23) PET and the “First Year of the PC Era”
Commodore Business Machine’s “PET-2001”
1977 was called the “first year of the personal computer era”
as two American companies created personal computers, or PC’s for short in
this year.
One of them was Commodore Business Machine's "PET-2001" (shown in
the photo). Unlike conventional kit products, the features of the PET-2001
were that keyboards, cassette tapes, CRT displays and other necessary parts
were incorporated into one console, which was then integrated into the computer
itself. For the CPU, the 6502 – an improved version of the 6800-series compatible
6501, was produced by MOS Technology Inc., an affiliate company of Commodore.
The company was founded in 1962 by Polish-born J. Tramiel. He was caught by
the invading German army at the age of 12 and was held in concentration camps
such as Auschwitz, and somehow survived miraculously. This hellish experience
helped him build up his exceptional patience and aggressiveness.
The other PC was Apple Computer's "Apple II". Steven Jobs and Steve
Wozniak debuted their “Apple I” during their time at the “Homebrew Computer
Club”, which became their motivation to establish their own “garage company”
in 1970. Wozniak was in charge of machine design (using 6501 as the CPU )
and software development, and handed over the completed prototype to Jobs.
However, in 1976, this computer was inadequate as a finished product, and
Apple Computer had to wait until 1977 when they released the Apple II to formally
establish their business. In addition to having the basic functions of today's
personal computer, the computer welcomed users with a unique built-in color
graphics function, resulting in explosive sales.
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