yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
b274874139
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
163 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
163 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Canon CAT
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Professional Computer
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origins:
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- Japan
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years:
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- '1987'
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cpus:
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- Motorola 68000
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params:
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name: CAT
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_2.jpg
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logo: /media/museum/logos/canon_cat_logo.gif
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company: /companies/canon
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company_name: Canon
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: CAT
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: Canon
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- label: TYPE
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value: Professional Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: Japan
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1987'
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- label: END OF PRODUCTION
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value: Six months later
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: Forth
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: 'Monobloc system. Full-stroke keyboard (compatible with IBM Selectric), 49 keys. Special keys: LEAP (left & right), USE FRONT, DOCUMENT/PAGE, PERM SPACE/TAB, UNDO, ERASE, LOCK, SHIFT (x2)'
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- label: CPU
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value: Motorola 68000
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- label: SPEED
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value: 5 MHz
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- label: RAM
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value: 256 KB
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- label: ROM
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value: 256 KB
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: Unknown
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: Unknown
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- label: COLORS
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value: Black & white 9'' display
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- label: SOUND
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value: Unknown
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- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
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value: 27.18 X 33.78 X 45.21 cm (10.7 X 13.3 X 17.8 inches) / 7.71 kg (17 lbs.)
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Centronics parallel port, RS-232C serial port (DB-25 connector), 2 x RJ-11 jacks (for telephone connections)
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: 3.5'' floppy disk drive (256 KB)
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- label: OS
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value: Machine Specific
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: PSU built-in, 120v
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- label: PRICE
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value: $1495 (USA, 1987)
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tabs:
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- photos
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- software
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- links
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- docs
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forum_thread: 628
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photos:
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- title: CANON CAT
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture courtesy of M. J. Maloney
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_1.jpg
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- title: CANON CAT
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subtitle: ''
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text: '...running word processor program'
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_running_1.jpg
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- title: SIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture courtesy of M. J. Maloney
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_side.jpg
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- title: REAR
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture courtesy of M. J. Maloney
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_rear.jpg
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- title: KEYBOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture courtesy of M. J. Maloney
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_keyboard.jpg
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- title: PRESSE RELEASE
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture of the Canon Cat press release in USA.
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image: /media/museum/photos/canon_cat_pressrelease_1.jpg
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screenshots:
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- title: BUILT-IN WORDPROCESSOR
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subtitle: ''
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text: Picture courtesy of M. J. Maloney
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image: /media/museum/software/canon_cat_ss.jpg
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links:
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- title: 'Canon''s Cat Computer: The Real Macintosh'
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url: http://www.jagshouse.com/swyft.html
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text: Large article about the Canon Cat
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- title: DigiBarn Museum - Canon Cat page
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url: http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/canon-cat/page_01.htm
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text: Numerous photos of the beast (with some links)
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- title: Forever70...80...90
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url: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/autrever.htm
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text: fabrice has set up a very informative page about the Canon CAT (french)
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- title: Jef raskin's home page
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url: http://jef.raskincenter.org/home/index.html
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text: Home page of the creator of the CAT
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- title: Wikipedia - Canon Cat entry
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url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat
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text: Nice page from Wikipedia
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docs:
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- title: INSTRUCTION MANUAL
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url: http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072205/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_manual.html
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cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/canon_cat_instruction-manual.jpg
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text: |-
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[**INSTRUCTION MANUAL**](http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072205/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_manual.html)written by Jef Raskin
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compiled/archived by Jef Raskin\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [JefRaskin.com](http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072205/jef.raskincenter.org/)
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- title: REFERENCE GUIDE
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url: http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072639/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_ref.html
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cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/canon_cat_reference-guide.jpg
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text: |-
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[**REFERENCE GUIDE**](http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072639/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_ref.html)written by Jef Raskin
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compiled/archived by Jef Raskin\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [JefRaskin.com](http://web.archive.org/web/20070928072639/jef.raskincenter.org/)
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**... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :**
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- title: REFERENCE CARD
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url: http://web.archive.org/web/20070806230147/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_card.html
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cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/canon_cat_reference-card.jpg
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text: |-
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[**REFERENCE CARD**](http://web.archive.org/web/20070806230147/jef.raskincenter.org/published/cat_card.html)written by Jef Raskin
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compiled/archived by Jef Raskin\
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type of document : PDF\
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source : [JefRaskin.com](http://web.archive.org/web/20070806230147/jef.raskincenter.org/)
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**... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :**
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oc_id: 642
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608161648/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=642
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date: '2023-06-08'
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---
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In 1987 Canon USA Inc. released a new computer named the Canon Cat. This computer was targeted at low-level clerical workers such as secretaries. After six months on the market and with 20,000 units sold, Canon discontinued the Cat.
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The Cat featured an innovative text based user interface that did not rely upon a mouse, icons, or graphics. The key person behind the Cat was Jef Raskin, an eclectic gadgeteer, who began the design of the Cat during his work on the first Macintosh project at Apple Computer in 1979.
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The Cat was a 17 pound desktop computer system containing a built in 9" black-and-white bit-mapped monitor, a single 3.5-inch 256K floppy disk drive, and an IBM Selectric-style keyboard. It came with an extensive collection of applications stored in ROM. These applications supported word processing, spell checking, mail merging, calculator functions, communications, data retrieval, and programming in the FORTH or 68000 assembly languages. Also present in the ROM was a spelling dictionary based on the 90,000 word American Heritage Dictionary. System setup information and a small personal user dictionary were stored in 8K of battery backed up RAM.
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The Cat's user interface made this computer unique. The user interface was based on a simple text editor in which all data was seen as a long stream of text broken into pages. Special keyboard keys allowed the user to invoke various functions. An extra key titled "Use Front" acted as a control key. You pressed Use Front and then a special key to activate a specific feature. For example, the L key was marked Disk, the J key was marked Print, and the N key was marked Explain (Cat's context sensitive help facility). Other commands existed to let you change the system's various parameters (Setup key) and reverse your last action (Undo key).
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Contributors: David Patterson (editor), John J. Diamond (editor)
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