"Mark Metzler wrote:
I was in WalMart last night, and I swung by the Electronics area. I was curious as to how much a replacement drive would cost me for my PC at home, which has a 17gb drive in it. They had a 80gig drive sitting on the shelf next to the surge suppressors for $70. Never mind that it comes with the software to copy everything to the new drive. So I stood there trying to do the math on what it would cost to equate that volume of storage with ST506 drives at $1995.00 a pop. My head started hurting, so I rounded the ST506 to $2000.
It would take 16,000 ST506’s to reach the memory of the drive in WalMart (again sitting on the shelf, not behind a locked cabinet).
At $2000.00 a pop, it would cost me $32,000,000.00.
Now that would have been a nice sale, but would have been stolen by Jim Scharffe or Mike Daniel.
Here is another perspective. If stacked on top of one another, they would be as tall as a 667 story building.
If from sea level, they would stack high enough to top the tallest building in Downtown Denver.
If sold with a cabinet and power supply, Josef Rabinowitz would be retired. "
"Ohmigod! I'm reminded of when I worked for Heath Kline at Priority One Electronics in Chatsworth...and before that for Galaxy Computers in Woodland Hills when the Commodore 64 was introduced! We thought it huge compared to the Timex Sinclair...."
"We both have been into computers since 1970's & currently own 6 OSBORNE's in working condition. Although we use DOS now, we miss cpm & how actually FAST it was compared to Windows. We miss dBase. Append as well instead of Access now. We still have data on 5 1/4" discs we need to put into the dos machines we use now.
Sorry to hear you are leaving the business - we certainly hope you find a buyer who will keep the collection intact!
Best to you & your wonderful efforts!"
DONATE YOUR OLD
SYSTEM WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR VINTAGE COMPUTER SYSTEMS
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO
THE FREEMAN PC MUSEUM
Welcome to The Freeman PC Museum collection. The following is a complete list of vintage computer systems in the museum. Feel free to scroll through the list, view details of the system, see related links and advertisements, and join in on the mini forums for each of the systems.
The following list is complete. If you are searching for a particular model, manufacturer, or a list of computers from a particular year, use the "Search" form on the left. Thank you again for visiting The Freeman PC Museum, and enjoy.
Commodore 128 replaced the C64. Featured Z80 cpu and was compatible with CP/M. Commodores answer to the Macintosh and IBM PC. This computer really never took off!
Commodore 64 introduced in 1982 became one of the most popular computers ever. C64 was an improved version of the popular VIC-20. Features 6510 cpu and 64Kb RAM.
Considered by many as the father of the personal computer. PONG set the video game market on fire. Introduced by Nolan Bushnell it used the AY-3-8500 TV game chip developed by General Intruments and it reduced manufacturing costs signiificantly. It was followed by Super Pong. This particluar Atari PONG is now part of a computer museum and no longer in our collection.
ACT of UK introduced the Apricot F2 in 1985 as a business computer. Compact design and includes lots of application software. It was not truly IBM PC-DOS compatible and did not do well in the marketplace.
Scelbi Computer Consulting Company's Scelbi-8H Mini-Computer
Recognized by many as the first advertised personal computer and was the first computer kit offered.. Designed by Nate Wadsworth and Bob Findley in 1973. Uses Intel 8008 cpu with 1Kb RAM(expandable).Price in kit form $580.
An additional 15Kb is available for $2760.
In November of 1972 Intel introduced the 8-bit 8008 cpu. The 8008 was capable of addressing 16Kb of memory and started the design of the first series of microcomputers. Which computer was the first is contested, but Micral showed a microcomputer in May 1973 using the 8008. Also in 1973 the Scelbi-8H was the first microcomputer to be advertised in the US. The microcomputer industry really took off when Intel introduced the 8080 cpu in April of 1974. The 8080 cpu was capable of addressing up to 64Kb of RAM and was powerful enough to build a real computer. The Mark-8 was introduced in 1974 but really never worked properly so few were shipped. In January 1975 MITS introduced their 8080-based Altair 8800 computer on the front cover of “Popular Electronics” and the personal computer industry was born. This computer is now in a new museum and not part of our collection.
Mac Plus replaced the Mac 128. The Plus added enhanced graphics,a new version of Mac OS, SCSI, AppleTalk, new drivers to support hard drive and floppy disk.
Apple LISA(Local Integrated Software Architecture) was introduced in January 1983. LISA was the first personal computer to use a Graphical User Interface(GUI). Steve Jobs learned of the GUI during a visit to Xerox PARC. Lisa was shipped with design flaws and reliability problems and never developed a significant share of the market. Used innovated "twiggy drives". The name Lisa may also have been related to Steve Jobs and Nancy Rogers daughter born in May 1978. In January 1984 Apple released Lisa 2, a new version of the Lisa (dual drives). Lisa 2 was based on new software and the Macintosh operating system. Apple Computer officially renamed the Lisa to the Macintosh XL in January 1985. Note: This photo is similar to the Lisa in our Museum.
