Photos: Historic PCs

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  • Chuck Colby

    Chuck Colby

    At the Vintage Computer Festival, which played host to the Homebrew Computer Club's 30th anniversary, Chuck Colby shows a display of what he describes as the first IBM clone motherboard, which he introduced to Homebrew in 1982.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Chuck Colby computer

    Chuck Colby computer

    Chuck Colby's company built and sold this portable, battery-powered computer running the Mac operating system in 1987, several years before Apple Computer produced its own laptop.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • WalkMac

    WalkMac

    Initially called the WalkMac (until Sony objected to the name), this portable weighed about 14.5 pounds and cost about $3,000 to $4,500 in the late 1980s and '90s. The Colby WalkMac included a simple, useful device that's missing from today's laptops: a handle.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • SWTPC 6800

    SWTPC 6800

    The SWTPC 6800 was built by Southwest Technical Products. It cost $400 in kit form in 1976 and used a Motorola 6800 processor running at 1MHz.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • IMSAI 8080

    IMSAI 8080

    The IMSAI 8080, popular with computer hobbyists in the late 1970s, played a central role in the 1983 movie "WarGames."

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Compucolor II

    Compucolor II

    The Compucolor II, introduced in 1977, featured a computer built into the chassis of a 13-inch television and is considered the first color personal computer. It used an Intel 8080A processor and accepted floppy disks through the door to the right of the screen.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • SBC6120

    SBC6120

    This SBC6120 is a functional replica of the DEC PDP-8 minicomputer.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Kenbak-1

    Kenbak-1

    The Kenbak-1 is considered the first personal computer.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Kenbak-1

    Kenbak-1

    When introduced in 1971, the Kenbak-1 cost $750. Only about 40 were sold before the company shut down two years later.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Kenbak-1

    Kenbak-1

    The Kenbak-1, which did not use a microprocessor, was marketed through Scientific American magazine.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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At the Vintage Computer Festival, which played host to the Homebrew Computer Club's 30th anniversary, a look at yesterday's computers.

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Chuck Colby

At the Vintage Computer Festival, which played host to the Homebrew Computer Club's 30th anniversary, Chuck Colby shows a display of what he describes as the first IBM clone motherboard, which he introduced to Homebrew in 1982.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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