Datapoint - Revision history

Jnc: /* External links */ +Datapoint Oral History Panel

2023-06-02T02:59:28Z

‎External links: +Datapoint Oral History Panel

Jnc: Correct history of 2200 CPU

2023-06-01T20:59:36Z

Correct history of 2200 CPU

Jnc: Brief, but covers the important points

2023-06-01T02:57:28Z

Brief, but covers the important points

New page

'''Datapoint''' (originally named the '''Computer Terminal Corporation''') was a ground-breaking business computerized information processing company.

Its most significant products was the [[Datapoint 2200]], introduced in late 1970; the first mass-produced [[personal computer]] intended for ordinary people. The 2200 had an even bigger indirect impact, though: its [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] was initially constructed out of discrete [[SSI]] [[integrated circuit|chips]], but CTC contracted with [[Intel]] to produce a [[microprocessor]] (the first ever) to replace the original CPU (to reduce the unit cost). That chip was the [[Intel 8008]], which evolved into the [[Intel 8080]], from which the entire [[Intel x86]] line developed.

The company's business plan from the time the founders started out had always been to produce a personal computer, but that goal was left unspoken when the company started, lest it spook investors as too grandiose (the same reason that [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] initially manufactured [[List of Programmed Data Processors|Programmed Data Processors]], instead of 'computers'). Their first product was the [[Datapoint 3300]], a [[video terminal]] intended to replace [[Teletype]]s (hence the company's original name); it was moderately successful.

The company was ultimately unsuccessful because it failed to foresee and/or adapt to the evolution of the computer world to the ubiquitous [[IBM-compatible PC]], which killed off all company-specific designs, and turned PCs into a commodity business.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* Lamont Wood, ''Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer Revolution'', Hugo House, Englewood, Austin, 2012

==External links==

* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/datapoint/ Datapoint] - documentation at [[Bitsavers]]

[[Category: Manufacturers]]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 * [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/datapoint/ Datapoint] - documentation at [[Bitsavers]]
 * [http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Poor_Victor/102658337.05.01.pdf Oral History of Victor (Vic) Poor] - contains a lot of background to the creation of Datapoint
 [[Category: Manufacturers]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''Datapoint''' (originally named the '''Computer Terminal Corporation''') was a ground-breaking business computerized information processing company.
-Its most significant products was the [[Datapoint 2200]], introduced in late 1970; the first mass-produced [[personal computer]] intended for ordinary people. The 2200 had an even bigger indirect impact, though: its [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] was initially constructed out of discrete [[SSI]] [[integrated circuit|chips]], but CTC contracted with [[Intel]] to produce a [[microprocessor]] (the first ever) to replace the original CPU (to reduce the unit cost). That chip was the [[Intel 8008]], which evolved into the [[Intel 8080]], from which the entire [[Intel x86]] line developed.
+Its most significant products was the [[Datapoint 2200]], introduced in late 1970; the first mass-produced [[personal computer]] intended for ordinary people. It was originally notionally a programmable [[video terminal]] (so that a single hardware design, with appropriate [[firmware]], could emulate many different kinds of [[terminal]]s). However, customers quickly learned that they could program it, and it tapped into a hitherto unseen market.
-The company's business plan from the time the founders started out had always been to produce a personal computer, but that goal was left unspoken when the company started, lest it spook investors as too grandiose (the same reason that [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] initially manufactured [[List of Programmed Data Processors|Programmed Data Processors]], instead of 'computers'). Their first product was the [[Datapoint 3300]], a [[video terminal]] intended to replace [[Teletype]]s (hence the company's original name); it was moderately successful.
+The 2200 had an even bigger indirect impact, though: its [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] was initially intended to be a custom [[integrated circuit|chip]] - what eventually came to be the [[microprocessor]]. None existed yet, so CTC contracted with [[Intel]] to produce one; that chip was the [[Intel 8008]] (just about the first microprocessor ever). That evolved into the [[Intel 8080]], from which the entire [[Intel x86]] line developed. (Due to a funding crunch, the 2200's CPU was eventually actually constructed out of discrete [[SSI]] chips; the intent was to eventually replace the original CPU with the chip version, to reduce the unit cost.)
 The company was ultimately unsuccessful because it failed to foresee and/or adapt to the evolution of the computer world to the ubiquitous [[IBM-compatible PC]], which killed off all company-specific designs, and turned PCs into a commodity business.
@@ Line 16: / Line 18: @@
 * [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/datapoint/ Datapoint] - documentation at [[Bitsavers]]
 [[Category: Manufacturers]]