Firsts

From: William Donzelli <william_at_ans.net>
Date: Sun Jan 11 12:39:41 1998

> > first video game
>
> "Computer Space" which was Atari's first video game. I think someone may
> correct me and tell me it wasn't "Atari" yet, but it was created by Nolan
> Bushnell.

Spacewar for the PDP-1 is the granddaddy. Still runs, once a year
(hopefully, if the West Coast computer museum keeps up the tradition).

Then I suppose there were probably simulations run for the SAGE system in
the 1950s, but they probably were not fun and do not count.

> If the definition of "personal" is "integrated CPU, keyboard and video
> output" then that would be the Sol-20 from 1976. This was first proposed
> at the First Annual Vintage Computer Festival, and once you've done your
> own research you will tend to agree. Some will argue that the Apple ][
> was the first (by this definition). But the Sol-20 beat it by a few
> months.

When did the Sphere-1s start shipping? My boards have 1975 dates on them.
The Sphere-1s were also integrated systems, with a standard setup having
the 6800 CPU board, a video board, 16K RAM, and a serial interface board.

William Donzelli
william_at_ans.net
Received on Sun Jan 11 1998 - 12:39:41 GMT