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On to Kupitero's obsolete computers/gadgets...(please note that these are all actual pictures)!

Apple QuickTake 200 Digital Camera:

The Apple QuickTake 200 is an interesting species since it has the features that you can find in most of the older - the "primordial" - digital cameras as well as the current state-of-the-art ones. Notable of these are the removable optical viewfinder and the use of SmartMedia card for picture storage (see pic# 2 & 3).

This fixed-focus, 640 x 480, 24-bit color-capable digital camera also features a 1.8" LCD screen, a serial connector, an RCA-type video out. It is powered by four (4) AA-type batteries. It was also originally bundled with Apple's QuickTake software which was - on other releases- supplemented with Adobe PhotoDeluxe imaging software.

This is the last relic in the Apple QuickTake digital camera series (100, 150 and the 200) after Apple decided to discontinue manufacturing non-core peripherals including printers and scanners. The QuickTake 200 was essentially an Apple-designed, Canon OEM'd unit - like most of Apple's printers -and was selling quite well until it was abandoned in early 1997.

 

The Texas Instruments 99/4A Personal Computer:

The late 70s was the hottest period in the then budding personal computer market. Apple, Commodore and ATARI and a small British-firm, Sinclair were the market leaders. Texas Instruments -then the dominant calculator maker aside from HP- jumped into the PC bandwagon by releasing the TI-99/4 in 1979.

The original TI-99/4 was a silver and black contraption powered by TI's TMS9900 CPU at 3.3mhz. The next rendition - although, it also originally came out in silver and black- was the unit whose pictures you see here - the TI-99/4A (note the extra "A"). What's the difference?

The TI-99/4A used a slightly different graphics chip -the TMS9918A- than the TI-99/4's TMS9918. That was the main difference between the two models, aside from the better keyboard layout for the TI-99/4A. It also came with 16K of RAM and 26K of ROM, where its OS- TI ROM Basic- resided.

The unit above is a redesign of the original TI-994/A when beige and plastic were becoming the traditional colors and cases of PCs...a trend obviously started by Apple Computer. Other features are a ROM expansion slot in the front, right portion (see pic# 1 & 2 above), a peripheral expansion slot on the right side of the unit (pic# 2), an audio/video output (pic# 3) - you use an RF modulator to hook it to your TV/monitor -and a joystick port (pic# 3)...yes, for games!

Introduced in 1981, the TI-99/4A, was, for a time, the best-selling PC in the U.S. market by the end of 1982. After suffering massive losses due to the very cut-throat PC market throughout the 80s, TI totally abandoned the PC market in 1993.

 

Texas Instruments - TI Compact Computer 40:

TI's first foray in the portable computer market in early 1983 was this sleek, 5.8" x 9.25" x 1", 1.4 lb (0.62 kg.) creation called the TI Compact Computer 40. Part calculator, part computer, this gadget can run for an amazing 200 hours -continuously powered - on four (4) ordinary AA batteries!

It is powered by TI's 2.5 mhz TMS70C20 CMOS 8-bit microprocessor with 34K of ROM where the CC-40 ROM BASIC resides. Although it lacked a built-in storage device or a port - where an external storage device can be hooked up such as cassette tapes or memory cards - it's Constant Memory feature can retain information stored in its paltry 6K of RAM even when the unit is turned off.

It also sported a 10-pin, peripheral port (pic# 3) called the Hex-Bus for hooking up proprietary Hex-Bus printers or modems or a parallel/RS-232 connector widget - so that you can use standard printers and modems. Extra memory as well as other pre-programmed cartridges (pic# 2) called Solid State Software- can be installed via the unit's cartridge port (pic #2). The clear LCD screen featured a 5x8 dot-matrix that scrolled to an 80-character line. It has a 65-key, "chiclet-style" QWERTY keyboard.

Due to very sluggish sales of the unit, it was discontinued in 1985.

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