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6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun. 4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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Claude Opus 5.5
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---
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title: ECD CORPORATION Micromind
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Home Computer
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origins:
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- U.S.A.
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years:
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- '1977'
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cpus:
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- MOS Technology 6502
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params:
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name: Micromind
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image: /media/museum/photos/ecd_micromind_2s%5B2%5D.jpg
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company: /companies/ecd-corporation
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company_name: ECD CORPORATION
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: Micromind
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: ECD Corporation
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- label: TYPE
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value: Home Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: U.S.A.
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1977'
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: notsoBasic language from ECD
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: 80 key software-definable keyboard
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- label: CPU
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value: MOS Technology 6502
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- label: SPEED
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value: 4 MHz
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- label: RAM
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value: 8 KB (up to 64 MB!)
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: 20 or 40 lines x 15 to 120 characters
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: 120 x 160
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- label: COLORS
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value: 'No'
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: I/O interface board, video output, tape interface (3200 bits/s), interconnect bus
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: Built-in PSU
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- label: PRICE
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value: $987.54 (USA, 1977)
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comments:
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- author: Custom Tees (Los Angeles)
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date: Thursday 25th August 2022
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text: Really Nice Website. Good articles. Thanks
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oc_id: 1347
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230413210019/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1347
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date: '2023-04-13'
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---
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The Micromind was a very innovative machine ahead of its time ! But despite the small group working on the machine, prototyping and developing, and pushing the limits of the time, the machine never shipped. Apparently only a few prototypes were produced.
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Development began as early 1975/1976 but commercial adverts appeared only in 1977.
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One of the main features of the Micromind was its innovative (for the time) redefinable characters. Up to 120 characters could be software redefined by the user in a 8x12 dot matrix. These characters could be displayed as 20 or 40 lines of 15 to 120 characters per line !
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Graphic resolution was 120 lines x 160 columns, each pixel individually settable.
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Another innovation was its interconnect bus that allowed the use of up to 15 processors working in parallel on the same system ! This multi-processor feature was an interesting concept, but never delivered.
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About this features, the original designer (JSL) reports:\
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*"That limit was pretty much dictated by the bus capacitance; the drivers could not drive any more inputs (and wire) than that. The global address space was 26 bits, or 64 megabytes, while a processor board only contained 16 kilobytes (later this may have been extended when bigger DRAMs became available). We spanned the 1K to 4K to 16K transitions, I think.*
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*With an additional interface to bridge or network several such systems, we envisioned up to 1000 processors. We could hardly advertise such vaporware (we were already farther out on a limb than we understood, but without even a working prototype, even we could see the folly of announcing it)."*
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The computer was expandable up to 64Mb, at a time when 64KB was considered more than most people would ever need...
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It was possible to connect up to 4 tape recorders.
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Bob Frankston (author of Visicalc) wrote the Basic interpreter.\
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Richard Eckhardt was one of the developpers.
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In June 1977, Avakian Systems Corp ordered 1000 Micromind II systems from ECD Corp.
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The company went out of business because of a single (large) customer cancelling their order (was it Avakian?), and the resulting cash crunch drive the company into bankruptcy.
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After the advert in Byte magazine, some people ordered and paid their Micromind, but never got any computer. Some of them got their refund, but not all of them...
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A few people who got early systems ended up using them for interesting projects. The early machines were wire-wrapped, and the PCB version of the Micromind wasn’t able to be completed in time.
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Apparently some games were produced during the development process of the Micromind:\
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\- ANIMATED SPACE WAR, a version of Spacewar!\
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\- a chess Game\
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\- LIFE, an implementation of Conway's game of life
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<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>
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