Computers & Business Machines

• 

  Wang LOCI-2 Electronic Calculator

  Description

  One of the first programmable electronic calculators, this instrument was announced in 1964 and sold from 1965. It was designed by An Wang (1920-1990) and his associates. Wang, a native of Shanghai, immigrated to the United States after World War II, studied computer science at Harvard University, and worked at the Harvard Computation Laboratory. He started his own business in 1951, producing magnetic core memories and other electronic equipment on order. The LOCI or “logarithmic calculating instrument” was the first product marketed by the company. Two versions of the machine were announced: the LOCI I, which was not programmable, and the LOCI II, which was.

  The desktop machine has nine digit keys arranged in an array, as well as a zero bar and a decimal point key. Depressing other keys changes the sign of the number, shifts the decimal point, shifts from the logarithmic to the work register, and shifts from the work to the logarithmic register. Further keys are for arithmetic operations, squares, square roots, inverse squares, inverse square roots, inverse logarithms, and clearance of various registers. To the right are controls for the decrement counter, the program counter, and the operation code. According to company advertising, the machine offers ten-digit precision in addition and subtraction and eight-digit precision in multiplication, division, exponentiation, root extraction, and logarithm computation. It has five storage registers of ten-digit capacity and a ten-digit display, plus a display for the sign of the answer. A cooling fan and a cord are at the back. The card reader attachment that plugs into the back holds program cards.

  A tag on the front of the machine reads: LOCI-2. A tag on the back reads: ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND DEVICES (/) LOCI II (/) MODEL NO. 2AB (/) SERIAL NO. 2734 (/) TEWKSBURY, MASS. U.S.A. A paper tag on the back of the machine indicates that it was serviced 4/28/68, 9/12/68, and 2/9/71.

  According to a 1964 flier, the machine was to sell for $4,750.00. Kenney says that the initial price was $6,500. Wang Laboratories would go on to sell the 300 series of calculators (from 1966) and the 700 series (from 1969), and to manufacture minicomputers and networked microcomputers.

  For related objects and documents, see 1980.0096.02 through 1980.0096.10.

  Compare 1980.0096.01 with the later 1983.0171.01 (a Wang Series 700 calculator), and the even later 2011.0022.01 (a Wang Series 600 calculator).

  References:

  There is an extensive discussion of the LOCI II at the website of the Old Calculator Museum. See:http://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/wangloci.html

  Wang Laboratories, Inc., “LOCI-2 Open New Vistas to your Personal Computing . . .,” Tewksbury, Ma., 1964. This is 1980.0096.08. A similar leaflet describes the LOCI-1 and has museum number 1980.0096.07.

  Charles C. Kenney, Riding the Runaway Horse: The Rise and Decline of Wang Laboratories, Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1992.

  date made

  1965 or later

  date received

  1980

  maker

  Wang Laboratories

  ID Number

  1980.0096.01

  catalog number

  1980.0096.01

  accession number

  1980.0096

  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

• 

  Monitor, Radio Shack TRS-80 Monitor

  Description

  Don French, a buyer for the consumer electronics chain Tandy Radio Shack (TRS), believed that Radio Shack should offer an assembled personal computer and hired engineer Steve Leininger to design it. In the summer of 1977, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 for $599. You could purchase the computer without a display for $399.95, but the most common configuration was buying the computer, monitor, and datacassette recorder for $599. For the accompanying keyboard and computer, see 1983.0169.01.

  date made

  1977-1981

  maker

  Tandy Corporation

  ID Number

  1983.0169.02

  catalog number

  1983.0169.02

  accession number

  1983.0169

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Federal Express SuperTracker

  Description

  This is a Federal Express SuperTracker handheld barcode scanner, first introduced in 1986. The SuperTracker is a critical part of FedEx’s Customers, Operations, and Services Master On-line System (COSMOS) used to track packages and confirm deliveries. Customer agents, couriers, and sorting personnel use the SuperTracker to scan barcodes on packages as they move through the Federal Express system. Providing information about a package’s location, status, and movement became an integral part of delivery companies, with every major carrier implementing a package tracking system.

  Reference:

  Carl Niehls, “Custodial Package Tracking at Federal Express,” in Managing Innovation: Cases from the Services Industries, ed. Bruce R. Guile and James Brian Quinn (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988), 57–81.

  date made

  1986

  ID Number

  1993.0228.01

  catalog number

  1993.0228.01

  accession number

  1993.0228

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Texas Instruments SR-10 Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This is an example of the first model of a scientific calculator marketed by Texas Instruments. The handheld electronic calculator has a black and ivory-colored plastic case with an array of twenty-three plastic keys. Twenty-one of these are square, the 0 and the total keys are rectangular. In addition to ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, and four arithmetic function keys, the calculator has a reciprocal key, a square key, a square root key, a change sign key, an enter exponent key, a clear key, and a clear display key. Text above the keyboard, just below the display and to the left, reads: SR10. Behind the keyboard is a 12-digit LED display. Numbers larger than eight digits are displayed in scientific notation. A mark behind the display reads: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS. An on/off switch is right and slightly above this.

  The back edge of the calculator has a jack for a recharger/adapter. A sticker on the back gives extensive instructions. It also gives the serial number SR10 275812.

  Unscrewing screws near the top and bottom of the back reveals the workings of the calculator. It has a total of five chips. The largest of these is marked TMS 0120 NC (/) C7333. This is a TMS0120 chip, manufactured in mid-1973. Also in the case is space for three AA nickel-cadmium batteries.

  The leather zippered case has both a loop and a hook for attaching the calculator to a belt. It also holds an instruction pamphlet entitled Texas Instruments electronic slide rule calculator SR-10, copyrighted 1973. A warranty registration on the inside of the back page indicates these instructions were originally sold with an SR-10 calculator with serial number 170334, purchased on September 27, 1973.

  Texas Instruments described the SR-10 as an “electronic slide rule calculator,” hence the “SR” in the name. The first version of the device, introduced in 1972, did not have the mark SR-10 on the keyboard. The second version (introduced 1973) and the third (introduced 1975) did. This is an example of the first version. According to Ball & Flamm, it initially sold for $149.95.

  Compare 1986.0988.351, 1986.0988.354, and 1986.0988.356.

  References:

  Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, The Complete Collector’s Guide to Pocket Calculators, Tustin, CA: Wilson/Barnett, 1997, p. 153.

  The online Datamath Museum includes versions of the SR-10 from 1972, 1973, and 1975.

  date made

  1972

  Date made

  1973

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  1986.0988.354

  catalog number

  1986.0988.354

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Philips Velo 1

  Description

  The Velo 1, made by Philips in 1997, is a personal digital assistant weighing less than a pound. The owner could use popular Microsoft programs, send faxes, surf the Web, record voice memos, and much more. It used a stylus instead of a mouse to navigate the screens. Files, e-mails, and other data could be synchronized between the Velo 1 and a desktop computer using a docking station and ActiveSync software.

  This handheld device shipped with Microsoft’s Windows CE version 1 operating system. Bundled with the operating system were Microsoft’s “Pocket” versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. Other applications included calculator, voice memo recording, world clock, bFAX Pro, PC Link, Remote Networking, and Solitaire.

  The overall case is dark gray. Printed in the lower right corner of the cover is the name “Philips”. The left side of the cover is a silver- colored insert with “VELO1 4MB” printed on it. (The 4MB refers to the amount of RAM.) The front edge of the device has three indicator lights (recharging, serial connection, alarm). The top edge has the spring-loaded open button on the right and the omnidirectional microphone on the left. Inside is a standard 61-key QWERTY keyboard (the ten numeric keys are preprogrammed to access the primary applications when used with the alt key). To the upper left of the keyboard is the power button, and to the upper right is the slot for storing the stylus. The LCD screen displays 480x240 pixels in grayscale. To the left of the screen is a flip door for the RJ-11 phone jack, to the upper right, the backlight button. The serial connector for the docking station, DC power adapter jack, and infared port are located on the left edge of the keyboard. The contrast dial is located on the right edge of the screen. The back houses the main battery compartment (secured with a spring-loaded slide button), backup battery compartment (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), RAM card slot (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), a flip-door covering the Type II PC Card V connector, and the Flash/ROM slot (secured with a spring-loaded slide button). The power sources for this device are a NiMH battery pack (rated to last 8-10 hours), or two AA batteries (rated to last 8-12 hours), or AC power.

  The objects in accession 2016.0361 and non-accession 2016.3194 are related.

  date made

  1997

  designer

  Philips

  maker

  Philips

  ID Number

  2016.0361.01

  accession number

  2016.0361

  catalog number

  2016.0361.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Employee Badge for Michael Dell

  Description

  This employee badge was used by Dell Inc. founder and CEO Michael Dell and provided global access to all Dell facilities. The ID badge was used from around 1994 until the time it was donated to the Museum in 2007. The badge is white with a blue Dell logo at the top and a head shot of Michael Dell in the center. The bottom of the badge features the employee's name, "Michael Dell," and his employee number, "1.” An image of Dell Inc.’s headquarters, Round Rock 1, is in the background, and the badge is covered with a holographic layer to prevent tampering.

  date made

  1984

  maker

  Dell Inc.

  ID Number

  2007.0042.05

  catalog number

  2007.0042.05

  accession number

  2007.0042

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Mainframe Computer Component, Williams Tube Electrostatic Memory from the Ferranti Mark I Computer

  Description

  Not long after the end of World War II, developers in both the United States and Great Britain set out to build new forms of room-sized mainframe computers. One challenge was storing the information generated by with a computer program. Frederick C. Williams and Tom Kilburn headed a team at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England, that developed a computer memory in which bits of data were stored on the charged screen of a cathode ray tube. Information on the screen was refreshed every fifth of a second. Such an electrostatic memory came to be called a Williams tube.

  Williams tubes were first used on the Manchester Mark I, a computer built at the university there in 1948 and used until 1950. Impressed by the machine, the British government contracted with the Manchester firm of Ferranti, Ltd., to build nine commercial versions of it. These appeared between 1951 and 1957. This Williams tube comes from the Ferranti Mark I built for the AVROE Company in Manchester in 1954. That computer was used there for ten years to solve problems associated with aircraft design, management, and programmable machine tools.

  There are six vacuum tubes across the front of the amplifier, all marked: MULLARD. The first on the right is markedL 606VD, the second: 606UB, the thrid: 6064SL. A mark in the upper right corner reads: FERRANTI.

  The contents of the memory of a Mark I was represented by a grid of dots on the screens of the Williams tubes. As early as 1951, British schoolmaster Christopher Strachey began work on a program that allowed him to play draughts (checkers) on the Ferranti Mark I at the University of Manchester. Using this program, it was possible to make the screen of one Williams tube appear like a checkerboard – though not to show moves of individual pieces. Other computer programmers – and later video game enthusiasts – would go further.

  References:

  Accession file.

  Martin Campbell-Kelly, “Christopher Strachey,” , 7, #1, January, 1985, pp. 19-42.

  J. W. Cortada, Historical Dictionary of Data Processing Technology, New York: Greenwood Press, 1987, pp. 256-258.

  Simon Lavington, Early British Computers, Bedford, Massachusetts: Digital Press, 1980.

  date made

  1954

  maker

  Ferranti Limited

  ID Number

  CI.334386

  catalog number

  334386

  accession number

  309902

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  TRS-80 Model 100 Microcomputer

  Description

  The Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 was one of the precursors to the modern laptop. The functions were fairly limited but the size and battery power were well recieved.

  This computer was actually made by Kyocera, now a brand name recognized worldwide as a manufacturer of popular cell phone and PDA hybrids.

  date made

  ca 1983

  user

  Ceruzzi, Paul

  maker

  Tandy Corporation

  ID Number

  1995.0176.01

  accession number

  1995.0176

  catalog number

  1995.0176.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Personal Digital Assistant, Apple Cadillac PDA

  Description

  This portable, pen-operated personal digital assistant has a black plastic case and a clear screen. A space for an electronic pen is above the screen, although the pen presently with the device does not fit into the space. The pen can be plugged in to either the left or the right side of the Cadillac.

  Below the screen is an Apple logo. A tag on the left of the screen reads: SEUTØ13. A tag on the back reads: SEUTØ13 (/) IC.

  The Cadillac is a manufacturer’s prototype of the Newton personal digital assistant – Apple would sell the Newton from 1993 until 1998. This example of the Cadillac was owned by Rodney Sol Furmanski (1963-2009), a mechanical engineer by training who worked at Claris as a test engineer. He used the object to test the Newton operating system.

  Source:

  Accession file.

  date made

  ca1990

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2010.0023.1

  accession number

  2010.0023

  catalog number

  2010.0023.1

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  National Semiconductor 103A Handheld Electronic Calculator

  Description

  This handheld electronic calculator comes in a checkbook and is designed to assist in balancing checking accounts. It has a total of thirty-one plastic keys. On the left side are ten digit keys, a clear entry/clear key, a decimal point key, and four arithmetic function keys. At the center are a % key, a total key, an off key, an on key, and a DB key. On the right is a row of keys for a checking account for entering checks and deposits, and finding balances. A second row of three keys is for indicating charges, payments, and balances in a charge account. A third row of keys for a second charge account. At the bottom right corner is a grand total key.

  Behind the keyboard is an eight-digit LCD display. To the right of it are three brightly colored dots. Text to the left reads: NSC National Semiconductor 103A.

  The back of the calculator is riveted to the calculator, so marks there were not recorded. A mark on the circuit board reads: NS-103B-1 (/) A=5 (/) B=10.

  Text on the inside of the checkbook reads: MADE IN TAIWAN. The checkbook also includes space for a pen.

  Compare 1986.0988.227 and 1986.0988.336.

  References:

  Frank Macias, “Calculating Friends: Delegate That Everyday Balancing Act to These Little Guys with Big Brains,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 1978, p. O64.

  [Advertisement], Washington Post, February 13, 1981, p. A41. On sale for $29.95, regularly $34.95.

  date made

  1978-1981

  maker

  National Semiconductor Corporation

  ID Number

  1986.0988.148

  catalog number

  1986.0988.148

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Software, Basic for the Altair on Paper Tape

  Description

  In the mid-1960s, Dartmouth College professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz developed a computer language intended to be easy to learn and use. They called it BASIC--Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Students learned BASIC on a teletype terminal that communicated with a central computer. Several terminals were linked to one computer as part of a system called timesharing. Students on remote terminals could use the computer without seeing it--or even knowing what kind of computer it was. This particular BASIC tape was used with an MITS Altair 8800, a later microcomputer.

  date made

  ca 1975

  ID Number

  1986.0463.24

  catalog number

  1986.0463.24

  accession number

  1986.0463

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Personal Computer

  Description

  In the early 1970s, most personal computers came as hobbyist kits requiring a high level of technical expertise to assemble. Don French, a buyer for the consumer electronics chain Tandy Radio Shack (TRS), believed that Radio Shack should offer an assembled personal computer and hired engineer Steve Leininger to design it. In the summer of 1977, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 for $599. This offering included a BASIC language interpreter, four kilobytes of RAM, a Zilog Z80 processor at 1.77 megahertz, a twelve-inch video monitor, a cassette recorder, a power supply, and a cassette tape containing the games Blackjack and Backgammon. While some Tandy executives were skeptical about the success of the PC market, the availability of the TRS-80 on five thousand Radio Shack store shelves helped the Model 1 sell over one hundred thousand units during its first year, which was 50 percent of the total PCs sold in 1978.

  The TRS-80 had its microprocessor inside its keyboard. While you could purchase just the TRS-80 for $400, most opted for the package that included the twelve-inch monitor and cassette recorder for $600. This example of the object includes the TRS-80 Expansion Interface for $299 (the monitor sits on it) that gave the machine an extra thirty-two kilobytes of memory. Also part of the system are two Mini-Disk drives that sold for $499 and a suitcase for carrying all this around.

  One also could purchase such accessories as a TRS-80 Telephone Interface II for $199 that allowed for network communication and printer for $399. Examples of these are in the Smithsonian collections, although they were not received with this specific microcomputer.

  References:

  Radio Shack, A Tandy Company, 1978 Catalog No. 289, page 166, accessed September 1, 2014, http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1978

  Radio Shack, A Tandy Company, 1979 Catalog No. 302, pages 79–82, accessed September 1, 2014, http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1979

  “BYTE News,” BYTE, May 1979, 117.

  Peggy A. Kidwell and Paul E. Ceruzzi, Landmarks in Digital Computing (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), 96–99.

  date made

  1977-1981

  maker

  Tandy Corporation

  ID Number

  1983.0169.01

  catalog number

  1983.0169.01

  accession number

  1983.0169

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  iPod

  Description

  Originally sold in 2001 by Apple Inc. as a portable music player exclusively for Macintosh’s operating system, the iPod’s market share began to grow as it included Windows operability in 2002 and introduced its iTunes Store in 2003. In June of 2004 this fourth generation iPod was announced, notably adopting the “Click Wheel” controls from the iPod mini and vaulting the iPod to a 90 percent share of the portable music player market. The fourth generation iPod priced the 20GB version at $299 and the 40 GB model for $399.

  date made

  2004

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2008.0025.01

  catalog number

  2008.0025.01

  accession number

  2008.0025

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  iPad Tablet Computer with Adapter

  Description

  On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc. announced the release of their first-generation iPad – a touch screen tablet computer. Over 300,000 were sold the first day pre-orders were accepted. Before the release of the iPad 2 in March 2011, total sales reached 15 million.

  The iPad was selected by Time magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010 while Popular Science chose it as a top gadget in their “Best of What’s New 2010” list. It was designed for browsing the web, reading and sending e-mail, viewing photographs, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books, and more. Critics noted the absence of a camera, the inability to multi-task, and the lack of support for Adobe Flash.

  The first iPads measured 7.47”w x 9.56”h x 0.5”d and weighed 1.5 pounds (1.6 pounds for the 3G model). They were released with Apple’s iPhone operating system, OS 3.2, a mobile version of its Mac OS X, but by November of 2010 iOS 4.2 was available and it included application multi-tasking. Included with each iPad were WiFi, Bluetooth interface, microphone, 3.5mm headphone jack, audio ports molded into the case, and a proprietary 30-pin dock connector (used for recharging). It had a rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery which could provide 10 hours of video, 140 hours of music, or one month of standby time. Options for the iPad included 3G cellular capabilities and storage options of 16, 32, or 64 GB of solid-state (flash) memory.

  Almost all input was made through the 9.7” diagonal liquid-crystal touch screen. A 3-axis accelerometer sensed its orientation and could automatically switch between four orientations (portrait, landscape-left, landscape-right and upside-down).

  The three physical switches on the sides operated the wake/sleep mode, speaker volume, and screen orientation lock. On the front of the display was the “home” button, used to return the user to the home screen. The home screen included the Apple applications Safari, Mail, Photos, Video, iTunes, App Store, iBooks, Maps, Notes, Calendar, and Contacts. Multiple screens were available for applications and each could hold up to twenty applications. Users could install and delete third-party applications at any time.

  This model, an A1377 WiFi + 3G with 16 GB, sold for $629 in 2010. In 2011 the donor received this iPad as a gift and used it while attending college. While working as an intern at the National Museum of American History, she learned that the museum was looking to collect a 1st generation iPad. Following her graduation in 2013, she donated this iPad.

  References: [Last accessed 7/25/2018]

  https://www.lifewire.com/apple-ipad-review-2000577

  https://www.cnet.com/products/apple-ipad/review/

  https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipad/specs/apple-ipad-original-specs.html

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_(1st_generation)

  date made

  2011

  maker

  Apple Computer, Inc.

  ID Number

  2013.0272.01

  accession number

  2012.0272

  catalog number

  2012.0272.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Handheld Electronic Calculator Prototype - Texas Instruments Cal Tech

  Description

  This prototype handheld electronic calculator was built in the Semiconductor Research and Development Laboratory at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas, by a team led by Jack Kilby (1923–2005), co-inventor of the integrated circuit. By the mid-1960s, TI was building microchips for industrial and military applications. The company president, Pat Haggerty, sought a consumer product that would use chips, just as earlier TI transistors had found wide use in transistor radios. Haggerty proposed a variety of possible products, and Kilby and his colleagues settled on making a small electronic calculator. TI had given an earlier development program the code name Project MIT. The calculator work, also confidential, was dubbed Project Cal Tech.

  Machines that performed basic arithmetic had sold from the mid-19th century, for use in business and government. Desktop electronic calculators with vacuum tubes sold from 1961, and with transistors from 1964. Kilby envisioned something much smaller that would be roughly the size of a book. This required a smaller keyboard, a new form of display, a portable power supply, and a new memory and central processor. Kilby assigned design of the keyboard to James Van Tassel, and gave work on the memory and processor to Jerry Merryman. He took responsibility for the output and power supply himself.

  By September 1967 Kilby, Merryman, and Van Tassel had made enough progress to apply for a patent. The submitted a revised patent in May 1971 and a further revision in December 1972. This final application received U.S. Patent No. 3,819,921 on June 25, 1974.

  The prototype resembles the “miniature electronic calculator” shown in the patent drawings. It has a metal case painted black and an array of seventeen keys and a zero bar. In addition to nine digit keys, there are keys for a decimal point, four arithmetic functions, clear (C), error (E), and print (P). The on/off switch is at the back right and a thermal printer with a thin strip of paper at the back left. The power supply plugs into the back of the calculator and into the wall.

  An inscription on the front of the calculator reads: THE FIRST CAL TECH (/) PRESENTED TO P. E. HAGGERTY (/) MARCH 29, 1967.

  Depressing a button on the front edge of the machine releases the cover and reveals an intricate “integrated circuit array” (to use the terminology of the patent description) and three chips. The array contained four integrated circuits, each the size of a wafer usually made with several chips on it.

  Further refinement of the Cal Tech led to the commercial Pocketronic calculator, introduced by Canon in Japan in 1970 and in the United States in 1971. Texas Instruments began selling calculators under its own name in 1972.

  References:

  Kathy B. Hamrick, “The History of the Hand-Held Electronic Calculator,” American Mathematical Monthly, 102, October 1996, pp. 633–639.

  Jack Kilby, Oral History with Arthur L. Norberg, June 21, 1984, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. A transcript is available online. Accessed June 18, 2015.

  T. R. Reid, The Chip: How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.

  Jeffrey Zygmont, Microchip: An Idea, Its Genesis, and the Revolution It Created, Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2003.

  date made

  1967

  maker

  Texas Instruments

  ID Number

  CI.336000

  catalog number

  336000

  accession number

  319050

  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

• 

  Radio Shack EC-2001 Desktop Electronic calculator

  Description

  This lightweight, non-printing electronic calculator has an array of nine digit keys at the center, with a zero bar and a decimal point key below these. On the right are arithmetic and clear keys. On the left are percentage, percent change, gross profit margin, item count, clear memory, recall memory, memory subtraction, and memory addition keys. Above the keys are switches between a floating and a fixed decimal point, a constant switch, and a power switch. Behind is a ten-digit vacuum fluorescent diode display. A cabinet has space for two D batteries. A jack for a cord is at the back but there is no cord.

  A mark on the front of the machine reads: Radio Shack. A label on the back reads: CAT. NO. 65-660 (/) MODEL EC-2001 (/) Radio Shack, A DIVISION (/) OF TANDY CORPORATION. It also reads: S/NO. 430793 4A2 (/) MADE IN TAIWAN. The interior of the calculator has a single circuit board which has a mark that reads: J (/) 5729 (/) K. The chip by Texas Instruments has a mark that reads: TMC1073NL (/) MBS 8205 (/) PHILLIPINES.

  Radio Shack advertised the EC-2001 in American newspapers as early as 1978 and as late as 1985. The regular price in 1978 was $29.95.

  Compare the Lloyd’s Accumatic E680-3 (1986.0998.006) and Unisonic XL-101 (1986.0988.004).

  References:

  [advertisement], Boston Globe, December 5, 1978, p. 15.

  [advertisement], New York Times, March 21, 1985, p. A22.

  date made

  1978-1985

  maker

  Tandy Corporation

  ID Number

  1986.0988.007

  catalog number

  1986.0988.007

  accession number

  1986.0988

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Model of an IBM System 360 Computer

  Description

  In 1964 IBM Corporation announced a new family of room-sized computers, the IBM 360 System. It included several models of differing cost and capabilities. These embraced a full circle of computer applications, from business data processing to sophisticated science and engineering; hence the name 360. To sell the new product, IBM salesmen used scale models like this one. It shows the smallest IBM 360 System, the 30. Depending on the components selected, it rented for between $2,700 and $20,000 per month. More powerful versions of the System/360 rented for around $115,000 per month.

  Components include the central processing unit with control panel (attached is a desk with the printer-keyboard), a disc storage unit, three forms of tape drive, a disk storage drive, and a printer with paper. Most systems also would have included a card punch and a card reader. Each room-sized computer had its own staff who prepared programs on punched cards or magnetic tape, entered them into computers, maintained the circuitry, and delivered results. If an organization acquired one of the machines, most employees would never see it.

  The IBM 360 proved a highly successful product worldwide. This model was used by Timothy J. Bergin first in teaching computer science and then in exhibits at American University.

  References:

  IBM, IBM System / 360 Installation Manual - Physical Planning.

  E. W. Pugh, L. R. Johnson and J. H. Palmer, IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991.

  date made

  ca 1964

  date received

  2013

  maker

  IBM

  ID Number

  2013.0129.02

  accession number

  2013.0129

  catalog number

  2013.0129.02

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  WorkSlate Microcomputer

  Description

  In 1983 Convergent Technologies, Inc., introduced this light weight portable personal computer. Advertised as “an information processing tool designed to meet business needs,” it sold with an integrated set of three business applications – memo pad, phone list, and calendar. At least eight other proprietary software worksheets were available.

  Power sources included AC power, or a NiCad battery pack, or four AA batteries. Two “button” type batteries (Union Carbide #186, made in USA) maintained the contents of the memory for about 7 days without other power sources connected. To conserve power, the WorkSlate automatically shut off after five minutes of non-use.

  The computer display screen is a liquid crystal display (LCD), approximately 6”w x 3”h. It displayed forty-six characters across and fourteen rows down.

  The sixty keys of the keyboard were color coded to indicate their purpose. Yellow represented principal operations such as backspace, cancel, on/off, and Do It. (The Do It key performs execute/enter functions). White identified the letters, numbers, and main punctuation marks. Keys marked in green were used in conjunction with the green “Special” key to access extended operations and characters.

  The microcassette player/recorder used 1½” h x 2½ w tape cassettes to load software worksheets, store data, and record phone messages.

  The computer included communication connections. Connected to a phone with standard RJ11 cable, it could be used as a speaker phone. Using the phone list application, it could auto-dial numbers. Using a microcassette, it could function as an answering machine. The Comm Port, when linked to the WorkSlate, provided the means to connect with other WorkSlate devices to send or receive worksheets, with printers, or link to a modem to access an electronic information service. According to the reference guide, by subscribing to an electronic information service, you could “receive data on almost any subject imaginable”.

  The objects in accession 2016.0253 and non-accession 2016.3134 are related.

  date made

  1983

  maker

  Convergent Technologies, Inc.

  ID Number

  2016.0253.01

  accession number

  2016.0253

  catalog number

  2016.0253.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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