| My first computer was a Kaypro II. It had no hard drive, but two 5 1/4 inch floppies. Boot from one, run your programs from the other. The whole thing was like a suitcase, and the keyboard attached to the front, keys on the inside, to protect the monitor and drives.
The monitor was a monochrome green, and all it could display was massive pixels. Some older bank machines still use the same kind of screens, so I'm sure you've seen them.
Of course, it was mostly used for word processing and the "spreadsheets" of the day. It had a few games, most noteably "Ladder", a Gold Rush-style side scroller. And everything was in ASCII! Even the games!
I don't know how many times we sent the thing in for repairs when one of the drives would fail.
It was still a great computer for its day. According to their homepage at http://www.kaypro.com , Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2010 on a Kaypro II! And I certainly wouldn't be the geek that I am today if it weren't for that awkward little box.
Floorpirate |
