Wang 3300 Computer
Compucolor II Tribute
Born before the era of the microprocessor, the Wang 2200 CPU was built using a couple hundred TTL chips spread over half a dozen boards, and housed in a heavy steel "suitcase." Its BASIC interpreter was written in microcode; there was no machine code that a user could access, unlike microcomputers that would come years later.
The first 2200 shipped in May, 1973. What made it an interesting machine was that it was clearly what one would now call a personal computer. Up until that time, programmers dealt with the large and impersonal mainframe computers, or perhaps programmed on terminals connected to mini-computers via serial lines. At the low end, there were programmable calculators, but these were limited and difficult to program.
The 2200, though, was something else. The machine had a capable BASIC interpreter in ROM, meaning it could be turned on and used within seconds. It was dedicated to the needs of a single person at any one time. The 64x16 CRT display made editing and running programs interactive and immediate, vs. the then-standard method of studying printouts on greenbar paper. The 2200 was also expandable; eventually nearly 100 different peripherals were developed for the system.
Wang 3300 Computer
Compucolor II Tribute