digibarn

Inside the world's long-lost first microcomputer

BOULDER CREEK, Calif.--I have seen the world's first microcomputer, and it is not the Altair.

For years, any serious discussions about the earliest microcomputers had to include the Altair 8800, the creation of Albuquerque, N.M.'s Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). That computer, as has been well chronicled, inspired legions of hobbyists, including Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who, upon seeing the Altair on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, began a mad rush to create Microsoft BASIC, their first smash hit and the beginning of their empire.

But it turns out … Read more

Are today's Macs related to the Mac Daddy?

What is a Macintosh?

After 25 years on the market, it's a good question, since someone with no knowledge of computers looking at, say, today's MacBook Pro, would not necessarily know that it evolved from 1984's original 128K Mac.

But evolve it did, and on the 25th anniversary of the release of that original machine (which is this Saturday), one might indeed wonder what hereditary DNA, if any, today's Macs retain from their much more humble ancestors.

The answer is some, but not that much, at least not when it comes to specific identifiable hardware features, … Read more

Review: 'MacHeads,' a documentary on the Mac faithful

It's a long-established truism in technology journalism: That stories about Apple are pretty much guaranteed to do better than just about any other subject.

And why? It's certainly not because of the total size of the user base of Apple products. Rather, as has been very well chronicled in newspapers, magazines, online and in books, the passion felt by the community of Apple users far outstrips its size.

Now, with the release of MacHeads, you can add movies to the roster of media documenting the full fervor of the Mac faithful and their particular brand of do-it-yourself brand … Read more

'MacHeads' film to debut at MacWorld

For the faithful planning to attend MacWorld 2009 next month in San Francisco, there's one more reason, beyond the usual iPhone, Mac and iPod news, to get excited.

That's because the producers of the Mac and Apple culture documentary, MacHeads, say they are going to debut the film at the show.

The film, which takes an in-depth look at the evolution of the so-called "cult of Mac," is scheduled to premiere on January 7, 2009, at Moscone Center's North Hall.

The producers noted that showing MacHeads for the first time at MacWorld is an appropriate … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 51

We're very excited to have Bruce Damer and Allan Lundell from the Digibarn stop by with the history of mobile computing. And we don't mean just talk. They brought actual portables, luggables, and even an Apple Newton! Keep an eye out for the laptop that flew on Columbia.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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The 10th Vintage Computer Festival passes into history

I had a great time over the weekend at the 10th Vintage Computer Festival, which took place in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.

In addition to the exhibits of vintage computers--including the largest collection of Radio Shack Pocket Computers I've ever seen--and the marketplace, where I managed to avoid buying any slide rules, Vectrix video games, or Cray supercomputer circuit boards--there were several notable presentations.

On Saturday, Tim McNerney spoke about his work to reimplement the Intel 4004 microprocessor, which led to a 130x-scale working model of the chip composed of individual transistors on a large … Read more

A peek back at the history of computing

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--For an industry that's just 30 years old, personal computing has a lot of history.

Here at the Computer History Museum, just a stone's throw from the Microsoft campus in Silicon Valley, PC industry veterans, tech enthusiasts, and even a few kids came out for the annual Vintage Computer Festival.

The event is highlighted by seminars and panels on topics like "Deconstructing the Intel 4004" and "The Disk Drive Industry Family Tree," but the real payoff is the Exhibit Hall, in which hobbyists display their dusty, yellowed sets of two-decades-old computers, … Read more