Computers & Business Machines

• 

  IBM SCAMP

  Description

  Some personally operated computers, such as this one, came from companies traditionally associated with larger machines. In late 1972, the IBM General Systems Division in Atlanta, Georgia, asked the IBM Scientific Center in Palo Alto, California, to develop a product that would raise the visibility of the programming language APL. Paul Friedl and his colleagues in Palo Alto spent six months developing this pioneering portable computer, known as the SCAMP (Special Computer, APL Machine Portable). The prototype used existing components - a cathode ray tube from Bell Brothers, Inc., for the display; a Norelco audiotape cassette recorder for secondary storage; a keyboard from IBM in Raleigh, North Carolina; memory cards from IBM Germany; and a PALM microprocessor board from IBM in Boca Raton, Florida. The APL language processor emulated one for the existing, much larger, IBM 1130 computer.

  The SCAMP is designed to be a portable and folds into a suitcase-like frame. The upper part, including the monitor, pops up when in use. The frame is chocolate brown and the cover and upper part are almond white.

  Friedl and his colleagues used the SCAMP in over one hundred demonstrations. A menu on the screen indicated possible uses – as a calculator or for financial analysis, project planning, educational drill, engineering analysis, or statistical analysis. The machine served as a prototype for the IBM 5100 portable computer, a machine announced in 1975 that sold for between $8975 and $19,575 and found a range of applications. Some consider the SCAMP as the grandfather of the highly successful IBM Personal Computer (IBM 5150), introduced in 1981.

  References:

  Paul J. Friedl, “SCAMP: The Missing Link in the PC’s Past?” PC Mag: The Independent Guide to IBM Personal Computers, November 1983, vol. 2 no.6, pp. 190-197.

  Jonathan Littman, “The First Portable Computer: The Genesis of SCAMP, Grandfather of the Personal Computer,” PC World, October 1983, pp. 294-300.

  Date made

  1973

  maker

  IBM

  IBM

  ID Number

  1988.0681.01

  catalog number

  1988.0681.01

  accession number

  1988.0681

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  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. By August of that year, Wozniak started designing an improved version, the Apple II. Wozniak and Jobs 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

  1977-1987

  date made

  1980

  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

• 

  Keyboard for Green Machine Prototype Electronic Calculator

  Description

  As a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, Thomas E. Osborne began thinking about the design of a desktop electronic calculator suited for calculating the very large and very small numbers encountered in scientific work. In January of 1964, he formed the firm Logic Design, Inc., to develop his ideas. By late 1964, he had built this prototype keyboard and display, as well as a prototype logic unit (1978.0311.02).

  The keys are of plastic, the case of balsa wood painted green. The prototype is known as “the green machine” from the color of the paint.

  The model has an array of nine digit keys on the right front, with zero, decimal point and exp keys above them. On the left are twelve keys for arithmetic operations, clearance, and memory access. After damage to the case, it was reconstructed by Osborne before it came to the Museum.

  For related objects, see 1978.0311.02. For related documentation, see invention notebooks and photographs by Osborne (1978.0311.03 through 1978.0311.14). For purchase orders of components used in the prototype, see 1985.0264.01. Elements of the green machine were incorporated in Hewlett Packard’s first commercial electronic calculator, the HP9100. For a prototype of that machine, see 1978.0311.03.

  References:

  Bernard M. Oliver, “How the Model 9100A Was Developed,” Hewlett-Packard Journal, September, 1968. A copy of this article is at the HP Museum website.

  The website of the University of Wyoming contains biographical information about Osborne.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1964

  date received

  1978

  maker

  Osborne, Thomas E.

  ID Number

  1978.0311.01

  catalog number

  1978.0311.01

  accession number

  1978.0311

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Shugart 5.25-Inch Disk Drive

  Description

  In the course of the 1960s and 1970s, computer manufacturers developed diverse ways of storing data and programs on magnetic media. Expertise developed at large manufacturers like IBM found its way into more specialized firms. One such company was Shugart Associates. In 1976, the California-based company introduced the SA400 disk drive for reading and storing information from 3 ¼” floppy disks.

  A mark on a tag on the bottom front of the drive reads: SHUGART ASSOCIATES (/) MODEL NO. 400 MINIFLOPPY (/) VOLT NA FREQ NA Hz (/) SERIAL NO. 000004 (/) MADE IN U.S.A. This example has no case.

  This is the fourth SA400 that the firm produced. The drive sold both as a standalone unit and as part of microcomputers offered by other companies. By 1982 Shugart had shipped over a million units.

  For related materials see 1980.0612.01.3 (a press release on Shugart Associates) and drawings 1982.0385.02 through 1982.0385.10. For another Shugart SA400 disk drive received at the same time, see 1982.3017.

  References:

  Accession file.

  "Background: Shugart Associates," September 1979, 1980.0612.01.3.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1976

  maker

  Shugart Associates

  ID Number

  1982.0385.01

  catalog number

  1982.0385.01

  accession number

  1982.0385

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  SCM Marchant Cogito 240 Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This ten-key, non-printing electronic desktop calculator performs the four arithmetic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The factors and results are stored in three registers, two of twelve-digit capacity and the third, of twenty-four digits. The content of these registers appears in three rows on a cathode ray tube display. The top row (K) shows the entry from the keyboard, the second row (Q) the second factor or the quotient, and the third row (P) the total, product, or dividend.

  In front of the display is the keyboard, with an array of digit keys at the center, keys for arithmetic functions and memory on the right, and on the left reset, register transfer, register entry, recall, and exchange keys.

  A mark on the left front of the machine reads: SCM MARCHANT. A mark behind the keyboard and below the screen reads: COGITO 240.

  In the summer of 1965, the SCM Marchant Division of SCM Corporation announced that it would begin to sell the company’s first electronic calculators that fall. These were the Cogito 240 and a similar machine, the Cogito 240SR, which also had the ability to take square roots. The 240 was to sell for $2,195, and the 240SR for $2,395. The machines were manufactured at a company plant in Oakland, California.

  According to Bensene, the machine was designed by computer pioneer Stanley Frankel, who had worked on the Manhattan Project, run programs on the ENIAC computer, headed the Computation Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and contributed to the design of minicomputers such as the LGP-30 and the Packard-Bell PB-250. Frankel worked on the design at Computron Corporation, a subsidiary of the California firm of Electrosolids. Not long after the British firm of Sumlock Comptometer released a desktop electronic calculator in 1961 (see the Anita Mark VIII), SCM acquired Computron Corporation, and Frankel and his team moved there to develop the Cogito 240.

  The calculator was quickly replaced by other electronic calculators in the SCM line. SCM dropped out of the calculator business entirely in 1972.

  References:

  R. Bensene, “SCM Marchant Cogito 240SR Electronic Desktop Computer,” at the website The Old Calculator Museum, accessed March 28, 2013.

  SCM Marchant, Cogito 240-240SR Service Manual & Parts List, Oakland, Calif.: SCM Corporation, 1965. This is 1979.3084.72.

  W. D. Smith, “Electronic Calculators Gaining,” New York Times, August 7, 1965, p. 25.

  “Presenting a new, highly advanced electronic calculator the Cogito 240,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1965, p. B10. Similar advertisements ran in the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and New York Times.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1966

  maker

  SCM Corporation

  ID Number

  CI.335373

  accession number

  318944

  catalog number

  335373

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Apple 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.

  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

• 

  Pronto Series 16 Personal Computer, Central Processing Unit

  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

• 

  Intel 8080A Microprocessor

  Description

  Intel introduced its 8080A 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) microprocessor in April 1974. Generally considered as the first truly usable microprocessor, the chip ran at 2 megahertz and powered the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI 8080, two of the first Personal Computers. Housed in a 40-pin DIP package that contained 6,000 transistors, the integrated circuit could receive 8-bit instructions and perform 16-bit operations. This particular example is marked "8321"indicating it was made in the 21st week of 1983. The "D8080A" means the unit has a housing of black ceramic.

  date made

  1983-05

  maker

  Intel Corporation

  ID Number

  1984.0124.04

  accession number

  1984.0124

  catalog number

  1984.0124.04

  maker number

  8080

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  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.

  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

• 

  Sheets, HP BASIC

  Description

  This document is designed to help a programmer learn the BASIC programming language, as used by HP. It has Hewlett Packard form number 02116-9077.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1970

  maker

  Hewlett-Packard Company

  ID Number

  1994.3128.18

  nonaccession number

  1994.3128

  catalog number

  1994.3128.18

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  UCLA Computer Club Punch Card

  Description

  In the 1960s, when UCLA (the University of California at Los Angeles) purchased a commercial computer from IBM, students formed a club where they could share their knowledge of the new machines. At that time, data and programs were entered onto computers using punched cards like this one. The decoration of the card was up to the individual customer. This is a pink eighty-column punch card for an IBM computer. Each column contains the digits from 0 to 9. The background of the card shows the head of a moose propped in front of a log. An open book lies on the left, and magnetic tape is in the mouth of the moose.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1960s

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  1996.0142.25

  catalog number

  1996.0142.25

  accession number

  1996.0142

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Regitel Cash Register / Point-of-Sale Terminal

  Description

  The Regitel is an early point-of-sale (POS) electronic cash register. Such terminals capture information about sales for computer processing.

  The device was made by the American Regitel Corporation and installed as a part of a networked system in department stores across the nation. The networks communicated over telephone systems at 9600 baud, which was extremely fast for the time period.

  A mark on the front reads: REGITEL. A mark on tape on the bottom of the machine reads: Theresa 3-22-71.

  For related documentation, see 2002.0091.02 through 2002.0091.06.

  American Regitel Corporation was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1968. The firm was acquired by Motorola in 1970.

  References:

  Accession file.

  Auerbach Publishers, Snapshot of Point-of-Sale Systems, Pennsauken, N.J.: Auerbach Publishers, 1978, p. 11.

  Creative Strategies Internaional, Retail Automation to 1983, San Jose: Creative Strategies International, 1980, esp. p. 109.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1970

  maker

  American Regitel Corporation

  ID Number

  2002.0091.01

  accession number

  2002.0091

  catalog number

  2002.0091.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Apple I Microcomputer

  Description

  In 1975, Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I as his personal computer to use the ARPANET and play games. Its enthusiastic reception among the members of Silicon Valley’s Homebrew Computer Club prompted Wozniak and Steve Jobs to form Apple Computers to manufacture the Apple I. Wozniak designed the Apple I around two principles; making the machine affordable by minimizing the number of chips; and the ability to output video to a TV screen most users already owned. With the incorporation of the microprocessor and dynamic RAM, the Apple I proved how small, simple, and cheap a usable computer could be.

  The computer sold as a single board for $666.66 since Wozniak liked repeating digits. To complete the setup the board required a video display monitor, an ASCII encoded keyboard, and an AC connected power unit supplying 8 volts at 3 amps and 28 volts at 1 amp. Aside from the 6502 microprocessor running at 1.023 MHz, the Apple included four kilobytes of memory (enough to run BASIC), expandable to 8KB on board, or 64KB using expansion cards. A cassette interface was also available for the expansion slot, allowing for data storage and programming, such as easily loading the BASIC interpreter without having to program it in by hand.

  The Apple I heralded a shift in personal computing. In the years prior, most computers were sold as kits, or assembled at a premium by the manufacturer. The purchase of a board that was completely tested and in working order led to “hassle-free” computing, helping spur personal computing towards a more mainstream consumer market. In 1977, the Commodore PET, TRS-80, and Apple II were released as assembled PCs, and hardware and software companies surged into a newly created market.

  Apple Computers gave owners the option to trade in their Apple I for an Apple II, mainly to free Wozniak from his customer services duties as the only designer of the computer. With about only 200 made, and many removed from circulation due to the returns, Apple I’s have become a valuable collector’s item.

  date made

  1976

  co-founder of Apple Inc.

  Jobs, Steve

  Wozniak, Steve

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2015.0001.01

  catalog number

  2015.0001.01

  accession number

  2015.0001

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Apple I Microcomputer Cassette Interface

  Description

  This green plastic circuit board made it possible to connect a tape recorder to the Apple I, and hence enter programs via magnetic tape. A mark on the edge of the board reads: APPLE 1 CASSETTE INTERFACE COPYRIGHT 1976.

  Associated with this object are 2015.0001.01 (the microcomputer), 2015.0001.01.2 (a power supply), 2015.0001.01.3 a keyboard) , and 2015.0001.02 (monitor with cable).

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1976

  co-founder of Apple Inc.

  Jobs, Steve

  Wozniak, Steve

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2015.0001.01.1

  catalog number

  2015.0001.01.1

  accession number

  2015.0001

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software and Documentation, dBase III Plus by Ashton-Tate

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1986

  maker

  Ashton-Tate

  ID Number

  2012.3098.008

  catalog number

  2012.3098.008

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software and Documentation, dBase II On-Disk Tutorial by Ashton-Tate

  Description

  This tutorial program is for Ashton-Tate’s database program dBASE II, released in 1983. The dBASE II software was an early, successful database management system. This tutorial was designed for IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT 3270PC and 100% compatible microcomputers. The original tri-fold folder has the installation and loading instructions printed inside, and has a pocket containing two 5.25" floppy disks and one 8” floppy disk.

  Reference:

  “PC Magazine,” June 24, 1986.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1983

  maker

  Ashton-Tate

  ID Number

  2012.3098.009

  catalog number

  2012.3098.009

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software and Documentation, Framework by Ashton-Tate

  Description

  This software and documentation, Framework II, released in 1985 for IBM PCs and compatibles, was an updated version of the integrated software package by Ashton-Tate. Framework II enhancements included increased speed; improved use of random-access memory, communications functions, overall operations; and the addition of a spell checker and dictionaries.

  The original box contains six 5.25" disks, three user guides Getting Started Framework II, Learning Framework II, Using Framework II, and Advanced Topics Framework II; Customer Support Guide, Software License Agreement, three keyboard templates with a Keyboard Template guide, six labels for backup disks, and instructions for Framework Replacement Diskettes.

  Reference:

  “InfoWorld,” December 9, 1985.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1985

  maker

  Ashton-Tate

  ID Number

  2012.3098.011

  catalog number

  2012.3098.011

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software and Documentation, Dunjonquest Morloc's Tower by Automated Simulations

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1979

  maker

  Epyx

  ID Number

  2012.3098.015

  catalog number

  2012.3098.015

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software and Documentation, Galaxy Invasionby Big Five Software

  Description

  This computer game, Galaxy Invasion, was released in 1980 by Big Five Software for the TRS-80 Model I and III microcomputers. The software package included an instruction manual, a special instruction sheet, and a 5.25” disk. It is enclosed in a plastic bag with a price sticker of $19.95 ($61.00 in 2019 dollars).

  This game was based on the arcade game “Galaxian” released in 1979 by Namco. Galaxy Invasion was Big Five Software’s first game to feature sound and music. The object of the game was to shoot down space aliens, with extra points awarded if you shot a space alien while it was attacking, and to destroy a Flagship within a set amount of time.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1980

  ID Number

  2012.3098.016

  catalog number

  2012.3098.016

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software, Perfect Software, Inc., Perfect Writer

  Description

  This software program, Perfect Writer, released in 1982 by Perfect Software, Inc. was for Kaypro computers. The software was on four 5.25" diskettes.

  Perfect Writer was a full featured word processing program with all the standard elements. This version also provided the ability to edit documents larger than the computer's memory (up to 200 pages) by using virtual memory. Other features included the capability to restore the user's last deletion by using a recall command, form letter design tools, and the automatic generation of footnotes, indices, and table of contents. In 1982 the program sold for $389 ($1,032 in 2019 dollars).

  Reference:

  "InfoWorld," May 24, 1982, p. 7 (Advertisement)

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1982

  ID Number

  2012.3098.048

  catalog number

  2012.3098.048

  nonaccession number

  2012.3098

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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