General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

4

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

METAL CASING, PARTS; SYNTHETIC CASING FRONT, SWITCHES, PARTS/ RUBBER FEET

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

46.3 cm

Width

42.0 cm

Height

15.3 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital computing devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Mini Peripherals

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Ottawa

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1978-1982

Canada

A COMPUTER SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY A CANADIAN, DR. MCKAY OF OTTAWA, & SOLD BY HIS COMPANY MINI-PERIPHERALS INC. IT WAS USED BY A SMALL CANADIAN COMPUTER SOFTWARE WRITING FIRM OPERATED BY THE GURNEYS, WHO WROTE SOFTWARE UNDER CONTRACT. THEY CEASED USING THIS SYSTEM BECAUSE ITS MEMORY & PROGRAMMING WERE INADEQUATE FOR HANDLING LARGE JOBS.

Function

A PROGRAMMABLE MACHINE THAT ACCEPTS, PROCESSES, & DISPLAYS DATA. IT CONTAINS MICROPROCESSOR & WAS USED BY AN INDIVIDUAL FOR PERSONAL OR BUSINESS PURPOSES. THE SYSTEM INCLUDES A DISK DRIVE MEMORY DEVICE, A KEYBOARD & MONITOR FOR DATA INPUT & OUTPUT. THIS EXAMPLE WAS USED BY A SMALL BUSINESS.

Technical

AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE FIRST PC'S TO BOOT UP USING AN 8080 MICROPROCESSOR. THIS LATER VERSION OF MINI-PERIPHERAL'S PRODUCT USED A CHIP TO LOAD ITS OPERATING SYSTEM, RATHER THAN PROGRAMMING IT MANUALLY BY MEANS OF SWITCHES. IT HAD 18K RAM. A MAJOR PROBLEM WAS THAT THERE WAS A LIMIT TO THE SIZE OF FILE THAT COULD BE OPENED.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

WHITE LETTERING ON FRONT READS 'MINI-PERIPHERALS', WITH MFR'S LOGO

Missing

N/A

Finish

TEXTURED BLUE PAINTED CASING; GLOSSY BLACK SYNTHETIC CASING FRONT; BLACK PAINTED CHASSIS; SILVER, BLACK, RED & GREY SYNTHETIC CONTROLS & PARTS

Decoration

N/A