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Xerox Alto
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Computers
Researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center designed the Alto -- the
first work station with a built-in mouse for input. The Alto stored several
files simultaneously in windows, offered menus and icons, and could link to a
local area network. Although Xerox never sold the Alto commercially, it gave a
number of them to universities. Engineers later incorporated its features into
work stations and personal computers.
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Zilog Z-80
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Components
Intel and Zilog introduced new microprocessors. Five times faster than its
predecessor, the 8008, the Intel 8080 could address four times as many bytes
for a total of 64 kilobytes. The Zilog Z-80 could run any program written for
the 8080 and included twice as many built-in machine instructions.
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Silver Arm
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Robots & AI
David Silver at MIT designed the Silver Arm, a robotic arm to do small-parts
assembly using feedback from delicate touch and pressure sensors. The arm's
fine movements corresponded to those of human fingers.
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Scelbi 8H
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Computers
Scelbi advertised its 8H computer, the first commercially advertised U.S.
computer based on a microprocessor, Intel's 8008. Scelbi aimed the 8H,
available both in kit form and fully assembled, at scientific, electronic, and
biological applications. It had 4 kilobytes of internal memory and a cassette
tape, with both teletype and oscilloscope interfaces. In 1975, Scelbi
introduced the 8B version with 16 kilobytes of memory for the business market.
The company sold about 200 machines, losing $500 per unit.
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