Vintage Computers - Apple Computer Historical data

The LCF Group has several Apple 1 computers in our "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum" and the stories about the early start up days of Apple Company are always of interest.

Steven Wayhrich, MD

The information below is from the website of  Steven Weyhrich,  a family practice physician in Omaha, Nebraska. Steven's writing's about Apple history is very informative and the paragraph below is directly from his web page.
  

The Start of the Apple Computer Company

Original Apple Logo

""By early 1976, Steve Wozniak had completed his 6502-based computer and would display enhancements or modifications at the bi-weekly Homebrew Computer Club meetings. Steve Jobs was a 21 year old friend of Wozniak’s and also a visitor at the Homebrew club. He had worked with Wozniak in the past (together they designed the arcade game “Breakout” for Atari) and was very interested in his computer. During the design process Jobs made suggestions that helped shape the final product, such as the use of the newer dynamic RAMs instead of older, more expensive static RAMs. He suggested to Wozniak that they get some printed circuit boards made for the computer and sell it at the club for people to assemble themselves. They pooled their financial resources together to have PC boards made, and on April 1st, 1976 they officially formed the Apple Computer Company. Jobs had recently worked at an organic apple orchard, and liked the
name because “he thought of the apple as the perfect fruit–it has a high nutritional content, it comes in a nice package, it doesn’t damage easily–and he wanted Apple to be the perfect company. Besides, they couldn’t come up with a better name.”  "" The above from Steven Weyhrich's website.

Read the whole story on Steven's website about how the Apple Computer Company was started by Jobs and Wozniak in 1976.


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David & Gaynell 

Larsen

The interest in the Apple Computer Company is on the increase almost daily now. Several movies are being  produced about Steve Jobs and these increase buzz about Apple Inc. I was working  in the early days of microcomputers  as faculty member at Virginia Tech and a member of the Blackburg Group.

"by David Larsen" KK4WW    Computer Collector/Historian

Vintage Calculator / Computer Historical Information

Nigel Tout has put together a  whopping amount of information for us on his "Vintage Calculator Web Museum"  web site. This site is fun to read and learn about calculators.  I learned about this calculator site searching for information for my collection of about 1000 calculators.

This site is useful for just about any collector or historian of vintage electronic or mechanical calculating  devices.  I liked the story about how the Intel 4004 microprocessor chip was developed as a first for Intel. I linked this story in my blog about Intel Intellec 4 microcomputer.
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Information from Nigel's website - "A revolution in calculating machines took place between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. It was during this vintage period that the electronics for calculators was at the cutting edge of electronics research. Calculators evolved from large, expensive, mechanical machines to cheap, electronic, credit card sized devices. The development of micro-electronics for calculators was an important phase in the history of technology, which included the development of the microprocessor.
This fascinating story is illustrated here with -

• Mechanical calculators - both electrically driven and hand operated.
• Early electronic calculators - using vacuum tubes (cold-cathode tubes/valves), discrete transistors, cathode ray tube displays, delay-line memories, small- & medium-scale integrated circuits.
• Early hand-held calculators with LED, fluorescent, and early LCD displays.

The increasing capability of the electronic integrated circuits can be seen, which led to the microprocessor and the personal computer.
This site is dedicated to those who had to use slide-rules and mechanical calculators at school, university, and at work, back when the idea of a pocket electronic calculator was just a dream, and when they were eventually developed and went on sale having one was still a dream since at that time they were unaffordable for most people." (from vintagecalculator.com)



Here is another site about calculators  http://www.devidts.com/be-calc/





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Here I am with my wife Gaynell on a cool fall day last year. We  have a lot of fun doing things together. I would guess we have traveled to about 30 countries and operated ham radio and visited friends. We still travel but as we get older we like staying home near family. About one or two trips a year outside the US is about it for now. I  will be 75 this year and my wife does not tell  her age. This is  our LCF Group.
"by David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector / Historian

Organs on a Chip - New chip simulates body function

"Creating a Lung on a Chip to Test New Asthma Drugs".  While returning home from a visit with my 91 year old brother I came across an article in USA Today by Jonathan D. Rockoff. These are not silicon chips like the ones used digital computer circuitry but chips made from living tissue.
           
I am writing about these chips because this is such a fascinating concept for medical research and of course computers play a large part in the use of these chips. This design  shows that some engineers can think outside the box and be really original & creative.  I think this is some very important research - golly what will be next.

Wyss Institute

These microchips are made from human tissue and in this case "lung tissue" and "blood vessel cells" in a creative nano design. Nano particles of  pathogens or other foreign elements are introduced and the tissue may react  just like in a human body. This gives medical researchers a possible way to quickly test for the human reaction without using animals for this purpose. It may be possible to conduct 1000's of tests for new drugs and produce cures faster and cheaper.

Here is information from the Harvard Gazette about 'Lung on a chip'

Take a look at this video Lung on a chip by Wyss Institute.

You can do a Google search and find out a lot more about this new technology.  I just wanted to bring it  to your attention. I think we will see chips in the future that combine silicon digital circuitry and the living tissue in the same package.

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Visiting my brother in Missouri was a lot of fun. He is doing well for a almost 92 years old and even still driving his car - I am not sure this is a good idea but he likes to get his own groceries and go to church. While there we had some nice trips out in the country near the Ozark Mountains and visited lots of old water mills and historic sites. It reminded me of our Blue Ridge Mountains at  home here in Floyd Virginia.
"by David Larsen"  KK4WW Computer Collector / Historian

Apple 1 computer Sells for $387,000 at Christie's Auction July 9,2013

 An Apple 1 microcomputer sold at Chistie' on line auction today for $387,000.  The price did not reach the high estimate of $500,000 - This is still a big increase from the $666.66 that was the original price in 1976.Less then 50 of these computer are remaining in museum's and private collections. These computers were selling in the range of $20,000 to $50,000 until the past few years. The price at auction started at just over $200,000 several years ago and reaching a high of $641,400 May 25, 2013 at a Breker auction.

The Apple 1 has become an Icon symbol of the silicon revolution and museums and deep pocket collectors seem ready to pay the price.  The Apple Company has great visibility and is one of the largest stock valued companies in the world.  Steve Jobs co-founder ( Steve Jobs passed away October 5, 2011) is considered to have been one of the worlds best at creating new products before customers even knew what they would want.  His creative products and his ability to market  the them have made Apple the envy of the tech world. The high price for the Apple 1 computer proves some are ready to pay a big price to have a piece of  Apple history.

 Photo from the Christie's Website sold at auction July 9,2013

Steve Wozniak the other co-founder of the Apple Company gets lots of credit for the price of the Apple 1 computers at these auctions. He designed the Apple 1 and wrote initial software all on his own. The design was really creative and Wozniak realized he had a  great computer but it was difficult for the user to add a keyboard & power supply to have a working system. He then designed the Apple 2 as a turnkey plug and  play computer. The owners of an Apple 1 were offered the Apple 2 and could use the Apple 1 as part of the payment. The trade in arrangement reduced the number of Apple 1 owners almost overnight. It is not known how many were traded in out of the 200 that were manufactured.

More stories of the Christie Auction - International Business News


Apple Insider


                               David introduces himself  to you in the audio player above

Apple 1 computer in the "Bugbook Historical Computer Museum"  Floyd Virginia.

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This auction continues the high price museums and collectors are willing to pay for the most well know microcomputer in the world.

"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector / Historian

Computer Mouse Inventor Douglas C. Engelbart Died Tuseday July 2,2013

The inventor of the simple but powerful computer Mouse Douglas C. Engelbart died on Tuesday July 2,2013. The mouse is the physical link that connects most people to their computer. Douglas invented the Mouse in 1968. He did much of his work in an experimental research group at Stanford Research Institute.

Douglas C. Engelbart

Here is the story as reported by the New York Times.

More historical information for the serious history buffs - This is 35 video clips made from a 100 minute presentation December 9th 1968 of the mouse and much more - when you go to this site it takes you to the bottom of the site it will view better if you  scroll to the top for short clips and info - from the Engelbart Collection in Special Collections of Stanford University.

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The inventors of much of the computer technology we use today are passing on. I hope their stories are recorded for future generations. Their are thousands of interesting people and stories about these inventors that were able to 'Think Outside The Box' and I am fortunate to have known a few of them personally.

"by David Larsen" Computer Collector / Historian