website/content/museum/next-computers-next-cube.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	params
Next Computers NeXT Cube	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1988	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos links related oc_id source NeXT Cube /media/museum/photos/next_cube_1.jpg /companies/next-computers Next Computers label value NAME NeXT Cube label value MANUFACTURER Next Computers label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1988 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1993 label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke keyboard, 85 keys, 2 buttons opto-mechanical mouse label value CPU NeXTcube 030 : Motorola MC 68030 @ 25 Mhz\ NeXTcube 040 : Motorola MC 68040 @ 25 Mhz\ NeXTcube Turbo : Motorola MC 68040 @ 33 Mhz label value CO-PROCESSOR FPU Motorola 68882 (math co-processor) @ 25 Mhz label value RAM 8 Mb upgradable to 16 Mb (Cube 030) or to 64 Mb (Cube 040) label value GRAPHIC MODES 1120 x 832 label value COLORS 4 (black, white and two shades of grey) label value SOUND DSP Motorola 56001 @ 25 Mhz (16 bits, 44.1 Khz, stereo, 24k RAM upgradable to 576 kb)\ Speaker built-in the monitor label value SIZE / WEIGHT 31.8 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm label value I/O PORTS 4 (3 free) NeXTbus connectors, internal SCSI connector, SCSI2 external connector, DSP, video output, proprietary port for NeXT laser printer, 2 RS232 ports, Ethernet, label value BUILT IN MEDIA Magneto-Optical Drive (256 MB)\ SCSI hard-disk, FDD (2.88 Mb) and CD-ROM were optional label value OS MACH 4.3 + NextStep label value POWER SUPPLY PSU built-in label value PERIPHERALS Modem label value PRICE $6500 (USA, october 88) photos links 287 title subtitle text image THE CUBE This innovative design (by FrogDesign) is said to have inspired the later Apple Cube and Nintendo GameCube... /media/museum/photos/next_cube_2.jpg title url text Black Hole, Incorporated http://WWW.BLACKHOLEINC.COM/ Retailer of NeXT computers and related title url text Channel U NeXT page http://www.channelu.com/NeXT/index.html Site with a lot of information about NeXT title url text Computers Forever 1970..80..90 http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/ Fabrice has a nice page about NeXT computers title url text NeXT Forum http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php NeXT forum title url text NeXT Step information page http://www120.pair.com/mccarthy/nextstep/ A good introduction to the NeXT operating system title url text www.NeXTComputers.org http://www.nextcomputers.org/ Website dedicated to NeXT computers, NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP /museum/next-computers-next-station 277 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230430210346/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=277 2023-04-30

What a mythical and powerful computer!! When Steve Jobs left Apple, he decided to create the best computer possible ! The result is the NeXT.

This prodigious computer impressed a lot of people when it was presented! Its technical features, its object oriented operating system and its graphical interface, even its black case were very far from the standards (remember how many black-cased computers there were in 1988: not many)! And NeXTStep is always considered as a reference.

It was sold with a lot of great programs and a very powerful 400 dpi laser printer. Some technical features were a bit strange (grayscale display, no floppy drive, no hard disk), but were modified in the next generation with the NeXT Station and the NeXT Cube 040.

NeXT also released later the NeXTdimension for the Cube. It is a board based on an intel860, wich offers a true 32bit Postcript color display and video sampling features. You could buy the NeXTdimension board alone or a NeXTcube upgraded with it, sometimes refered as "color Cube".

Unfortunately, this computer was too expensive and had little commercial success, few years later, it was abandoned, but the later successors of this computer are still in use in some places, as servers! The NeXT was used as the world's first web server, and was also the platform for the first web browser!

Notice that the architecture of this computer (68030, 68882 & DSP 56001) is the same setup used in the Atari Falcon which was presented (a bit late) in 1992!

Thanks to Computers Forever1970..80..90 for most of the info.