 Software Arts introduced the first computer spreadsheet, Visicalc for the Apple II. This "killer application" was extremely popular and fostered extensive sales of the Apple II.
- The Apple II went through several improvements and upgrades. By 1984, when the Macintosh appeared, over 2 million Apple II computers had been sold.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1977
- 1977-1987
- maker
- Apple Computer
- ID Number
- 1990.0167.01.1
- catalog number
- 1990.0167.01.1
- accession number
- 1990.0167
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- Next Page