MMD-1 Vintage 8080 Microcomputer reported to be the First Single Board Computer

 The first single board computer - MMD1
Click on photos to enlarge

Original Prototype MMD1

 The Microcomputer Trainer MMD -1 designed by John Titus is in the Wikipedia listing for Single Board Computers as the first single board microcomputer.

Production Model

We originally called the computer "Dyna -Micro" and the the production units were called "MMD1" - that was just short for 'Mini Micro Designer'. The Wikipedia listing for the single board computer does not mention John Titus as the designer - it does mention the computer was made popular by  Bugbooks. Bugbooks 5 and 6  used with this computer. An
original prototype is on display in our "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum".


John Titus tells in his own words the development of the MMD-1 computer

 The second item about the microcomputer pioneering work by John Titus ----

Dr. John Titus

The  MARK8 computer construction article published in the July 1974 Radio Electronics  by John Titus was a Milestone for the magazine in the computer revolution. According to Wikipedia - Radio-Electronics featured audio, radio, television and computer technology. The most notable articles were the TV Typewriter (September 1973)^[1] and the Mark-8 computer (July 1974).^[2] These two issues are considered milestones in the home computer revolution.^[3]

^{Here is where you can get a real good view of John's 'MARK8' work - this was put together by authors at Florida Gulf Coast University and was copyright 2007.}   

Here are some really nice comments John made about our work together more than 35 years ago.

Me - David

 It has always been a great pleasure for me to be a colleague of Dr. John Titus. The work we did together in the 'Blacksburg Group' 38 years ago was a real highlight in my electronics and computer journey. John is retired and living in Utah near family. Thank you John for the memories.
^{"By David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector Historian}  
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IBM PC is 32 years old today 8-12-13

      IBM PC is 32 years old today 8-12-13


             Time sure goes by fast - enjoy what you have - DL

             "By David Larsen"

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

Professor Paul E. Field - "A Celebration of his life" - my friend

Saturday June 22nd my wife Gaynell and I attended the "Celebration of  Paul E Field's Life" at his country home near Blacksburg, Virginia. Paul passed away April 11,2013. He was a faculty colleague in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech (VT). During my 31 years at VT Paul and I had many ventures together. I remember him with great fondness as we met 100's of times in his Davidson Hall corner office solving all the world's problems. Most of the time classical or sometimes long hair music was playing in the background on his tape deck.
                                                                           

                                              Paul Field's photographs from his Webpage

The Celebration was a wonderful tribute to his life with more then 45 special guests joining his wife Jewell and children Thom, Randy and Sylvia.   We could tell Paul was loved dearly by his family as they played two of his favorite songs.  All the family members did  readings of passages Paul had written.  I did not know he had such creative talents as a writer - the readings were especially moving and immediately brought  back images of good times I experienced with Paul. He had his unique philosophy about life and  put it into words as only a good wordsmith could do.  He must have written 1000's of passages, short thoughts, epigrams, quotes, poems, & ideas about how life was lived. 

The Folly - Randy Field told me this is called a Folly because it has no particular use. What a great place to meditate and  absorb some of the Universal Energy Field. The mural paintings are fine art and the building is an architectural beauty. We were able to view and read some of his writings in the folly built by Paul and on the yard art he created at his loved Vinivilla home.  Paul had many artistic talents beyond his work as a Chemistry Professor. Wow I did not know of his fine art creativity.

 The Obelisk designed and built by Paul is just beautiful and loaded with his philosophical writings. I understand he made the ceramic pieces as well.  Gosh this was a lot of work - he must have loved making the Obelisk and it will be tribute that should last many generations.

Thinking back during the times we worked together, I realize Paul and I had many common projects. Paul and I taught 58 Microcomputer Instrumentation workshops from 1976 to 1992. We traveled all over the East Coast teaching these programs. We worked together on dozens of Microcomputer Columns published in US and foreign publications. Paul was always willing to help with the "Electronics for Scientist" course in the Chemistry department and filled in when I was out of town. A connection continuing today is his book "Computer Assisted Home Energy Management," Paul wrote in our "Blacksburg Continuing Education Series ". This is just a short list --- we had fun doing many programs and events during our common years at VT.

It was a great pleasure and honor to know & work with Paul over the years.  I miss his friendship and times  together. He would have been very proud and pleased with the "Celebration of his Life" done so well by his loving family. The guests at the Celebration were there to honor Paul and everyone was truly moved with emotion and love for him. 
Comments in  - Jewell's Blog-

Paul - Good bye my friend -you will always be remembered .

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"by David Larsen"

Computer Conference - THE FIRST WEST COAST COMPUTER FAIRE APRIL 15-17,1977

The First West Coast Computer FAIRE in 1977 was probably the real start of the personal computer industry. The FAIRE created a tremendous interest in microcomputers with over 12,000 folks attending .  A number of first in the industry took place at this FAIRE. 

I am fortunate to have some great items from Adam Schoolsky who was at this FAIRE with Steve Wozniak and the Apple group 

View/Read all 48 pages of  program listing of Events and Companies  'CLICK'

The program is fascinating to look at and see what the cyber world of microcomputers was in 1977 - look at some memory prices (4 KB for $1298) that would be more then $3000 in todays $. This is a PDF file of the Computer FAIRE program in our collection and it is in mint condition.

Adam Schoolsky attended the 1977 FAIRE and was working with Steve Wozniak. Steve like to play jokes so cooked up the idea to introduce great computer - The Zaltair computer and compare it to the Apple 2 and other current computers. The Zaltair only existed on paper in a spoof brochure that Adam Schoolsky and Wozniak created and secretly distributed during the Faire. I will do a whole blog about the Zaltair joke that Wozniak played on Steve Jobs.

Adam Schoolsky was a friend of Wozniak and during this time Adam told me Wozniak gave him an Apple 1 computer.  Adam had this computer for about 18 years and in 1994 he contacted me about selling this Apple 1 to me.  Adam and I  reached an agreement and in January 1995 I completed the purchase. This Apple 1 ( Which we call the "Schoolsky computer" because Adam Schoolsky was the first owner) is in our 'Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum' Along with many other items Adam provided with the computer.

You can see this Apple 1 Computer, The Zaltair Spoof computer brochure and the other items Adam provided from the "First West Coast Computer FAIRE" with the purchase  of his Apple 1 in this Video.  These items are a real important part of our museum collection and we are grateful to Adam for this all these near mint condition.

 The introduction of the Apple 2  by  Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs at this FAIRE  had more impact over the years then any other exhibitor. The  Apple Company is now the largest stock valued company in the world.

 The FAIRE was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Reiling. 'The First West Coast Computer FAIRE'  was a big success. In 1983 Jim sold the FAIRE to Prentice Hall for a reported $3 million.  The FAIRE changed hands one more time and the last FAIRE was produced in 1991 .

You can read a good story about the 1977 FAIRE in  Best of Creative Computing V3 (1980)

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Gaynell and I are leaving this Saturday for a visit with my brother Howard in Missouri for a few days. We had some terrible wind and rain this afternoon in our little town of Floyd Virginia and it knocked out the power. I had power at home so being home early I was able to do this blog post.  Have a great weekend . Update 8-28-13 We had good visit with my 92 year old brother.

"by David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector/Historian   

Computer First Microcomputer in USA - 4 bit MCS-4 Intellec 4 Microcomputer - Vintage Intel

We are fortunate to have  an MCS-4 Intellec 4 Intel Microcomputer  

MCS-4 Intellec 4

development system in our historical collection.  The Intellec 4 computers are possibly the first commercial microcomputers manufactured (1972) in the USA. The 4004  microprocessor (a 4 bit processor) chip used  in the MCS-4 was introduced in November of 1971 and was the first Intel microprocessor chip.  Only a few of the MCS-4's still exist. The Intel museum does not have one or at least it did not in 1992 when an Intel representative  contacted me to borrow our MCS-4.  They kept the microcomputer for 18 months and used it in some litigation process.  Intel did introduce an additional development computer in 1977 - the MCB8-10 and it looked like a home built system. The MCS -4 was followed by the MCS-8 which used the 8008 8 bit microprocessor. The Bugbook Historical Museum also has one of the MCS-8 computers.

Inside the MCS-4

Serial number 136

The MCS-4 uses a 100 pin bus and has a dozen or so card slots for expansion. It is an operational computer for developing and testing software and hardware.  This was the very beginning of commercial development tools for the microcomputer revolution. Engineers were slow to realize the potential of the microprocessor. The first time user found the MCS-4 a rather complicated   system to use - not much educational information or training was available.  It did not take long before it was clear the microprocessor and the microcomputer were a really big and important new electronic design device.  Now you could write a program to preform any digital or math function and change it with a new program.  For example the early digital calculators used a none programmable Large Scale Integrated Circuit (LSI) and every new calculator required a new design for the LSI chip.

Indeed it was the Japanese company Busicom that sparked the design of the Intel 4004 for their next calculator. Busicom Story here.(from nigel.tout@vintagecalculators.com ) It seems so obvious now but it was about 3 years before the microcomputer was more than a toy for hobby folks to use.

4k RAM memory

4004 microprocessor chip

CPU Card

The CPU card also contains 4 EPROM chips and each chip is 250 bytes or 1kbyte for the 4 white 1702A chips on the board.

     Change in technology 43 years after the 4004 microprocessor
 The MCS -4 memory card is only 4 kilobyte - that is the whole card. This is a good time to try and make a comparison of the 1972 technology with today.   In 1964 Gordon Moore (Moore's Law) predicted integrated circuit technology would double the circuit density on a chip every 2 years. Today a memory card for a laptop computer may contain 4 Gbyte of  RAM memory.  It would take 1,000,000 - yes one million of the 4kilobyte RAM cards like the one in the in the Intellec 4 to have the same amount of memory as the 4 Gbyte card.
Now if you laid the 1,000,000 Intellec cards out end to end it be a string of cards 2300 miles long.
One more calculation - a common 64Gbyte USB memory stick would require a string of these Intellec cards 36,000 miles - that is circling the earth 1.5 times.  The USB Memory stick cost about $35 -- these comparisons are just amazing and just give it 5 more years WOW.

The first Intel Microprocessor was the 4004 chip and a little later they came out with the 4040 microprocessor. The 4040 was still a 4 bit microprocessor but much faster in operation.  The same hardware as the Intellec 4 shown in this blog was upgraded to use the 4040 - it was called the Intellec 40 Mod. Here are some photos of the 40 Mod that give you a good look at the computer hardware. The 40 Mod is basically the same except for the CPU card as the Intellec 4.


 Here is a video of the Intellec 4 in our Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum"CLICK"


Here is a video story about the 4004 and Intellec 4 by Intel - interesting about the first commercial microprocessor "CLICK"

Please go to my Museum Page on Facebook and do a like for me.  Thank You for the help.

This weekend my wife Gaynell and I are flying out to Missouri to visit my 91 year old brother.
He is doing well but we like to visit at least once per year. The Birthday party we went to in NC last weekend for our 1 year old Great grandson Tucker Helms was fun. The weather was nice most of the time but at the end of the day it did rain on our outdoor party. Weekend before we were in MD for the16th Birthday of our twin Grand daughters Natalie and Emily.  Lots of travel but worth every minute. Looks like we will be home for a few weeks after this trip and looking forward to being home.
"by David Larsen" KK4WW Computer Collector/Historian





                                                                                          

Vintage Computer Pioneer "Adam Osborne"

                                                                     - News items at bottom of post-                                                                     
Adam Osborne had many professional credits and the most visible are the "Osborne" computer and his book series. (his Biography & more ) I never new him in person but he wrote many books during the time I was working with the "Blacksburg Group". You can see by the links about his biography that he lived a very different and interesting life than most of us.

The Osborne computer had new & creative features. The computer made a really big entry into the personal computer

market for a short time. The Osborne 1 was one of the first computers to come bundled with a number of useful software packages ready to operate. The Osborne was one of the earliest  potable computers and had an optional battery pack. The price was remarkable because the software if purchased independent of the computer was more than the $1795 cost of the computer.  Lee Felsenstein designed the computer and incorporated revolutionary concepts in his work. The computer took the market by storm in 1981 and reached sales of $80 million per year. Management decisions resulted in several problems that could not be resolved and the company quickly went out of business.   One of the bad decisions was to announce the new Osborne Executive & Vixen computers early and not being able to sell the older Osborne 1 inventory. This is became known as the "Osborne Effect". The Osborne story is fascinating and you can read much more in the links provided in the blog.

 (From Wikipedia) Osborne was also a pioneer in the computer book field, founding a company in 1972 that specialized in easy-to-read computer manuals. By 1977, Osborne & Associates had 40 titles in its catalog. In 1979, it was bought by McGraw-Hill and continued as an imprint of McGraw-Hill, "Osborne/McGraw-Hill".

Bob Denton in his book "The PC Pioneers" reports that Adam Osborne produced all the supporting documentation for the Intel MCS-4 (1971). The MCS-4 is the 4004 Intel microprocessor and the 3 support integrated circuits that can be made into a  working microcomputer. This was early in Adam's writing career and it is not clear if he worked directly for Intel or as a consultant.

Bob Denton's book "The PC pioneers" is 542 pages of great reading for cyber history folks.
 

                                Video of the Osborne computer I produced in October 2010

 Adam Osborne passed away in March 2003 (3/39-3/03). His passing reminds all of us that the pioneers in the early days of microcomputers will soon all be gone. We will have only the history recorded in books and on the Internet.  It also reminds me of my age as an active computer collector/historian & makes me looks like an  old timer - 75 in November.


NEWS :
The untold story behind Apple's $13,000 operating system This story about the Apple 11 operating system is just out on the cyberpath of CNET April 3,2013. Posted by Daniel Terdiman  - be sure to look at the comments - all interesting for cyber history folks.

Vintage Computer Festival Southeast - April 20 and 21, 2013- Apple Pop-Up Museum
This story posted  on cyberpath of Arstechnica March 29,2013 by Jacqui Cheng.

 Here I am with my wife Gaynell on one of our Radio Mission visits to Dominica in the Caribbean.  We are directors of the "Foundation for Amateur International Radio Service" (FAIRS) and have been at this for 21 years with mission visits to many countries. We had a great Easter weekend and hope you enjoyed your Easter.
"by David Larsen" - Computer Collector/Historian