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Computers
Apple introduced its Lisa. The first personal computer with a graphical user
interface, its development was central in the move to such systems for personal
computers. The Lisa's sloth and high price ($10,000) led to its ultimate
failure.
The Lisa ran on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor and came equipped with 1
megabyte of RAM, a 12-inch black-and-white monitor, dual 5 1/4-inch floppy disk
drives and a 5 megabyte Profile hard drive. The Xerox Star -- which included a
system called Smalltalk that involved a mouse, windows, and pop-up menus --
inspired the Lisa's designers.
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Compaq PC clone
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Computers
Compaq Computer Corp. introduced first PC clone that used the same software as
the IBM PC. With the success of the clone, Compaq recorded first-year sales of
$111 million, the most ever by an American business in a single year.
With the introduction of its PC clone, Compaq launched a market for
IBM-compatible computers that by 1996 had achieved a 83-percent share of the
personal computer market. Designers reverse-engineered the Compaq clone,
giving it nearly 100-percent compatibility with the IBM.
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Software & Languages
Microsoft announced Word, originally called Multi-Tool Word, and Windows. The
latter doesn't ship until 1985, although the company said it would be on track
for an April 1984 release. In a marketing blitz, Microsoft distributed 450,000
disks demonstrating its Word program in the November issue of PC World
magazine.
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MIDI
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Robots & AI
The Musical Instrument Digital Interface was introduced at the first North
American Music Manufacturers show in Los Angeles. MIDI is an industry-standard
electronic interface that links electronic music synthesizers. The MIDI
information tells a synthesizer when to start and stop playing a specific note,
what sound that note should have, how loud it should be, and other information.
Raymond Kurzweil, a pioneer in developing the electronic keyboard, predicts
MIDI and other advances will make traditional musical instruments obsolete in
the future. In the 21st century, he wrote in his book, "The Age of
Intelligent Machines," "There will still be acoustic instruments
around, but they will be primarily of historical interest, much like
harpsichords are today.... While the historically desirable sounds of pianos
and violins will continue to be used, most music will use sounds with no direct
acoustic counterpart.... There will not be a sharp division between the
musician and nonmusician."
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