@computerswere.bsky.social
Skeeting retro computer culture
Saturn V rocket computer memory in the late 60s. Stores 4096 words of 26 bits, or ~13KiB in today's units & weighs 2.3 kg (5.1 pounds) and measures 14×14×16cm (5½"×5½"×6").
https://www.righto.com/2020/03/the-core-memory-inside-saturn-v-rockets.html
https://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/LVDC.html
The Atari 520ST Sixteen/Thirty-two was one of the first 16-bit computers with a Motorola 68000 CPU & 512KB RAM. In 1984 Jack Tramiel, then at Atari, sued Commodore, delaying the launch of the Amiga 1000 until 1986, giving Atari a good head start in the market.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST
X is the world's largest C64 demoscene party. Keeps going since 1995. X'2023 just happened.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(demoparty)
https://csdb.dk/event/?id=3187
The "Mojo" demo took the 2nd place, and it's one of the best demos for the C64 ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aJzSySfCZM
Believe it or not, you had to buy adapters for standard 9-pin joysticks with the ZX Spectrum. The Kempston joystick interface quickly became popular, but the games had to support it. Other, more universal & expensive options like the Interface 2 mapped the joystick to kbd keys.
https://t.ly/rf4rk
The BBC Micro version of Elite
The BBC Micro series was highly successful in the UK due to its massive adoption in schools. Acorn built it around the MOS 6502 CPU, identical to the C64's 6510. Acorn went on to develop the Acorn RISC Machine or ARM, the same architecture that powers iPhones and Macs today.
https://t.ly/K9IcA
Before the PET, the KIM-1 was the first computer by Commodore. More specifically, MOS. It was a single-board computer with 1152 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of ROM, and the 6502, one the first of the MOS 65xx CPU family.
6502.org/trainers/buildkim/kim.gif
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIM-1
The ZX Spectrum was launched in 1982 to upgrade the Z81. It became UK's best-selling computer, a hit in Europe & spawned an industry of companies producing sw, hw, magazines, and a community that is still active today. It boasted a Z80A, 16/48KB RAM, 256x192 pixels and 15 colours and a ULA.
17.07.2023 22:45 — 👍 38 🔁 5 💬 3 📌 2
The MSX were part of an attempt to create a standardized Z80 8-bit home computer architecture by Microsoft and the ASCII Corporation in the early 80s. They were very trendy in Japan, but you could find MSXs in other regions too.
📷 Philips VG-8020
📷 Sony MSX 10-P
📷 Sharp HB-8000
https://msx.org/
In 1981, Sinclair Research launched the ZX81, a low-cost home computer. It had a Zilog Z80, 1KB RAM (optional 16K RAM expansion), and a 64 × 48 pixels monochrome graphics mode. It was a commercial success. It preceded the ZX Spectrum and paved the way for the microcomputer revolution in the 80s.
15.07.2023 14:49 — 👍 67 🔁 9 💬 7 📌 1
MOS, formed in 1969, short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor, was Commodore's semicondutor factory and produced the widely successful 650x family of 8-bit chips used by Commodore, Apple, Atari and NES. It declared bankruptcy in 1992.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD011kGRrww
In 1983 Commodore launched the Commodore Educator 64 (and PET 64/CBM 4064), a C64 and monochrome CRT in a metal PET case, trying to compete with the widely adopted Apple IIs in schools. It did not go well.
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/PET_64
https://zimmers.net/cbmpics/ced64s.html
