Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

From: Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal_at_MICROSOFT.com>
Date: Sat Jun 19 01:44:52 1999

CoCo... 6809... OS-9... duh! I said it was a late night.

I put the C65 on with the 64 not really because they're similar, but because
the 65 is just a prototype.

Victor 9000, good addition!

Check out the WorkSlate at
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/ConvergentTechnologiesWorkSlate.htm.
One cool thing about the WorkSlate, the tapes were stereo, and the data was
only one one track - the other track held audio! So as you loaded the
program, the audio would play back, telling you about the program and its
functions.

Kai

 -----Original Message-----
From: Cameron Kaiser [mailto:ckaiser_at_oa.ptloma.edu]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 11:06 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Re: Top 150 Collectible Microcomputers

My comments ...

::* Apple Macintosh 128
::
::1984. The Super Bowl.

Right on. :-)

::* Commodore 64 / 65
::
::Probably the biggest selling computer of all time, in terms of market
share
::at the time

These should really be separate. The 65 is much, much more interesting than
the 64 (and, coming from a guy who logs in with his 128, that's really
saying something :-) in terms of hardware, rarity and history.

::* Commodore C16 / Plus 4
::
::I don't care much for these, but Commodore fanatics love 'em

They're stupendous machines that never found a use. Commodore really shot
themselves in the foot by making them 64-incompatible, but TED graphics are
stellar.

::* Convergent Technologies WorkSlate
::
::A wacky early laptop that used a spreadsheet metaphor for _everything_.

Whoa. Who can tell me about these? Spreadsheet metaphor?

::* Data General One
::
::DG really wanted into the burgeoning micro market, and tried their hand in
::desktops with the MicroNOVAs, but eventually found some small, brief
success
::with this kinda-sorta-PC-compatible laptop.

Weren't they more successful than this? My DG One runs Caldera OpenDOS now,
btw. :-)

::* Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computers 1-3
::
::If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Radio Shack goes color and 6502.

I'm sure you mean 6809, right? :-P The CoCoers would kill you over this one.

::* Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computers
::
::Some of the first calculator-style "computers" with BASIC

Don't forget the Sharp and Casio systems these were unabashed clones of,
though I think you mention the Sharps somewhere ...

::* Sharp Pocket Computers PC-1500 / PC-1500A
::
::Actually similar to some of the Radio Shack pocket computers which were
::built by Sharp, these later, larger units had a lot of software and
::peripherals.

... yep. The PC-4 is a Casio PB-410, btw. (Someone check this ... ?)

::* Sinclair ZX81 / Timex-Sinclair ZX1000
::
::Sinclair merges with Timex and gets popular, but not more usable.

The 2068 is even harder to find than the TS1000. (It's just TS1000,
not TS ZX1000.) UK people, what was the 2068 a clone of? The Spec +3?

::* Sphere
::
::Not much is known about this rare semi graphical box.

But sure sounds cool! When did it appear? What did it run?

::* Tomy Tutor
::
::Like the Mattel Aquarius, a quick failure in the edutainment market at the
::time of the video game crash.

I love mine, though :-)

Ones I'd add:

        * though not US: Apricot F1 for the colour graphics
        * Victor 9000/Sirius 1

Good job!

-- 
-------------------------- personal page: http://calvin.ptloma.edu/~spectre/
--
Cameron Kaiser                     Database Programmer/Administrative
Computing
Point Loma Nazarene University                             Fax: +1 619 849
2581
ckaiser_at_ptloma.edu                                       Phone: +1 619 849
2539
-- He is rising from affluence to poverty. -- Mark Twain
----------------------
Received on Sat Jun 19 1999 - 01:44:52 BST

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