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Inventing the PC

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In May 1973, Micro Computer Machines, a Toronto-based electronics company, gave a public demonstration of a small computer called the MCM/70. Powered by a microprocessor and operated with APL, a so...
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  • 10 May 2011
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In May 1973, Micro Computer Machines, a Toronto-based electronics company, gave a public demonstration of a small computer called the MCM/70. Powered by a microprocessor and operated with APL, a sophisticated programming language, the MCM/70 was positioned to be a practical, affordable, and easy-to-use personal computer - the very first of its kind.

Inventing the PC details the invention and design of the MCM/70 computer and the prolonged struggle to bring it to market. Zbigniew Stachniak offers an insider's view of events on the front lines of pioneering work on personal computers. He shows what information and options PC pioneers had, how well engineers and entrepreneurs understood the revolutionary effect personal computers would have on society, and how that understanding - or lack thereof - shaped both their engineering ingenuity and the indecisiveness and over-reaching ambition that would ultimately turn a very promising venture into a missed opportunity.

Providing comprehensive historical background and rich photographic documentation, Inventing the PC tells the story of a Canadian company on the cutting-edge of the information age.

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Price: $45.95
Pages: 224
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Imprint: McGill-Queen's University Press
Publication Date: 10 May 2011
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9780773538528
Format: Hardcover
BISACs: COMPUTERS / History
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"Stachniak has written an entertaining, highly informative account of the struggle to create a useful and marketable desktop computer. Although far different from today's personal computer, MCM's early machines, such as the MCM/70, were remarkably innovative and on the market long before the fabled Apple II or the nearly useless Altair. Unfortunately, MCM was ahead of its time. Nonetheless, this is a great book and a must for any fan of the history of the modern computer. Highly recommended." CHOICE
Zbigniew Stachniak is an associate professor of computer science, York University, and the curator of York University's Computer Museum.