Post by tinybones on Sept 9, 2021 4:31:38 GMT -5
The original Apple I was birthed in Steve Wozniak’s garage, based on what he was learning and experimenting with at the Homebrewer Computer Club in Palo Alto, California. It was in this club of enthusiasts that the personal computer would move from hobby to product.
The Apple I sold 200 units in 1976, the first successfully marketed personal computer was the Commodore PET, a computer that was adopted in both Canada and the United States. Commodore was just another calculator company in the early 1970s until its lead electrical engineer got shown a prototype of the Apple II by the Steves of Apple.
Although Commodore turned down Steve Jobs’ offer to purchase the Apple II, it went on to beat Apple to release with the Commodore PET, an all-in-one computer that included the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, 4 kB of 8-bit RAM, a build-in monochrome monitor, and a sheet metal case. Though the PET was first and had some moderate market success, the Apple II (which came out later that year) was personal computing’s first big hit. The color graphics were a big draw, as well as its more accessible setup. The Apple II sold for $1,298, which comes out to a shocking $5,069 with inflation considered.
The real innovation behind the first personal computers though was this idea of an all-in-one product that the average family might want to have in their home. However, that vision wouldn’t fully come to pass until the first user-friendly products such as the IBM Personal Computer, the Macintosh, and the Windows platform came in the 1980s. Regardless, there is arguably no technological advancement in the past fifty years as monumental as the invention of the personal computer.—Luke Larsen
The Apple I sold 200 units in 1976, the first successfully marketed personal computer was the Commodore PET, a computer that was adopted in both Canada and the United States. Commodore was just another calculator company in the early 1970s until its lead electrical engineer got shown a prototype of the Apple II by the Steves of Apple.
Although Commodore turned down Steve Jobs’ offer to purchase the Apple II, it went on to beat Apple to release with the Commodore PET, an all-in-one computer that included the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, 4 kB of 8-bit RAM, a build-in monochrome monitor, and a sheet metal case. Though the PET was first and had some moderate market success, the Apple II (which came out later that year) was personal computing’s first big hit. The color graphics were a big draw, as well as its more accessible setup. The Apple II sold for $1,298, which comes out to a shocking $5,069 with inflation considered.
The real innovation behind the first personal computers though was this idea of an all-in-one product that the average family might want to have in their home. However, that vision wouldn’t fully come to pass until the first user-friendly products such as the IBM Personal Computer, the Macintosh, and the Windows platform came in the 1980s. Regardless, there is arguably no technological advancement in the past fifty years as monumental as the invention of the personal computer.—Luke Larsen
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