macs and woz

[jefhatfield]

steve wozniak was recently officially recognized as the inventor of the personal computer

i have student in my senior citizen computer class who was a computer engineer (programmer) for 35 years and he disagrees with the award

he told me he had a personal computer in his house before the apple 1...he only paid 14 grand for it and it was the size of a washing machine

to him, that was a personal computer since the computers before that were the size of large rooms

so did woz make an impact?
did he invent the first home computer?
was 14 grand such a bargain for a home machine in the 70s?

your thoughts?

 

[Geert]

And what could that washing machine sized computer do add and substract?

Woz invented the first desktop computer, not a 120 lbs washing machine that took a whole army to move it.

 

[strider42]

Re: macs and woz

Originally posted by jefhatfield
steve wozniak was recently officially recognized as the inventor of the personal computer

i have student in my senior citizen computer class who was a computer engineer (programmer) for 35 years and he disagrees with the award

he told me he had a personal computer in his house before the apple 1...he only paid 14 grand for it and it was the size of a washing machine

to him, that was a personal computer since the computers before that were the size of large rooms

so did woz make an impact?
did he invent the first home computer?
was 14 grand such a bargain for a home machine in the 70s?

your thoughts?

Woz never invented the personal computer as such. there were kits you could buy to make very crude computers before woz and jobs got together. but he was the first to my knowledge to make the modern incarnation of the personal computer, using an extraordinarily small number of chips to do so, and it was actually relatively useful (OK, the apple I wasn't really usefull, but the apple II sure was, and really, that was the first personal computer). The guy was a freaking genius when it came to hardware.

As for this guy in your class, can he tell you anything mroe about it. it would be interesting to know what kind of computer it was so we could find out something about it.

Also, can he really compare a machine the size of a washing machine to a single circuit board. Sounds like he had an enterprise or research level machine he probably got used or something.

And hey, Woz invented the game superbreakout (jobs took credit for it though with Atari for whom he worked). He deserves an award just for that. He also did that using a number of chips thought to be impossiblely low.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Re: macs and woz

Originally posted by jefhatfield
he told me he had a personal computer in his house before the apple 1...he only paid 14 grand for it and it was the size of a washing machine

to him, that was a personal computer since the computers before that were the size of large rooms

Ha, I'm sure his wife loved that. And I bet that was the portable version

Woz and the Apple I were the first commercial home computers - and don't forget about software!

I'm sure the iWashingMachine was all coded by hand by the owner himself, there really wasn't anywhere to go to get OTS software way back then.

Photoshop 0.2 - now it can draw lines!

 

[mcrain]

Re: Re: macs and woz

Originally posted by dukestreet
Ha, I'm sure his wife loved that. And I bet that was the portable version

Wow, the iBrator has been around for a long time.

 

[Durandal7]

Re: macs and woz

Originally posted by jefhatfield
steve wozniak was recently officially recognized as the inventor of the personal computer

i have student in my senior citizen computer class who was a computer engineer (programmer) for 35 years and he disagrees with the award

he told me he had a personal computer in his house before the apple 1...he only paid 14 grand for it and it was the size of a washing machine

to him, that was a personal computer since the computers before that were the size of large rooms

so did woz make an impact?
did he invent the first home computer?
was 14 grand such a bargain for a home machine in the 70s?

your thoughts?

Tell your friend that there is a difference between a PC (Personal Computer) and a REEC (Rich Eccentric Engineer Computer).

 

[jefhatfield]

Re: Re: Re: macs and woz

Originally posted by mcrain


Wow, the iBrator has been around for a long time.

there was this vibrator thing which was usb compatible which buzzed on command when the person at the other end of an adult site decided it should be buzzed

the software and hardware came from this company which made national headlines...and not bad sales either

it was something i read from one of my techie sites

my usb port on my mac or pc laptop is dedicated to the printers...he he