Back داتابوينت 2200 Arabic Datapoint 2200 Catalan Datapoint 2200 Czech Datapoint 2200 German Datapoint 2200 Esperanto Datapoint 2200 Spanish Datapoint 2200 Finnish Datapoint 2200 French Datapoint 2200 Croatian Datapoint 2200 Hungarian
 Datapoint 2200 computer | |
| Manufacturer | Computer Terminal Corporation |
|---|---|
| Type | Intelligent terminal, personal computer |
| Release date | May 1970 |
| Discontinued | 1979[1] |
| Operating system | Datapoint O/S |
| CPU | serial, discrete logic implementation of the Intel 8008 instruction set |
| Memory | 2 KB standard; expandable to 16 KB |
| Display | Text only, 80×12 characters |
The Datapoint 2200 was a mass-produced programmable terminal usable as a computer, designed by Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC) founders Phil Ray and Gus Roche[2] and announced by CTC in June 1970 (with units shipping in 1971). It was initially presented by CTC as a versatile and cost-efficient terminal for connecting to a wide variety of mainframes by loading various terminal emulations from tape rather than being hardwired as most contemporary terminals, including their earlier Datapoint 3300.[3]
Dave Gust, a CTC salesman, realized that the 2200 could meet Pillsbury Foods's need for a small computer in the field, after which the 2200 was marketed as a stand-alone computer.[3] Its industrial designer John "Jack" Frassanito has later claimed that Ray and Roche always intended the Datapoint 2200 to be a full-blown personal computer, but that they chose to keep quiet about this so as not to concern investors and others.[2][4]
The terminal's multi-chip CPU (processor)'s instruction set became the basis of the Intel 8008 instruction set, which inspired the Intel 8080 instruction set and the x86 instruction set used in the processors for the original IBM PC and its descendants.
- ^ "Datapoint Corporation Datapoint 2200". OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum.
- ^ a b Wood, Lamont (August 8, 2008). "Forgotten PC history: The true origins of the personal computer". Computerworld.
- ^ a b Wood, Lamont (2013). Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer. Hugo House Publishers, Ltd. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9781936449361.
- ^ Weinkrantz, Allen (June 2, 2009). "San Antonio Has Claim As The Birthplace of the Personal Computer. Read All About It". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.