Keyboard – 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…

Apple Macintosh LC III

Published on March 18, 2023

The Macintosh LC III is the (not surprisingly) third version of the LC computer introduced in October 1990. The original LC was part of a trio of low-cost Macintosh computers intended to challenge the growing dominance of PCs and also stand up against the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. The low-cost trio included the Classic, the LC, and the IIsi. The Classic carried on the original Macintosh form factor, replacing the venerable Macintosh SE, and the Macintosh IIsi was a scaled-down Macintosh II. But the LC fit nicely between the two. In its small pizza-box case, it included many of the characteristics of the Macintosh II family, including color graphics, but offered limited expandability. I attended college during the early…

4 Comments

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…

3 Comments

Apple Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Apple Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Published on August 1, 2021

Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985. In a now-famous boardroom brawl, Jobs was outmaneuvered by his chosen CEO, John Sculley. Directing the Macintosh team had been Jobs’ most meaningful accomplishment to date, but Jobs and the team were exhausted by the rush to launch the Mac in 1984. Exhaustion, coupled with Apple’s management confusion, led most of the original team to leave Apple to pursue other interests. John Sculley knew the Apple II line was far from state-of-the-art and would not sustain the company much longer. He also recognized the genius of Macintosh. Though he resisted lowering its price (solidifying its reputation as an impressive but expensive computer), he did support enhancing the Macintosh to ensure its…

4 Comments

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…

2 Comments

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…

14 Comments

Apple IIc

Apple IIc

Published on July 19, 2020

The Apple II is an 8-bit wonder and was Apple Computer’s first success. It was also arguably the first big hit of the personal computer revolution. Steve Wozniak famously hand-built the original Apple computer kit in 1976, then he and Steve Jobs became tech darlings after the introduction of the Apple II. Part of the “1977 Trinity” when introduced that year, the Apple II significantly outlived its contemporaries: the Commodore PET and TRS-80. Until discontinued in 1993, the Apple II line defined home computing. I watched the Apple II from afar. I saw the ads and software reviews in magazines, toyed with one or two briefly in school, but I only had direct access to CP/M and DOS machines in…

4 Comments

Tag: Keyboard

IBM Personal Computer

Apple Macintosh LC III

Apple Macintosh 512K

Apple Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Apple IIe Platinum

Apple IIGS

Apple IIc