• Tag Archives Byte

  • Byte (November 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Byte – November 1983

    Byte was subtitled “The Small Systems Journal” and it generally covered computers that were used at home or in a business environment. In the early 1980s, there was a wide variety. In November 1983, it wasn’t yet quite clear that the standard set by IBM for the PC would be the one to dominate though it was definitely starting to take hold. In fact, this issue focuses on the PC and includes:

    Columns

    • Build the H-Com Handicapped Communicator – Details on how to build a scanning communicator designed for those unable to talk. Includes both code and hardware design.
    • BYTE West Coast: California Hardware – A look at new hardware including a portable computer called the Workslate which features a built-in 300bps modem and 16-line x 46 character display, a 128KB bubble memory expansion card for the PC from Intel, another 128KB bubble memory board from Helix, and the Cygnet Communications Cosystem which works with an IBM PC to automatically send and retrieve e-mail, provide automated database access and more.
    • User ‘s Column: The Latest from Chaos Manor – A confusion of disk format dominated at the time, especially among CP/M based machines. This discusses some of the pitfalls of trying to move files from one system to another.

    Themes

    • IBM PCs Do the Unexpected – A look at some of the unique applications for the IBM PC including emulating a Cray-1 to help study how energy is transferred from the sea to the atmosphere, custom medical software developed in COBOL, as an electronic therapist, and more.
    • IBM ‘s Estridge – An interview with the president of IBM’s Entry Systems Division. This was a new division headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida that was responsible for, among other things, the IBM PC.
    • Enhancing Screen Displays for the IBM PC – A type-in program that provides a set of enhancements that makes it easier to configure color and monochrome monitors on the PC to your needs.
    • POKEing Around in the IBM PC, Part 1 : Accessing System and Hardware
      Facilities       – The first in a two-part series about directly accessing memory and hardware via POKE and PEEK commands in BASIC.
    • Could 1,000,000 IBM PC Users Be Wrong? – A look of the future of IBM and the PC (including the upcoming PCjr). At the time, Apple was still leading in shipments of “business-oriented desktop systems costing between $1000 and $10,000” (with Tandy/Radio Shack in 3rd) but the PC was expected to take the lead by the end of the year.
    • Big Blue Goes Japanese – IBM introduces the IBM 5550 or Multistation 5550 in Japan. This is basically an IBM PC for Japan (an other parts of Asia) that was capable of processing Kanji and other complex character sets.
    • Expanding on the IBM PC – A look at some of the expansion boards available for the IBM PC. Included here are CP/M boards, networking, RAM disk, clock, memory expansion, drive controllers, multi interface boards (parallel and serial ports), graphics, print-spooler/buffer boards, speech synthesizers, EPROM programmers, and much more.
    • Installable Device Drivers for PC-DOS 2.0 – Supporting device drivers was a new capability in PC-DOS 2.0 which shipped with the XT.
    • A Communications Package for the IBM PC – A look at how the Transend communications software evolved during design.
    • A Graphics Editor for the IBM PC – A look at the design of Glyph, a graphics editor for the PC.
    • Comparing the IBM PC and the TI PC – A comparison of the IBM PC and the TI PC. While based on the same CPU, the TI wasn’t really a PC clone and would not run most PC software. Mostly this came down to differences in the BIOS. However, at least initially, there was quite a bit of software converted for the TI PC including things like dASE II, Wordstar, Supercalc, Multiplan, Easywriter II and others.
    • Technical Aspects of IBM PC Compatibility – A look at what it takes, besides an 8088 CPU, to make a machine IBM PC compatible. These include things like input and output registers, compatible floppy controller, and BIOS compatibility among other things. Many “clones” produced at the time were only partially compatible. Compaq was the best when it came to compatibility.
    • The Making of the IBM PC – The philosophy behind the IBM PC.
    • Concurrent CP/M – A version of CP/M for 16-bit computers that allows task switching.
    • The IBM PC Meets Ethernet – Ethernet products such as 3Com’s Etherlink were available for the PC early on. At the time, coaxial cable was used and there were more limits on number of machines and distance than there are today.
    • MS-DOS 2.0: An Enhanced 16-bit Operating System – A look at what’s new in MS-DOS 2.0 including device drivers, Xenix compatibility, improved file system (including hierarchical directories), input/output enhancements, and more.

    Reviews

    • The IBM PC XT and DOS 2.0 – A review of the brand new IBM PC XT and DOS 2.00 that shipped with it. Differences between the XT and original PC included a 10 MB hard drive in place of one of the two floppy drives, removal of the cassette port, 128K standard RAM (as opposed to 64K) – expandable up to 256K on the motherboard, eight expansion slots (up from five), standard serial port, and more.
    • The Corona PC – A PC compatible that featured an 8088 CPU @ 5MHz, monochrome monitor, 128KB of RAM and a single floppy drive for $2595. It was also available with two floppy drives ($2995) or with one floppy and a 10Mb hard drive ($4495).
    • A Look at the HP Series 200 Model 16 – Also known as the HP 9816, this machine includes 256K or 512K of RAM, 270KB 3.5″ floppy drive, and a 68000 CPU, and BASIC which it was designed to work with though a version of Pascal is also available.
    • Three Generations of Business Charts for the IBM PC – A comparison of three graphics packages for the PC, including Graphics Generator, BPS Business Graphics, and Chartmaster, which were all designed for creating charts and graphs.
    • A Versatile IBM PC Word Tool: Sorcim ‘s Superwriter – A detailed review of this word processor.

    Features

    • Japan and the Fifth Generation – A look at Japan’s efforts to develop artificial intelligence. While the topic of AI has become especially hot in recent years, it has long been a goal since the earliest days of the PC or computers in general.
    • Speech Images on the IBM PC – A look at an experimental speech input card that plots the “voice print”.
    • Lmodem: A Small Remote-Communication Program – A relatively simple type-in smart-terminal program for CP/M based systems written in BDS C.
    • The Software Tools: Unix Capabilities on Non-Unix Systems – A look at a package that provides many Unix-like tools on a variety of non-Unix systems. These include tools such as diff, ls, ar, sort, find, field, sedit, format, and many others.
    • Double the Apple II ‘s Color Choices – A detailed look at how color works on the Apple II and a technique for displaying more than the normal number of colors in both high resolution and low resolution modes.
    • A Character Editor for the IBM PC – A type-in program that allows you to replace part of the IBM PC’s character set with user-defined characters. This was designed to display musical notation but can be used for other purposes as well.
    • Statistical Programs for Microcomputers – A comparison of several statistical packages for the IBM PC including Daisy 1.2.2, Daisy 2.0, A-Stat List Command 79.6, A-Stat 83.1 Data Procedure, HDS-Anova II, and Aida.

    Nucleus

    • Editorial: Growth vs. Quality – The struggle to maintain quality and the PC market explodes.
    • MICROBYTES – Brief news bits including: tons of new PC compatibles expected to be shown at COMDEX, new integrated software packages from Ovation and Fox & Geller, $40 Modula-2 compiler available for the IBM PC, CAD software unveiled for the PC XT, new proposed ST412HP SCSI interface standard for hard disks, and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about prodcut descriptions provided by manufacturers, the Lisa computer, public domain software, the 8086 and backwards compatibility, and more.
    • Programming Quickies – Short programs including a program to pass/merge and scan a command line in CP/M, fast loading files from disk with Apple DOS 3.3, implementing subscripts and superscripts on the Atari 400/800, adding array capabilities to dBASE II, and more.
    • Technical Forums – Type-in programs for creating simple contour plots, performing an address calculation sort, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of Programming the IBM personal Computer: BASIC, Experiments in Artificial Intelligence for Small Computers, and The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence Volume 3.
    • User to User – Software and hardware piracy in Singapore, comments on APL, how to get smaller C programs, Ada’s shortcomings, the Z-100, using RAM disks, and more.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about the most powerful CPUs for number crunching, overlaying computer graphics over video, controlling a VCR with a computer for storage, serial interface cards for the Apple II, static RAM, BASIC on the Color Computer, EPROM programmers, calculating bandwidth, and more.
    • What’s New? – A brief look at recent products including the PC-XTRA expansion chassis for the IBM PC, Idacomm 1200bps modem for the IBM PC, a Videotex Decoder for the IBM PC, the RTA 331 real-time spectrum analyzer for the PC, 5, 10, and 20 megabyte hard drives for the PC and DEC Rainbow 100 from Chrislin industries…

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Byte (December 1981)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Byte – December 1981

    The December 1981 issue of Byte magazine weighs it at around 548 pages. All the more impressive when you consider that this issue was published only a few months after the IBM PC introduced. At this time, in the business world, if you were using a computer it was probably CP/M based or something custom. At home you would have been using a TRS-80, Apple II, Atari, PET or VIC-20. This issue includes:

    Features

    • The Coinless Arcade – A look at some of the newest games for computers available including Dino Wars (TRS-80 Color Computer), Voyage of the Valkyrie (TRS-80, Apple II), Space Warrior (Apple II), Apple Panic (Apple II), Galactic Empire (Atari 400/800), Olympic Decathlon (Apple II, TRS-80), Gorgon (Apple II), Raster Blaster (Apple II), Missile Command (Atari 400/800), International Grand Prix (Apple II), Snoggle (Apple II), Gobbler (Apple II), VIC Super Lander (VIC-20), Star Thief (Apple II), Eastern Front (Atari 400/800), Ultima (Apple II), and Asylum (TRS-80).
    • Build a Touch Tone Decoder for Remote Control – A detailed guide to building both a DTMF-encoding circuit (basically the same as the dial-pad on a touch-tone phone) and a decoder that can be used for control purposes.
    • Color Computer from A to D, Make Your Computer “See” and “Feel” Better – The first in a series of articles on the TRS-80 Model I, Model II, and Color Computer. This article includes instructions for using the Joystick port on the Color Computer to collect data such as temperature, light intensity, and other data (up to four channels at once).
    • The Atari Tutorial, Part 4: Display-List – Part four in a series of technical articles on Atari computers. This part focuses on display-list interrupts.
    • How to Build a Maze – A method for generating a traditional maze with one starting point, one ending point, with all locations reachable from the start, and only one path from start to finish.
    • Toward a Structured 6809 Assembly Language, Part 2: Implementing a Structured Assembler – Part 2 in a series on creating a structured assembly language for 6809 CPUs. The first part involved creating a set of structured control statements. This part implements a structured assembler.
    • MIKBUG and the TRS-80, Part I – Part 1 of a series on building a programming system for the MEK 6800 D1 (Motorola 6800 evaluation kit). This part focuses on creating a cross-assembler for the Motorola 6800 on the TRS-80.
    • What Makes Computer Games Fun? – An article based on a PhD dissertation. Includes a survey of 65 students from Kindergarten to 8th grade.
    • Computer Scrabble – A BASIC type-in scrabble game for the TRS-80.
    • Generating Programs Automatically – Three utilities in Applesoft BASIC that write programs for you based on a few questions that you answer.
    • BYTE’s Cumulative Index – An index of content from Byte from September 1975 to December 1981.
    • Online Information Retrieval: Promise and Problems – In 1981 there was no Internet to speak of and there was certainly no Google. However, there were various online databases on various online services. Once dialing up to a service and selecting a database, you could query it with relatively simple select statements. This article goes over the prerequisites for making access to such data easy including having machine readable information in the first place, the hardware and software to store and retrieve it and the hardware and software at home to access it. However, preparing a search strategy ahead of time was important because online time could cost you $1 per minute or more depending on the service. Also, the syntax for searching varied between services and databases and was not always user friendly. This article also discusses ways to provide the bandwidth needed for mass access to such data.
    • Handi-Writer, A Video Note Pad for the Physically Handicapped – Instructions for creating a system designed to help those with physical disabilities such as those with cerebral palsy to communicate. It is based on a TRS-80, custom software and a custom interface.

    Reviews

    • Robotwar – A game in which you program robots to fight each other on the Apple II.
    • BYTE’s Arcade – A review of Olympic Decathlon for the TRS-80 and Apple II, a comparison of two Missile Command clones (ABM and Missile Defense both for the Apple II), a review of Gorgon (Defender Clone) for the Apple II, and a review of Commbat (a strategy game designed to play against another player over a modem) for the TRS-80).
    • alphaSyntauri Music Synthesizer – A combination hardware/software music synthesizer for the Apple II.
    • Battle of the Asteroids – A comparison of various Asteroids clones including Planetoids (Apple II), Super Nova (TRS-80), Apple-oids (Apple II), The Asteroids Field (Apple II), Meteroids in Space (Apple II), Bubbles (Apple II), and Asteron (Apple II).
    • Pascal-80 – A pascal compiler for the TRS-80.
    • Starfighter – An action game similar to Atari’s Star Raiders for the TRS-80.

    Nucleus

    • Editorial – How computers like the Atari 400/800 and IBM PC will give birth to new games.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about Pascal/Z and benchmarking, artificial intelligence, software piracy, sci-fi computers, and more.
    • BYTE’s Bits – National Semiconductor Corporation withdrawing from bubble-memory market; proceedings from microcomputer conference held at Arizona State University available.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of AIM 64 Laboratory Manual and Study Guide by Leo J Scanlon and Apple Machine Guide by Don Inman and Kurt Inman.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about floppy controllers for the TRS-80, CP/M, setting up a remote terminal for a TRS-80 Model II, upgrading TRS-80 memory, a D/A converter for the Apple II, and more.
    • System Notes: The Game of Left/Right – A type-in game inspired by Pong.
    • BYTELINES – News related to personal computing including: a look back at IBM’s performance in 1981, Seagate earns $2 million in its first year of operations, Genisco Computer corporation creates true 3D video systems for $100,000, IBM working on low-voltage inverter logic, UCD offers MUMPS database programming language via 8-inch CP/M disks, Telesoftware releases Ada compiler for 68000-based systems, and more.
    • Event Queue – A look at upcoming events including the 1981 Winter Simulation Conference, Gulf Computer Exhibition, the Twentieth IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, the Computer Modeling of Linguistic Theory conference, the 1982 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, and more.
    • Technical Forum: Apple X10 Control – Type-in software for using X-10 home automation controllers with the Apple II.
    • What’s New? – A look at new products including the 8K CMEMORY cartridge for the TRS-80 Color Computer, the CD0331 64K memory card for the STD bus, a new disk duplicating service, new memory and I/O cards for the AIM-65, the PROCAP statistics and probability package for the TRS-80, the Zelco S.R.L MCW Z80B based computer, the CPU/68000 processor board for the S-100 bus, the HA-8-6 Z80 card for the Heath H-8 computer, the MiniFrame 3-CPU computer, teh portable Attache Z-80 based computer, a reduction in price for the Discus M26 26-megabyte 14-inch hard drive (now less than $173 per megabyte for a total of $4495), and much more.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Byte (December 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Byte – December 1984

    In 1984, Byte covered personal computers and other small systems that were availabe at the time. Some issues of Byte could almost compete with the phone book sized Computer Shopper that came along later. The December 1984 issue weighs in at 672 pages and includes:

    Features

    • The Tandy 1000 – The Tandy 1000 was released after the Tandy 2000. It was meant to be a lower cost IBM PC clone. Something that would compete more with the PCjr. Minimum configuration included a 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU, 128KB RAM, a single 360K 5.25″ disk drive and a monochrome monitor for $1358.95 or $1199 without monitor. Additional options included a second floppy drive for $299.95, an internal 300bps modem for $179.95, an RS-232C interface for $99.95, a 128K memory expansion board, and a color monitor for $549.95.
    • Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: Build The Power I/O System – Instructions for building the hardware needed to use a computer to control power to items in your house.
    • C-Language Development Tools – A brief look at some recent new C Language tools including the Safe C Compiler/Profiler, Instant-C, and C Source Debugger.
    • An Introduction to Fiber Optics, Part 1 – This first in a multi-part series covers the history of fiber optics and basic principles.
    • Software Frameworks – An article on software reuse.

    Theme: Communications

    • The Evolution of a Standard Ethernet – Networking today is a lot easier than it used to be. The first Ethernet hardware was developed by Xerox in the late 1970s. However, in those early days and for a long time, Ethernet made use of coaxial cable and transceivers and repeaters. It was much harder to setup, much more expensive, and much slower than today.
    • Local-Area Networks for the IBM PC – There were many options for local area networking for the IBM PC. However, they were for the most part not compatible with each other and tended to be fairly expensive. The features offered by 40 different vendors are summarized here with speeds from 375Kbps to 10Mbps, using twisted-pair, coax or fiber, and using a variety of protocols including Arcnet, Ethernet, CSMA, token passing, and various proprietary schemes.
    • High-Speed Dial-Up Modems – The vast majority of consumer modems in 1984 were either 300bps or 1200bps. 2400, 4800, and 9600bps modems existed but were very expensive. A 4800bps modem would set you back $2500, 2400bps $800-$1400, 1200bps $450-$700 and a $300bps modem a much more affordable $60-$350.
    • Writing Communications in BASIC – Using BASIC to implement a terminal emulator and file transfer capabilities.
    • Looking for the Perfect Program – A guide to finding the right terminal software for you.
    • The On-Line Search – There were ways to search for information online even back in 1984. However, such data was often stored in specialized databases that cost money to access. Eighteen different information services are mentioned in this article.

    Reviews

    • The Tandy Model 2000 – The Tandy 2000 was released before the Tandy 1000 and is the higher end machine. However, it sacrificed some PC compatibility for performance. Some regular DOS programs would work fine while others did not. Tandy also released special versions of some commercial software enhanced for the Tandy 2000. The Tandy 2000 featured an 80186 CPU @ 8MHz, 128KB of RAM (expandable to 768KB), dual 5.25″ floppy disk drives, and a monochrome monitor for $3000. A version with one floppy drive and a 10MB hard drive cost $4500.
    • The Zenith Z-150 PC – The specs of this IBM clone very closely match the original. It includes an 8088 CPU @ 4.77MHz, two 360K 5.25″ disk drives, and 320KB of RAM. The most interesting things about it is that it uses a backplane instead of a motherboard and it is available in kit format. A long time ago (probably circa 1995), I had a very similar machine. I think it was a slightly newer version but the case looked identical.
    • TK!Solver – An application for scientists and engineers for solving general mathematical expressions.
    • WordPerfect – WordPerfect would be the dominant word processor for a number of years before Microsoft Word came along and eventually took over.
    • The Epson LQ-1500 – A $1395 dot-matrix printer with draft, letter quality, and graphics modes designed to be compatible with the Epson fX line of printers.

    Kernel

    • Computing at Chaos Manner: Home Again – Adventure in repairing a Zorro Z-100, some info on laser printers, BASIC compatibility on the Zenith Z-150, shopping for a clock/calendar board, The TI Professional computer, and more.
    • Byte West Coast: Happenings – IBM acquires Rolm Corp., IBM to offer local-area network configurations for its personal computers, Concurrent PC-DOS 3.2 released by Digital Research, and more.
    • Byte U.K.: Prolog on Microcomputers – An overview of Micro-PROLOG for DOS and CP/M.
    • Byte Japan: Hand-Held Computers and MSX Standards – A brief look at new handheld computers in Japan including the Epson HC-88/-80 and the Ampere Big.APL. Plus, an overview of the MSX standard and a brief look at several machines including the Canon V-10 and V-20, Victor AV, Toshiba HX-10S and HX-10D, Pioneer PALCOM PX-7, Sony “Hit Bit” HD-55 and HD-75, Hitachi HI, Yamaha Y1S503, Fujitsu FM-X, Mitsubishi ML-F120, and Matsushita CF-2000 and CF-3000.
    • Circuit Cellar Feedback – Readers chime in about the new 65816 chip, digitizing stamps, MPX-16 keyboard interface, and more.
    • Editorial: Looking Back: 1984 – Highlights of 1984 include the introduction of the IBM PCjr, IBM PC AT, Hewlett Packard 150, Tandy 2000, Tandy 1000, Apple IIc, AT&T PC, Compaq Deskpro, Corona Mega PC, NEC APC III, and lots more.
    • Microbytes – Sanyo announces new MBC-775 IBM PC compatible computer, Microsoft delays Windows until mid-1985, 3M to introduce CD-ROM drives to OEMs for less than $1000, and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about choosing a computer language to learn, FORTH, 2DUP, and more.
    • What’s New – NEC releases PC-8401A notebook with Z80 processor and 64K RAM running CP/M 2.2, Digital Research GEM desktop environment, Epson announces QX-16 which features both 8088 and Z80 processors, new Osborne Vixen CP/M luggable computer featuring a 4MHz Zilog Z80 and 64K RAM, PC-286 expansion card for the IBM PC that replaces the 8088 CPU with a 4-, 6-, or 8-MHz 80286 and includes 256-640K RAM, and more.
    • Ask Byte – Questions answered about interfacing a speech synthesizer to a 68000 computer, using a Sinclair as a printer buffer, the 68000 chip, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of LISPcraft by Robert Wilensky, Talking Computers and Telecommunications by John a. Kuecken and Van Nostrand Reinhold, Assembly Language for the IBM PC & XT by Robert Lafore, and Computer Ethics: A Guide for the New age by Douglas W. Johnson.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged