On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, James Willing wrote:
>
> > > ...Cromemco actively manufactured S-100 systems
> > > until they went out of business in around 1986 or so.
> >
> > as much as I absolutely hate to contradict... <BIG B^} >
> >
> > You may want to take a look at www.cromemco.com before you cast the
> > previous thot in stone...
>
> You're kidding!
>
> Wow, you're not. But this is a far different company than us old tech
> nerds know and love. Most of the business base seems to be European
> these days. But hey, this is significant. A micro/mini-computer company
> that's been around longer than Apple and is still alive and kicking.
> That's more than you can say for any other computer comapnies that sprang
> up around the same time, save for the obvious.
Their history seems a bit revisionist, and in some cases downright
fradulent. This is from the History section of their web site:
1975
First supplier of complete micro computer systems (based on Z-80)
Call me stupid but the Z80 wasn't even invented yet:
July 1976
The Apple I computer board is sold in kit form, and delivered to
stores by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Price: US$666.66. [46] [218]
[593.350]
Paul Terrell orders 50 Apple computers from Steve Jobs, for his Byte
Shop. [266.213]
*****Zilog releases the 2.5-MHz Z80, an 8-bit microprocessor whose
instruction set is a superset of the Intel 8080. [32] [202.168]
(early 1975 [9]) (1975 [556.11]) (1975 December [346.257])
Micom Data Systems ships its first product, the Micom 2000 word
processing computer. [615.99]
Source: Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1971.htm
And then there's:
1976
Development of the industrial standard S-100 Bus IEEE 696
First of all, I hope they don't intend to mean they invented the S-100
bus. That goes to Ed Roberts. And as far as I know, the IEEE696 standard
wasn't ratified until 1982.
December 1982
Pepsi-Cola president John Sculley first visits Apple Computer.
[745.62]
Tabor demonstrates a 3.25-inch floppy disk drive, the Model TC500
Drivette. Unformatted capacity is up to 500KB on a single side.
[444.72]
Amdek releases the Amdisk-3 Micro-Floppy-disk Cartridge system. It
houses two 3-inch floppy drives designed by
Hitachi/Matsushita/Maxell. Price is US$800, without a controller
card. [444.70]
Satellite Software International ships WordPerfect 2.0 for DOS, for
US$500. [330.108] (v2.2 in October [502.49])
*****The IEEE Standards Board passes the IEEE 696/S-100 bus standard.
[443.278]
Digital Research announces CP/M+. [443.431]
Atari issues a US$55 rebate on the Atari 400, dropping its retail
price to under US$200. [713.268]
Texas Instruments extends its US$100 rebate on the TI 99/4A to April
1983. [713.268]
Apple Computer becomes the first personal computer company to reach
US$1 billion in annual sales. [46]
Source: Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers
http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1981.htm
Then there's this:
1979
First multi-user operating system CROMIX (UNIX derivative)
First multi-user operating system...what? On a micro? Maybe.
Sheesh. These guys are as bad if not worse than Tandy and their
self-aggrandizing history.
(Is it obvious I have too much time on my hands these days? Oh well,
someone's got to keep the record straight.)
cc: webmaster_at_cromemco.com
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Thu Mar 18 1999 - 16:36:11 GMT