Talk:Datapoint 2200

KB instead of KiB?

Why wasn't that correct? I noticed someone made the change from KB to KiB here a while ago then it was rejected. Let's GET some consensus on this, folks! mike4ty4 (talk) 00:41, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

For RAM KiB and KB are equivalent even in 2008. Any article referring to KB of RAM on computers prior to 1995 are all using 1024 bytes and there is no confusion. Don't know of any machines with KB's of RAM after 1995 but if you find some embedded systems with KB I'm pretty sure it's 1024. KB is historically accurate for the description of RAM on this machine and no need to revise for historic reasons. Alatari (talk) 15:45, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Size difference i8008 motherboard to discrete motherboard

Supposedly, the difference between using the intel 8008 and Datapoint's discrete TTL implementation is an 8x11 motherboard and an 11x14 motherboard. The supporting logical required for the intel 8008 being a notable size cost. 131.107.0.73 (talk) 17:36, 19 May 2011 (UTC)HenriS

If this could be doucmented it might be worth noting either in this article or in the 8008 article. But the board size doesn't appear to be the reason the 8008 wasn't used. --Wtshymanski (talk) 20:47, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

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Programmability wasn't a secret

The article says "It was presented by CTC simply as a versatile and cost-efficient terminal... However, enterprising users... realized that this so-called "programmable terminal" was equipped to perform any task a simple computer could."

Leaving aside the self-contradiction there ("simply (a) terminal" vs. "so-called programmable terminal"), the implication is that CTC tried to hide the programmability of the system, but somehow customers figured it out. In fact, the marketing of the system featured its programmability from the beginning.

The system documentation, for example, included a programmer's reference manual at least as early as August 1971. That edition included a program listing for the in-ROM boot loader dated "02/05/71". [1]

Microcomputer companies of the day, including HP, simply didn't want confuse buyers used to the notion that a "computer" was a huge expensive thing. HP, for example, referred to its BASIC-programmable 9830 as a "calculator," but of course it didn't try to hide the fact that it had BASIC in ROM, supported multiple peripherals including tape storage, and so on.

It wasn't just a matter of "confused buyers." Sometimes it was institutional policy. If you worked for a university or a large corporation, and you wanted to purchase a "computer," it was might automatically be classified as capital equipment. Getting approval to purchase a "calculator" for the exact same price could be much easier. 173.75.33.51 (talk) 19:16, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

The story of the Datapoint 2200 is impressive enough without misleading embellishments. 73.92.193.211 (talk) 02:00, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

"Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer", by Lamont Wood, appears to indicate that the initial marketing was mainly as a terminal that could run any of a number of emulators, but that a CTC salesperson, Dave Gust, got the idea of marketing it to Pillsbury as a computer they could use at their chicken farms to process payrolls, after which CTC decided to sell it as a computer. (It also says they'd developed an ad to sell it as a computer, but they ran out of money and couldn't run it.) I've updated the article, using that book as a reference. Guy Harris (talk) 22:02, 14 September 2019 (UTC)