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Growing Apples -- Apple I's

Another interesting story at Wired.

Grow Your Own Apple I
A new book tackles modern computers in a uniquely hands-on way -- by getting the reader to build a replica of one of the most famous personal computers of all: the Apple I. Apple I Replica Creation: Back to the Garage by Tom Owad explores the architecture of modern digital computers through the process of building an Apple I replica for about $100. "With the Apple I, it's possible to really understand computers," said Owad, a Pennsylvania Mac consultant who runs the retro-oriented Applefritter website and is a director of the Apple I Owners Club.

This is very cool -- not many people know about the Apple I, it was a single board kit selling for $666 -- you had to provide the keyboard, case, power supply and a cassette tape for reading and writing data to a file. You had a monitor that would handle input and output but writing any programs was your responsibility. There was another unit, the MOS Technology KIM-1 which used the same processor but had an integral keyboard and LED display and a whopping 1K on-board RAM. It sold for about $400 (remember, we are talking 1970's dollars too!). I had one of these and had a lot of fun with it. This was where this industry started. Posted by DaveH at March 1, 2005 9:48 PM | TrackBack