Museum

Applied Digital Data Systems of New York (or ADDS for short) is a computer terminal manufactured in the early 80's. Unfortunately, we have very little information about it. If you are familiar with the Regent 40 and have a moment to share some information about it, we would be happy to update our site with any relevant data.

The Apple II Plus was Apple's third machine, released in 1978, after the Apple I and Apple II. The Plus was virtually identical to the standard Apple II model, but it had a different ROM, monitor and a floating point BASIC.

Release Date: August 1975
Price: US $931 Assembled
US $599 as a kit
CPU:Intel 8080a @ 2.0mhz
Ram: 64k max
Operating System: CP/M and Basic

The Imsai 8080, manufactured by IMS Associates of California, is considered to be the second personal computer ever made(the Altair 8800 being the first) and the first ever “Clone” computer.

The Imsai, like the Altair, does not require a keyboard or a monitor. Instead, programs are entered manually by flipping the front panel switches, a tedious and often mistake riddled affair which often requires the “enthusiast” to start from scratch, many times over. Breathless in anticipation of what the Imsai might eventually divulge, the small LED indicator lights on the front panel light up to reveal the results of your hard work.

Like all the similar S-100 based computers of the period, the Imsai is just a very nice blue box with red switches, a power supply and a motherboard, not unlike modern day motherboards. The S-100 bus motherboard gave it limitless possibilities: a keyboard, a printer, a monitor, perhaps even more RAM if you were feeling particularly geeky.

Unfortunately, IMS and Associates fell upon hard times and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 1979, but not before it had its 15 minutes in the spotlight. The Imsai was featured in the 1983 MGM/United Artists movie Wargames starring Matthew Broderick. Matthew even had the accompanying 1200 baud modem coupler and the Dual 8” drives!

Ithaca Intersystems DPS-1

Release Date: 1979
CPU: Z80 at 4Mhz
Ram: 8kb up to 256kb
Price:$7200


Unlike the TRS80 model 1, the Ithaca Intersystems DPS-1 weighs close to 1.5 tons. It was however, one of the first machines that could reliably and relatively inexpensively run both CP/M and Unix.

The DPS-1 appears to be a clone of the Altair 8800(which we also have in our museum). Like the Altair and the Imsai, it had an S-100 bus. It was also one of the last computers with a front panel that featured switches and data/address LEDs. The switches and LEDs were used to enter programs(as it did not have a keyboard) and the results of the program were displayed through the LEDs(not a monitor, as it didn’t come with one of those either).

Release Date: 1975
Price: As a kit: $395
Assembled: $495

CPU: Intel 8080 @2.0mhz
RAM: 256 Bytes
Operating System: CP/M

The Altair 8800 by MITS( Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems), considered by many to be the first ever Mass Produced personal computer, was first released on the market in early 1975. The Altair was first offered as a kit – you ordered it through Popular Electronics magazine – and once you received it, would spend days soldering and assembling all of its components to hopefully end up with a working computer. MITS later offered pre-assembled versions for an extra $100.

The Altair is comprised of a case and power supply, a display with switches and LED’s and a passive main board with expansion slots, not unlike modern day motherboards. All of the key internal components, including the RAM and CPU, are mounted on add-on cards that slide into the “Altair Bus” slots.

The Altair Bus quickly became a very popular way to design computers. Other computer manufacturers quickly appeared on the scene and adopted the revolutionary Altair design but renamed it the S-100 bus. The IMSAI 8800 was one of the first and considered to be the first ever “Clone” computer.

The Altair did not require a keyboard or monitor as users flipped switches on the front panel in order to input their own programs in binary machine language. The LED’s on the front panel would light up and display the responses to their commands.

One of the most significant events surrounding the MITS Altair is its association to 2 very famous names: Bill Gates and Paul Allen. In 1975, Bill and Paul understood that computer prices would soon come down to the point that one could write programs for them and make money. They contacted MITS founder Ed Roberts and told him that they were developing a language for his computer. The Language became known as Altair Basic and would be sold in several different versions as an “Add-on” to the Altair.

At its pinnacle, MITS shipped approximately 1000 Altairs per month and in 1977, did approximately $13 million worth of business. MITS, however, was later sold to Pertec which proceeded to run the business into the ground. The last Altairs were shipped in 1978.

Release Date: June 1976
Price: US $2129 Assembled
US $995 as a kit
# of units manufactured: 10,000
CPU: Intel 8080 @ 2.0mhz
Ram : 1k, 64k max
Bus Type : S100
The Sol 20 was one of the first personal computers to hit the market at the dawn of the Personal computing era. It was launched in 1976 by the Processor Technology Corporation and derives its name from the biblical book of Wisdom, “The Wisdom of Solomon”.
The Sol’s designer and Home Brew Computer Club president, Lee Felsenstein, originally envisioned the Sol-20 as a simple terminal to communicate with other devices. Instead, it evolved into a full fledged s-100 personal computer made famous for its built-in keyboard, video output and walnut sides.
Lee Felsenstein, who incidentally was also the creator of the Osborne 1 computer 5 years later, had originally planned for 3 different versions of the Sol: The Sol-10, the Sol-20(seen here) and the Sol-PC. It is unclear as to whether or not the Sol 10 or PC were ever made. However, it is interesting to note that the “PC” descriptor was used well before IBM made it famous with its IBM PC 5150.

Release Date : April 1984
Price: US $1300
# of Units: 400,000 in the first year
Weight: 7.5 Lbs
Cpu: MOS 65c02 @ 1mhz
Ram: 128k
O/S: Apple DOS or ProDOS

The Apple IIc was a tremendous success. With great fanfare, Apple launched its first “compact” computer at the Moscone center in San Francisco and sold over 52000 units to 2000 dealers that day.

The Apple IIc was revolutionary for a variety of reasons: from the award winning design, to a membrane protected keyboard which helped keep contaminants and dirt out of the computer.

The IIC was a huge hit because it was targeted to the computer novice. It came with a separate 9 inch phosphorous green screen and a stand which held the monitor above the computer. The IIC, however, was basically a glorified IIE without the ability to expand or upgrade.

The Apple IIC was featured in the 1984 movie, 2010, with Roy Schneider. Dr Heywood Floyd is seen using his computer at the beach. What a crazy idea.

Released on Apple's 10th anniversary, the first 10,000 Apple IIGS computers (GS = graphics + sound) have the signature of "Woz" on the front. The Woz designation is a reference to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The IIGS was the first Apple computer system to utilize the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB). The ADB is a low-speed bi-directional serial bus that connects input devices, such as keyboards, mouse devices, and graphics tablets to the IIGS. It was later incorporated into the Macintosh line of computers, from the Macintosh II and up. ADB was eventually phased-out in favor of the more standardized USB (Universal Serial Bus) in the late 90's.

The Apple Lisa
List Price : US $9995
Release date: January 1983
Who Wants a Computer Called WANG? Give Me a Lisa Any Day
Apple Lisa: The GUI (Graphical User Interface) that started it all. If you use a computer with a mouse and pull down menus you owe it to this machine. Windows proponents will tell you that Xerox PARC developed GUIs and Apple stole it from them. While Xerox had the core idea, they didn’t have what Apple had in the Lisa (and later the Mac).
The Lisa is the first commercial computer with a GUI, or Graphical User Interface. Prior to the Lisa, all computers were text based - you typed commands on the keyboard to make the system respond. Now, with the Lisa, you just point-and-click at tiny pictures on the screen with a small rolling device called a 'mouse'.

"Lisa" stood for "Local Integrated Software Architecture", but it was also the name of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' daughter.

The Lisa was often criticized for its cost. The first Lisa cost $9,995 in 1983 and the reduced cost on the Lisa 2 (though it was nearly half) wasn't much better. You get what you pay for though. This computer had ONE MEGABYTE of RAM. That may not sound like much today but before you bellyache about RAM prices next time, think about this: in 1985 memory was $4 for ONE KILOBYTE. That translates to $4000 for that megabyte of memory in each Lisa. I don't know how Apple made any money on these things. Hard drives weren't cheap either. A 10 MB external drive could set you back $1000 or more. Do the math -- this computer was a bargain though most didn't know what to do with it.

Shortly after its release, Apple chose to develop its cheaper and smaller line, The Macintosh. The Macintosh, at $3200, was considerably more attractive to the home user market then the horrendously expensive Lisa and Lisa II. In January 1985, Apple discontinues the Lisa having manufactured approximately 90,000 units and sold approximately 65,000 computers. Rumour has it that the remaining computers are buried somewhere in an Arizona desert.

Apple IIe Clone

Manufacturer: Vector Graphics
Release Date: 1983
CPU: Zilog Z80C + Intel 8088
CPU Speed: 6mhz
O/S: CPM or DOS

In 1982, Vector Graphics was faced with the daunting task of going head to head with the IBM PC. Showcased at the comdex convention that year, Vector Graphics had a lot to offer with its latest addition, the Vector 4, including improved graphics and a faster cpu.

At the Comdex show, staff were able to use the integrated Linknet network card to connect 32 computers together(a first in the computer world and a precursor of things to come!) and map all of the disk drives to any computer they wanted on the network.

Released: January 1983
Price: $4995
CPU:Intel 8088@ 4.77Mhz
RAM: 256k
OS: Custom PC-DOS and MS DOS

Built by Dynalogic, sold by Bytec-Comterm, the Hyperion made it to the market a month or so before Compaq released its Portable. Because of this, it can be considered the first portable MS-DOS computer system.

The Hyperion was also one of the first computers from Canada. The Hyperion was designed to be fully IBM compatible but fell short of that mark. Many software titles did not run reliably on the Hyperion and as result, the less expensive but heavier Compaq portable became the popular choice.

Kaypro 1
Release Date: 1986
CPU: Zilog z-80 @ 4Mhz
Ram 64kb

Andy Kay, the engineer founder of Non-Linear Systems in 1952 and inventor of the Digital Voltmeter, released his first computer, the Kaypro II in 1982.

In 1983, Non-Linear Systems spun off the computer division naming it Kaypro Computers. Over the next 4 years, Kaypro launched approximately 11 different models of its original portable. Most were based on the Z-80 CPU and they ran the CP/M operating system. But by 1986, MS-DOS had already gained a stranglehold on the world computer operating system scene and Kaypro’s line of CPM based system never caught up. Kaypro ultimately filed for Bankruptcy in 1990.

The Kaypro-1 circa1986 was in fact confusingly named as it was one of the last systems to be introduced by Kaypro. The Kaypro 1, very similar to its earlier cousin the Kaypro 2x, came with a smaller software bundle and vertically oriented half height drives.

The Kaypro was the second portable to hit the market; the first being the Osbourne. Its entire case was made of metal which made it quite heavy if you decided to actually carry it anywhere. The sharp metal corners also made it impractical and uncomfortable if you felt the need to use it as a laptop. The Kaypro, however, had a 9 inch screen which was a distinct advantage over the Osbourne’s 5 inch screen.

Introduced: April 1981
Price: US $1,795
Weight: 24.5 pounds
CPU: Zilog Z80 @ 4.0 MHz
RAM: 64K RAM
Display: built-in 5" monitor
Storage: dual 5-1/4 inch, 91K drives
OS: CP/M

The base T3100, released in 1986, consisted of an 80286 CPU running at 8MHz, but could be slowed to 4.77MHz using a keyboard shortcut. It also had 640KB system memory, which could be upgraded to 2.6MB. It shipped with MS-DOS 3.2.