CRT – Retro Viator

IBM Personal Computer

Published on April 28, 2024

A handful of product names are so ubiquitous and defining they become synonymous with their industry: Coke, Aspirin, Band-Aids, Post-Its, etc. In computing, the IBM Personal Computer was that product. In the early days of the microcomputer revolution, tech enthusiasts and business insiders were curious if “Big Blue” would step outside its dominant position in business and university computer rooms and enter the nascent small computer market. In the 1970s, IBM rolled out the portable 5100 series of computers, showing that it could build machines designed for desktops, but these systems were expensive and niche at best. After the explosion of interest following the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, the microcomputer industry was moving at a breakneck speed and becoming…

IBM Personal Computer XT

Published on July 9, 2023

With Apple, Tandy, and Commodore’s early microcomputer success, the industry speculated how IBM would respond. The mainframe giant had dominated computing for decades, but its initial efforts to make a viable microcomputer had fallen flat. That changed when Bill Lowe and Don Estridge set out to develop a micro outside the usual IBM bureaucracy. Just twelve months later, in August 1981, they unveiled the IBM Personal Computer (5150). The PC was made from off-the-shelf components with a custom IBM BIOS. Though it could run the popular CP/M operating system, it came packaged with BASIC and a new disk operating system from Microsoft. The early 5150s set the standard for business-class personal computing, and IBM quickly iterated and released the IBM…

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Apple Macintosh 512K

Apple Macintosh 512K

Published on October 17, 2021

In January 1984, Steve Jobs triumphantly unveiled Macintosh. An “insanely great” computer for the rest of us. And while the original Macintosh was amazing, it also struggled to complete basic tasks. Limited to 128K of RAM and a single 400K floppy drive, the computer was a contradiction, with state-of-the-art software and limited hardware. The Apple IIe (with 64K of RAM) was Apple’s most popular product when Macintosh was released. But the Mac’s bitmapped graphics and robust operating system devoured memory. Jobs was committed to keeping the original Mac at 128K of RAM to control costs. Burrell Smith knew it was a trivial matter to replace the 4264 DRAM chips with 41256 chips instead, and he surreptitiously modified the logic board…

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Apple Macintosh IIsi

Apple Macintosh IIsi

Published on February 7, 2021

The original Macintosh design is timeless, but by the end of the 1980s, Apple decided it was time to break the Mac out of its cute beige all-in-one enclosure and expand into a series of “snow white” cases with separate CRTs. The Macintosh II was bold for a Mac but conventional for its time. In 1987, the original Macintosh II delivered fast processing power, color graphics, and expandability in a big-box format. A few years later, Apple provided similar features in the smaller footprint IIcx, IIci, and then the IIsi. The IIsi is perhaps most notable for being intentionally hobbled. Slowed down with limited expansion, the IIsi was a modest utility player that filled a gap in Apple’s lineup. I…

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Apple IIe Platinum

Apple IIe Platinum

Published on January 3, 2021

In 1987, the Apple II was ten years old. It had ably carried Apple through the dramatic rise of the personal computing revolution. By the mid-80s, Apple suspected the end was near, but the Apple II faithful—with stacks of software—were not ready to let go. In response, Apple released the Apple IIe Platinum, providing an “enhanced” IIe with an expanded keyboard and a new greyish-colored case. In 1987, I was still exploring the wonders of CP/M thanks to my venerable Osborne One. I could only dream of color graphics and a mountain of gaming titles. Instead, I passed the time learning WordStar and SuperCalc and enjoying the text-based Colossal Cave Adventure game. The Apple IIe Platinum was a follow-up to…

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Apple IIGS

Apple IIGS

Published on August 23, 2020

The original Apple II first rolled off the assembly line in 1977, and Apple offered only modest improvements for nearly a decade. While the IIc provided a new form factor, the introduction of the IIGS in 1986 took the Apple II family to another level. While I remember a television ad or two, I never had the opportunity to use a IIGS in its prime. Only recently did I realize how capably it bridged the 8-bit and later 32-bit eras of home computing. Apple begrudgingly advanced the Apple II platform after the collapse of the Lisa and Apple III (and with a sluggish start for the Macintosh). A new wave of personal computers emerged in the mid-80s that eclipsed…

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IBM Personal Computer

IBM Personal Computer XT

Apple Macintosh 512K

Apple Macintosh IIsi

Apple IIe Platinum

Apple IIGS