The Datapoint 2200 was a programmable terminal released by Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC) in June 1970. (Some accounts say it was released sometime in 1971.) Intended simply to be a versatile, cost-efficient terminal for connecting to a wide variety of mainframes by loading various terminal emulations from tape rather than being hardwired as most terminals were, users suddenly realized these programmable terminals could be made to perform other tasks as well. (The first one being Pillsbury Foods.) CTC thus inadvertently invented what is now generally accepted to be the first personal computer. Equally significant is that the terminal's CPU (processor) was the embryo of the x86 instruction set architecture. A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system. ... Datapoint Corporation, originally known as Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC), was a computer company based in San Antonio, Texas. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... A 1990 Honeywell-Bull DPS 7 mainframe CPU Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are large and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing. ... This article is about emulation in computer science. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. ... An instruction set, or instruction set architecture (ISA), describes the aspects of a computer architecture visible to a programmer, including the native datatypes, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external I/O (if any). ...

Technical description

The Datapoint 2200 had a built-in full-travel keyboard, a built-in 12-line, 80-column green screen monitor, and two tape drives. Its size (a B×W×H of roughly 2×2×1 ft) and shape (a cuboid box with protruding keyboard) approximated that of an electric typewriter. Initially a Diablo 2.5Mb 2315-type removable cartridge hard disk drive was available, along with modems, several types of serial interface, parallel interface, printers, punched card reader, and later an optional 8-inch floppy disk drive was also available, and other/larger hard disk drives, and in late 1977, local area networking through ARCnet became available. The original Type 1 2200 shipped with 2 kilobytes of serial shift register main memory, expandable to 8K. The Type 2 2200 used denser 1 kbit RAM chips, giving it a default 4K of memory, expandable to 16K. Its starting price was around US$5,000, and a full 16K Type 2 2200 had a list price of just over $14,000. The 2200 models were succeeded by the 5500, 1100, 6600, 3800, 8800, etc. A computer keyboard is a peripheral modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... The IBM PC with green screen Green screen was the common name for a monochrome CRT computer display using a green P1 phosphor screen. ... A tape drive, also known as a streamer, is a peripheral device that reads and writes data stored on a magnetic tape or a punched tape. ... This Smith Premier typewriter, purchased around the end of the 19th century, was found abandoned in the Bodie ghost town. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound), to encode digital information, and that also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... In telecommunications and computer science, serial communications refers to any data transmission scheme in which data is sent one symbol at one time, sequentially over a communications channel. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A printer can be: Someone who operates a printing press, and prints books. ... The punch card (or Hollerith card) is a recording medium for holding information for use by automated data processing machines. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a circular piece of thin, flexible (i. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small local area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings such as a college. ... ARCNET (also CamelCased as ARCnet, an acronym from Attached Resource Computer NETwork) is a local area network (LAN) protocol, similar in purpose to Ethernet or Token Ring. ... A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ... Primary storage is a category of computer storage, often called main memory. ... A kilobit is a unit of information storage, abbreviated kbit or sometimes kb. ... Different types of RAM. From top to bottom: DIP, SIPP, SIMM 30 pin, SIMM 72 pin, DIMM, RIMM RAM redirects here. ...

The seed of the x86 architecture

Aside from being the first personal computer, the Datapoint 2200 has another connection to computer history. Its original design called for a single-chip 8-bit microprocessor for the CPU, rather than a conventional processor built from discrete TTL modules. In 1969, CTC contracted two companies, Intel and Texas Instruments, to make the chip. TI was unable to make a reliable part and dropped out. Intel was unable to make CTC's deadline. Intel and CTC renegotiated their contract, ending up with CTC keeping its money and Intel keeping the eventually completed processor. 8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ... Microprocessors, including an Intel 80486DX2 and an Intel 80386 A microprocessor (abbreviated as µP or uP) is a computer electronic component made from miniaturized transistors on a single semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) (aka microchip or just chip). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... // Functions Each integrated circuit performs separate building-block functions such as logic gates such as AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, inversion flip-flops, latch elements Ripple, synchronous, decade, hexadecimal counters adders shift registers timing circuits data bus drivers, buffers, tristate buffers display drivers multifunction logic level converters read-write and... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) (HKSE: 4335) (founded 1968) is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry as TI, is a company based in Dallas, Texas, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ...

CTC released the Datapoint 2200 using about 100 discrete TTL components (SSI/MSI chips) instead of a microprocessor, while Intel's single-chip design, eventually designated the Intel 8008, was finally released in April 1972. The 8008's seminal importance lies in its becoming the ancestor of Intel's other 8-bit CPUs, which were followed by their instruction set compatible 16-bit CPU's—the first members of the x86-family, as the instruction set was later to be known. Thus, CTC's engineers may be said to have fathered the world's most commonly used and emulated instruction set architecture from the mid-1980s to date. Optical Microscope image of an integrated circuit showing defects in the aluminium layer deposition. ... Intel 8008 The Intel 8008 was an early microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel, and introduced in April, 1972. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... x86 or 80x86 is the generic name of a microprocessor architecture first developed and manufactured by Intel. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Credits

The original instruction set architecture was developed by Victor Poor and Harry Pyle. The TTL design they ended up using was made by Gary Asbell. Industrial design (how the box's exterior looked, including the company's logo) was done by Jack Frassanito. An instruction set, or instruction set architecture (ISA), describes the aspects of a computer architecture visible to a programmer, including the native datatypes, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external I/O (if any). ... // Functions Each integrated circuit performs separate building-block functions such as logic gates such as AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, inversion flip-flops, latch elements Ripple, synchronous, decade, hexadecimal counters adders shift registers timing circuits data bus drivers, buffers, tristate buffers display drivers multifunction logic level converters read-write and... Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of products may be improved. ...

Specifications

Main unit

• CPU: 8-bit, made from discrete integrated chip components; nearly 100% compatible with Intel 8008
• RAM: 2K, expandable to 16K
• Display: Text only, 80×12 characters
• Storage: 2 tape drives, optional 8-inch Shugart floppy drive

Peripherals Intel 8008 The Intel 8008 was an early microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel, and introduced in April, 1972. ... Shugart is the de facto standard for floppy disk drive interfaces created by Shugart Associates. ...

Users of the 2200 and succeeding terminals eventually had several optional units to choose from. Among these were

• modems
• hard disks
• printers
• ARCnet LAN

External links

• Information about the Datapoint 2200 at OLD-COMPUTERS.COM – Including a picture of the terminal

• Page with links to a doctoral thesis about early microprocessor history, with lots of details about Datapoint's role, and a copy of the Datapoint 2200 Programmer's Guide (both in PDF format) – both with a lot of historical detail.