Computers & Business Machines - Overview
Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.
The Museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Other artifacts range from personal computers to ENIAC, the Altair, and the Osborne 1. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers
"Computers & Business Machines - Overview" showing 14 items.
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Ethernet Prototype Circuit Board
- Description
- This Ethernet board is a prototype developed by Robert Metcalf in 1973 while at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Metcalf based his idea for the Ethernet on the ALOHAnet, a packet-switching wireless radio network developed by Norman Abramson, Frank Kuo, and Richard Binder at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. The ALOHAnet sent computer data communication between the university's campuses on several islands. Metcalf improved upon ALOHAnet's design and created the "Alto ALOHA Network," a network of computers hard-wired together by cables that he soon called the Ethernet. In 1985, the Ethernet became the
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) standard for connecting personal computers via a Local Area Network (LAN). Today, LANs often use WiFi, or Wireless Fidelity, a way of connecting computers without wires.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1973
- developer
- Metcalf, Robert
- maker
- Xerox Corporation
- ID Number
- 1992.0566.01
- catalog number
- 1992.0566.01
- accession number
- 1992.0566
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Altair 8800 Microcomputer
- Description
- Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 chip, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
- H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read "World's First Minicomptuer Kit to Rival Commercial Models." According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
- The kit offered by MITS represented the minimum configuration of circuits that one could legitimately call a computer. It had little internal and no external memory, no printer, and no keyboard or other input device. An Altair fitted out with those items might cost $4,000—the equivalent to the cheapest PDP-8 minicomputer, a reliable and established performer. Most purchasers found the kit was difficult to assemble, unless they had experience with digital electronics and a workbench fitted out with sophisticated test equipment. And even if one assembled the kit correctly it was sometimes difficult to get the Altair to operate reliably. Gift of Forrest M. Mims III
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1974
- the head of MITS
- Roberts, H. Edward
- unspecified
- Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
- component parts are used
- Intel Corporation
- maker
- Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
- ID Number
- 1987.0066.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0066.01
- accession number
- 1987.0066
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
MITS Altair 680 Kit Computer
- Description
- The Altair 680 appeared about a year after Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) had introduced the Altair 8800, which many historians credit as the beginning of the home computer industry. In the Altair 680, MITS offered an update of the Altair 8800 that was based on the Motorola 6800 processor.
- Like the Altair 8800, the Altair 680 was a kit. For $293, users received circuit boards, capacitors, resistors, transistors, diodes, a power supply, an instruction manual, and a case in which to assemble it. Also like the 8800, the 680 had switches on the front that could be used to enter computer instructions, bit by bit. If customers were willing to pay $420, they could buy the computer already assembled. Neither the kit nor the assembled computer came with display, keyboard, or external storage device.
- The Motorola 6800 microprocessor ran at 500 KHZ, and the computer had a 1 KB of RAM and 1 KB of ROM, as well as support for a serial terminal and punch reader.
- The Altair 680 did not meet with the success that the 8800 had. Most users were now interested in buying computers that came with displays and keyboards, and were willing to pay more for them. The Altair 680 kit in the Smithsonian was never assembled.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1976
- maker
- Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
- ID Number
- 1990.0653.01
- catalog number
- 1990.0653.01
- accession number
- 1990.0653
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Altair 8800 Microcomputer
- Description
- Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
- H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models.” According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
- Enthusiasm for the Altair and other personal computers spawned computer hobbyist clubs, computer stores, newsletters, magazines, and conventions. By 1977, a host of companies, large and small, were producing microcomputers for a mass market. This phenomenon was abetted by a design decision to make the Altair an "open" machine. In other words, it passed data along a channel called a bus, whose specifications were not kept a secret. That way both MITS and other companies could add memory cards, cards to control a printer or other devices as long as they adhered to the published standards.
- This particular Altair was collected by the Smithsonian because it documents how hobbyists would outfit the machine with additional parts and components. The user added his own keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and 17 plug-in boards to expand the computer’s capability. Unfortunately, the original owner of the kit is unknown. The computer was donated to the Smithsonian by a second owner, Mark Sienkiewicz, who purchased it as a collectable item and never used it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1975
- maker
- Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
- ID Number
- 2007.0032.01
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.01
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Altair 8800 Microcomputer Keyboard
- Description
- Hand crafted keyboard for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
- Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
- H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models.” According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
- Enthusiasm for the Altair and other personal computers spawned computer hobbyist clubs, computer stores, newsletters, magazines, and conventions. By 1977, a host of companies, large and small, were producing microcomputers for a mass market. This phenomenon was abetted by a design decision to make the Altair an "open" machine. In other words, it passed data along a channel called a bus, whose specifications were not kept a secret. That way both MITS and other companies could add memory cards, cards to control a printer or other devices as long as they adhered to the published standards.
- This particular Altair was collected by the Smithsonian because it documents how hobbyists would outfit the machine with additional parts and components. The user added his own keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and 17 plug-in boards to expand the computer’s capability. Unfortunately, the original owner of the kit is unknown. The computer was donated to the Smithsonian by a second owner, Mark Sienkiewicz, who purchased it as a collectable item and never used it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1975
- ID Number
- 2007.0032.02
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.02
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Altair 8800 Microcomputer Monitor
- Description
- Cathode ray tube monitor for the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
- Not long after Intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) announced a computer kit called the Altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. MITS succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal computer age. MITS got its start in computing in 1971, when it introduced an electronic calculator kit. Several thousand sold before 1974, when the sharp reduction in calculator prices drove the company out of that market.
- H. Edward Roberts, the Florida-born former U.S. Air Force officer who headed MITS, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the Intel 8080. His daughter named the new machine after the star Altair. It was the first microcomputer to sell in large numbers. In January 1975, a photograph of the Altair appeared on the cover of the magazine Popular Electronics. The caption read “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models.” According to the magazine, the machine sold as a kit for $395, and assembled for $498. Roberts had hoped to break even by selling 200 Altairs. Within three months he had a backlog of 4,000 orders.
- Enthusiasm for the Altair and other personal computers spawned computer hobbyist clubs, computer stores, newsletters, magazines, and conventions. By 1977, a host of companies, large and small, were producing microcomputers for a mass market. This phenomenon was abetted by a design decision to make the Altair an "open" machine. In other words, it passed data along a channel called a bus, whose specifications were not kept a secret. That way both MITS and other companies could add memory cards, cards to control a printer or other devices as long as they adhered to the published standards.
- This particular Altair was collected by the Smithsonian because it documents how hobbyists would outfit the machine with additional parts and components. The user added his own keyboard, monitor, disk drive, and 17 plug-in boards to expand the computer’s capability. Unfortunately, the original owner of the kit is unknown. The computer was donated to the Smithsonian by a second owner, Mark Sienkiewicz, who purchased it as a collectable item and never used it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1975
- maker
- Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
- ID Number
- 2007.0032.03
- catalog number
- 2007.0032.03
- accession number
- 2007.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Texas Instruments SR-10 Calculator
- Description
- The Texas Instrument Slide Rule-10, more commonly known as the TI SR-10, was a handheld calculator introduced in November 1972, just a few months after TI's first calculator, the Datamath. The SR-10 initially retailed at $149, but was produced in large numbers and soon sold at significant discount. The calculator made use of the TMS0120 single-chip calculator circuit derived from the TMS1802, better known as the first "calculator-on-a-chip."
- The calculator had a LED (Light Emitting Diode) display capable of showing 10 decimal digits, and used a NICAD battery pack to power the red numeric display. The user had to constantly charge and recharge the battery after a few hours of use. The NICAD batteries would usually go bad after a few hundred charges. This was a major drawback for early electronic calculators. Later LCD (liquid Crystal Display) devices used so little power that they could run on tiny solar cells.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1972
- maker
- Texas Instruments
- ID Number
- 1986.0988.354
- catalog number
- 1986.0988.354
- accession number
- 1986.0988
- 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
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
Magnavox Odyssey Video Game Unit, 1972
- Description
- Contrary to popular belief, the first video games were not found at an arcade, but at home.
- When most people think about the first video game, they think of Pong, the ping-pong arcade game released by Atari in 1972. However, months earlier, Magnavox had released its Magnavox Odyssey, a home video game system based on the “Brown Box,”[hyperlink] a prototype invented by Ralph Baer. Additional games and accessories, like a lightgun, were sold in separate packages.
- Since Odyssey had no graphic capabilities other than the ability to change the color of the background, Magnavox included translucent color overlays to provide settings and game boards. Perhaps most surprising to modern gamers, Odyssey also came with nonelectronic game accessories such as dice, decks of cards, play money, and poker chips. These accessories were possibly included to make Odyssey more like games that currently existed. However, as the success of Pong later proved, video games, even in this early primitive state, could stand on their own without physical accessories.
- With less that 200,000 units sold, Magnavox Odyssey was not considered a commercial success, especially in comparison with Pong’s runaway popularity. Among the contributing factors, poor marketing played a large role. Many potential consumers were under the impression—sometimes encouraged by Magnavox salesmen—that Odyssey would only work on Magnavox television sets. Despite these setbacks, Magnavox Odyssey and its inventor Ralph Baer paved the way for all video game systems to come.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1972
- inventor
- Baer, Ralph H.
- manufacturer
- Magnavox Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0102.08
- catalog number
- 2006.0102.08
- accession number
- 2006.0102
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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