Mark-8
Encyclopedia
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
design from 1974, based on the Intel 8008
Intel 8008
The Intel 8008 was an early byte-oriented microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and introduced in April 1972. It was an 8-bit CPU with an external 14-bit address bus that could address 16KB of memory...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
(which was the world's first 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
microprocessor). The Mark-8 was designed by graduate student Jonathan Titus and announced as a 'loose kit' in the July 1974 issue of Radio-Electronics
Radio-Electronics
Radio-Electronics was an American electronics magazine that was published under various titles from 1929 to 2003. Hugo Gernsback started it as Radio-Craft in July 1929. The title was changed to Radio-Electronics in October 1948 and again to Electronics Now in July 1992. In January 2000 it was...
magazine.
Project kit
The Mark-8 was introduced as a 'build it yourself' project in Radio-Electronicss July 1974 cover article, offering a US$5 booklet containing circuit board layouts and DIYDo it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
construction project descriptions, with Titus himself arranging for $50 circuit board sets to be made by a New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
company for delivery to hobbyists. Prospective Mark-8 builders had to gather the various electronics parts themselves from a number of different sources.A couple of thousand booklets and some hundred circuit board sets were eventually sold.
The Mark-8 was introduced in R-E as "Your Personal Minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
". This may be readily understood considering that the microcomputer revolution
Microcomputer revolution
The microcomputer revolution is a phrase used to describe the rapid advances of microprocessor-based computers from esoteric hobby projects to a commonplace fixture of homes in industrial societies...
had yet to happen; the word 'microcomputer' was still far from being common fare. Thus, in their announcement of their computer kit, the editors quite naturally placed the Mark-8 in the same category as the era's other 'minisize' computers.
Influences
Although not very commercially successful, the Mark-8 prompted the editors of Popular ElectronicsPopular Electronics
Popular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
magazine to consider publishing a similar but more easily accessible microcomputer project, and just six months later, in January 1975, they went through with their plans announcing the Altair 8800
Altair 8800
The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...
.
See also
- Radio-ElectronicsRadio-ElectronicsRadio-Electronics was an American electronics magazine that was published under various titles from 1929 to 2003. Hugo Gernsback started it as Radio-Craft in July 1929. The title was changed to Radio-Electronics in October 1948 and again to Electronics Now in July 1992. In January 2000 it was...
- Popular ElectronicsPopular ElectronicsPopular Electronics was an American magazine started by Ziff-Davis Publishing in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". The circulation was 240,151 in April 1957 and 400,000 by 1963. Ziff-Davis published Popular...
- MicrocomputerMicrocomputerA microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
- MinicomputerMinicomputerA minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
- Altair 8800Altair 8800The MITS Altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold by mail order through advertisements in Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics and other hobbyist magazines. The designers hoped to sell only a few hundred build-it-yourself kits to hobbyists, and were...
External links
- The Mark-8 Minicomputer – a web page by Andrew Davie with Jonathan Titus' own description of the Mark-8 project (dead link)
- Mark-8 Minicomputer – an original Mark-8, restored to working condition
- A Mark-8 Experience – Terry Ritter's detailed memoir of building and running a Mark-8 in 1974.
- Der Mark 8 Minicomputer – written by Andreas Reichel, he built his own mark 8 in the year 2005
- Collection of old analog and digital computers at www.oldcomputermuseum.com
- http://www.floydcountyvirginia.org/directory/user_media/documents/226.pdf Roys Justus makes a copy of Mark-8 as it is in the Smithsonian