KIM-1
From Computer History Wiki
| KIM-1 | |
 The KIM-1 | |
| Manufacturer: | MOS Technology, Commodore Business Machines |
|---|---|
| Year Introduced: | May 1976 |
| Form Factor: | Single Board Computer |
| Word Size: | 8bit |
| Memory Size: | 1 KB |
| CPU: | MOS 6502 |
The KIM-1 was developed by MOS Technology to prototype and show off the abilities of their CPU, the MOS 6502. It was sold as a fully assembled SBC, announced at $245 in the May 1976 issue of Byte magazine. The SBC included two 6530 RRIOT chips, which due to their masked ROM makes it slightly complicated for e.g. hobbyists to make a clone of a KIM-1. But there are some clones out there which work quite well. Emulators have the same problem, but there are some emualators available anyway.
Software
- Microchess by Peter R. Jennings was one of the very first game software packages to be sold for microcomputers. It was 'announced' (without the knowledge of the author) in Kim-1 User Notes, Volume 1, Issue 2, November, 1976. Soon after letters started to arrive at the author's home, asking about purchasing the software. It sold about 50,000 copies, even though the buyer had to enter the code into the KIM-1 manually - the program was distributed as a printed hex code dump.
Emulators
- http://www.robsayers.com/jskim1/ Javascript emulator! Click the 'readme' for an explanation of how to use it.
- http://www.crbond.com/soft6502.htm A Windows 6502 simulator which resembles the KIM-1 somewhat.
- http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/kim-1/emu.html A KIM-1 emulator for the Commodore 64
