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| Geeky Post of the Day; 25 Greatest PC's of all Time | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 12 2006, 02:45 PM (159 Views) | |
| George K | Aug 12 2006, 02:45 PM Post #1 |
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Finally
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According to PC World. 25. Non-Linear Systems Kaypro II (1982) 24. Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650 (2006) 23. Apple eMate 300 (1997) 22. Hewlett-Packard 100LX (1993) 21. Alienware Area-51 (1998) 20. Gateway 2000 Destination (1996) 19. Apple iMac, Second Generation (2002) 18. Hewlett-Packard OmniBook 300 (1993) 17. Toshiba T1000 (1987) 16. Tandy TRS-80 Model I (1977) (I remember using this one!) 15. Shuttle SV24 Barebone System (2001) 14. Atari 800 (1979) (Had one!) 13. IBM Personal Computer/AT Model 5170 (1984) 12. MITS Altair 8800 (1975) 11. Sony VAIO 505GX (1998) 10. Apple PowerBook 100 (1991) 9. Columbia Data Products MPC 1600-1 (1982) 8. Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 (1983) 7. Commodore Amiga 1000 (1985) 6. IBM Personal Computer, Model 5150 (1981) 5. IBM ThinkPad 700C (1992) 4. Apple Macintosh Plus (1986) 3. Xerox 8010 Information System (1981) 2. Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986) drum roll...... 1. Apple II (1977) The Apple II wasn't the first personal computer, or the most advanced one, or even the best-selling model of its age. But in many ways it was The Machine That Changed Everything. On all four of our criteria--Innovation, Impact, Industrial Design, and Intangibles--it was such a huge winner that it ended up as our Greatest PC of All Time. The 8-bit system came with 4KB of memory, expandable to 48KB. It used a cassette rather than a disk for storage. It cost $1200, about twice the base price of its two biggest competitors, the Tandy TRS-80 Model I and the Commodore PET 2001. It couldn't even display lowercase letters (in the first several years of its existence, anyway). Yet it packed more pure innovation than any other early computer, and was the first PC that deserved to be called a consumer electronics device. Born out of the Home Brew Computer Club by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs's tiny Apple Computer in 1977, the Apple II was the company's second PC, but it boasted more than its share of firsts: It was the first color PC (you could even use it with a television), the first to be easily expandable by users, the first to integrate BASIC programming, and the first to run the VisiCalc spreadsheet--proving that these new boxes had a place in business. Perhaps its greatest innovation was its design. Jobs wanted the machine to look at home on people's desktops, so he insisted that the Apple II have a sleek look, as opposed to the sheet-metal-and-exposed-wire appearance of most other early PCs. The machine's coolness factor--an Apple trademark to this day--was as important to its long-term success as Wozniak's inventive engineering was. And we do mean long-term: From the original Apple II model that debuted at the first West Coast Computer Faire in April 1977 to the discontinuation of the final iteration of the IIe in December 1993 (outlasting the 16-bit IIGS model that was introduced years after it), more than 2 million Apple II-family PCs had been produced. The Apple II line, well documented at Steven Weyhrich's Apple II History site, kept the company going through the Apple Lisa debacle and other turbulent events of the 1980s. By the middle of that decade, though, Apple had turned its attention to that other world-beater, the Macintosh Plus (number 4 on our list). But it was the Apple II that put the personal in the nascent personal computer industry. The rest is history. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Mikhailoh | Aug 12 2006, 02:47 PM Post #2 |
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
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I would have to dispute the Gateway Destination. I bought one of those $#@^ things and it was slow, and unpredictable and bulky. The wiring in the back alone was enough to drive you bonkers. The bones of it now rest in my computer graveyard. |
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Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball | |
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| George K | Aug 12 2006, 02:50 PM Post #3 |
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Finally
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One of the things that I've loved about my Macs is their longevity. As I sit here typing on my 3rd generation iMac that I got last year, my daughter is upstairs on her 1st generation iMac - connected wirelessly, running the latest operating system (10.4). That computer, on eBay, is worth about a hundred bucks, but for what we use it for (web browsing and little else) it's perfect. She got it in 1997. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Mark | Aug 12 2006, 03:12 PM Post #4 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Yep! I have a friend who used a Mac 512k E for 12 years. It still works. Boots from floppies in about 16 seconds. |
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___.___ (_]===* o 0 When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells | |
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| justme | Aug 12 2006, 03:23 PM Post #5 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Apple II Plus was the first computer I owned. Those cards in the back were a pain in the a$$. |
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"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3 | |
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| David Burton | Aug 12 2006, 03:27 PM Post #6 |
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Senior Carp
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Geeky response of the day (tongue firmly in cheek); Everyone knows that the geekiest geeks all run Apples. Someone has to buy them. Same crowd buys Volvos, Saabs, Audis and Volkswagens too, sometimes old Mercedes. They last a long time too. We know. |
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| George K | Aug 12 2006, 03:36 PM Post #7 |
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Finally
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My compters were 1) Atari 800 2) Apple II GS 3) Macintosh since 1992 Never owned a Volvo, VW, or an Audi (though I almost bought an A6 back in 1999). And David, you're wrong. The geekiest of the geeks run Linux - and argue about which "distro" is the best. I know.
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| David Burton | Aug 12 2006, 03:49 PM Post #8 |
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Senior Carp
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LOL Damn George! And you could have added, "and you know it too." |
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| George K | Aug 12 2006, 03:54 PM Post #9 |
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Finally
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IBM 5150: a proud grandpa at 25 SAN FRANCISCO: An IBM brainchild born 25 years ago grew up to redefine modern life - from the way people work to the way they look for love, chat with friends or even shop. The IBM 5150 personal computer, unveiled to the world on August 12, 1981, set a standard that resulted in the machines taking root in every facet of home and professional living. "We had no clue it would be developed into what it developed into," said Mark Dean, a member of the IBM 5150 project team, which rejoiced in code names including 'The End of the World Gang'. "We developed this as a productivity tool mostly for business," Dean said. The bulky machine had a base price of USD 1,565 -- more than 4,000 dollars in today's prices -- and boasted a measly 64 kilobytes of memory that could be upgraded. "It was heavy enough to break a foot," said Chris Garcia, assistant curator of the Computer History Museum near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. "I proved that in 1989 or '90." Garcia said that while US firms Apple Computer, Commodore Business Machines and Tandy, plus France's Micral, had released their own machines in the 1970s, the digital revolution sprang from the 5150 platform. Dean said that he and colleagues on the project at an IBM lab in Florida expected perhaps 2,000 of the machines would sell. The figure quickly climbed into the millions, he recalled. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Aug 12 2006, 04:57 PM Post #10 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Yeah, I think every geek knows Apple owned in the early 70's to early 90's. The Windows GUI was modeled after the OS Apple already had in place. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| The 89th Key | Aug 13 2006, 08:14 AM Post #11 |
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An inspiring video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WlEAvJ_rEYE |
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| George K | Aug 13 2006, 08:47 AM Post #12 |
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Finally
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KoolAid Drinkers. Every one of 'em! Actually when you consider that this was introduced more than 22 years ago, it's remarkable to look at the things that no one had seen on a (personal) computer. Black Text on White A Window Real (albeit crappy) speech A pointing device All in one design in a desktop machine (I know, I know KayPro). High Resolution graphics. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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