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Inventing the PCThe MCM/70 Story |
eBook Available
A uniquely Canadian story of the company that promised a new era in computing.
In May 1973, Micro Computer Machines, a Toronto-based electronics company, gave a public demonstration of a small computer called the MCM/70. Powered by a microprocessor and operated with APL, a sophisticated programming language, the MCM/70 was positioned to be a practical, affordable, and easy-to-use personal computer - the very first of its kind.
Inventing the PC details the invention and design of the MCM/70 computer and the prolonged struggle to bring it to market. Zbigniew Stachniak offers an insider's view of events on the front lines of pioneering work on personal computers. He shows what information and options PC pioneers had, how well engineers and entrepreneurs understood the revolutionary effect personal computers would have on society, and how that understanding - or lack thereof - shaped both their engineering ingenuity and the indecisiveness and over-reaching ambition that would ultimately turn a very promising venture into a missed opportunity.
Providing comprehensive historical background and rich photographic documentation, Inventing the PC tells the story of a Canadian company on the cutting-edge of the information age.
Inventing the PC details the invention and design of the MCM/70 computer and the prolonged struggle to bring it to market. Zbigniew Stachniak offers an insider's view of events on the front lines of pioneering work on personal computers. He shows what information and options PC pioneers had, how well engineers and entrepreneurs understood the revolutionary effect personal computers would have on society, and how that understanding - or lack thereof - shaped both their engineering ingenuity and the indecisiveness and over-reaching ambition that would ultimately turn a very promising venture into a missed opportunity.
Providing comprehensive historical background and rich photographic documentation, Inventing the PC tells the story of a Canadian company on the cutting-edge of the information age.
Details
224 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5
41 photos
ISBN 9780773538528
May 2011
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"Stachniak has written an entertaining, highly informative account of the struggle to create a useful and marketable desktop computer. Although far different from today's personal computer, MCM's early machines, such as the MCM/70, were remarkably innovative and on the market long before the fabled Apple II or the nearly useless Altair. Unfortunately, MCM was ahead of its time. Nonetheless, this is a great book and a must for any fan of the history of the modern computer. Highly recommended." CHOICE
Zbigniew Stachniak is an associate professor of computer science, York University, and the curator of York University's Computer Museum.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 At the Beginning, There Were Two 9
2 Inventing the PC 22
3 The Making of the MCM/70 38
A new era in integrated electronics 39
The team 44
From the key-cassette to the M/C prototype 46
MCM/APL 54
The production model of the MCM/70 62
4 Unveiling the Future 65
5 It’s All About Power 80
Too much with too little? 81
Sharing the power - the venture capital way 92
The power supply that blacked out MCM 103
6 Changing Fortunes 114
I do have a fighting position 117
A revolution of his own 119
Kutt’s last stand 125
Horned angels of hard-pressed entrepreneurs 132
7 The Day After 137
President Berg 138
Recycling the past 143
Williams for Berg 147
An APL machine to the end 151
Conclusions 164
Welcome to the computer age! 166
The MCM/70 personal computer 169
We could have been Apple 175
Why was the MCM/70 forgotten? 182
MCM Timeline 189
Notes 197
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 At the Beginning, There Were Two 9
2 Inventing the PC 22
3 The Making of the MCM/70 38
A new era in integrated electronics 39
The team 44
From the key-cassette to the M/C prototype 46
MCM/APL 54
The production model of the MCM/70 62
4 Unveiling the Future 65
5 It’s All About Power 80
Too much with too little? 81
Sharing the power - the venture capital way 92
The power supply that blacked out MCM 103
6 Changing Fortunes 114
I do have a fighting position 117
A revolution of his own 119
Kutt’s last stand 125
Horned angels of hard-pressed entrepreneurs 132
7 The Day After 137
President Berg 138
Recycling the past 143
Williams for Berg 147
An APL machine to the end 151
Conclusions 164
Welcome to the computer age! 166
The MCM/70 personal computer 169
We could have been Apple 175
Why was the MCM/70 forgotten? 182
MCM Timeline 189
Notes 197
