Every once in a while I see an Intertec Superbrain come to auction and consider buying it. I was wondering what are the most popular, and the
most desirable (collectible?) CPM systems. I know the S-100 systems are
in a class by themselves. But I'm talking about the 'integrated
systems'. Like the Osbornes,Kaypros Superbrains, etc.
Does anyone track this sort of thing?
On Wed, 26 Feb 2025 11:31:04 -0600, John wrote:
Every once in a while I see an Intertec Superbrain come to auction and
consider buying it. I was wondering what are the most popular, and the
most desirable (collectible?) CPM systems. I know the S-100 systems are
in a class by themselves. But I'm talking about the 'integrated
systems'. Like the Osbornes,Kaypros Superbrains, etc.
Does anyone track this sort of thing?
I've never seen a list based on popularity.
Osborne sold well, until they sunk their own company.
Kaypro also did well until MS-DOS did them in.
Eagle is another one people seem to like, but it seems that many of those machines never made it into this era.
The problem is that CP/M machines were business machines. So even though they sold well, they didn't sell at the level of the TRS-80, for example. Also, the odds of us seeing one as kids was really low. I never saw a Kaypro, for example, "in the wild" when I was a kid. I saw ads for them, though.
I mention that last point because many of us collect the computers that we remember from when we were kids - either we used them or lusted over them.
For me it was just CP/M what I used. At home on TRS-80, later C128 and
after those emulations, some on micro-controllers, some on PCs. Not so
far ago a Z80-MBC2 joined my zoo, but launching an emulation just stays faster. At work I used more diverse hardware, but I only cared about
which one, when I had to transfer files between them because finding a compatible disk format instead of needing Kermit was like winning the lottery.
My nostalgia is attached to CP/M, instead of to a specific machine.
On Wed, 26 Feb 2025 11:31:04 -0600, John wrote:
Every once in a while I see an Intertec Superbrain come to auction and
consider buying it. I was wondering what are the most popular, and the
most desirable (collectible?) CPM systems. I know the S-100 systems are
in a class by themselves. But I'm talking about the 'integrated
systems'. Like the Osbornes,Kaypros Superbrains, etc.
Does anyone track this sort of thing?
I've never seen a list based on popularity.
Osborne sold well, until they sunk their own company.
Kaypro also did well until MS-DOS did them in.
Eagle is another one people seem to like, but it seems that many of those machines never made it into this era.
The problem is that CP/M machines were business machines. So even though they sold well, they didn't sell at the level of the TRS-80, for example. Also, the odds of us seeing one as kids was really low. I never saw a Kaypro, for example, "in the wild" when I was a kid. I saw ads for them, though.
I mention that last point because many of us collect the computers that we remember from when we were kids - either we used them or lusted over them.
But when I really started using computers was in college; and my
first was an Osborne 01. That started me down the CPM road. After
reading 'The Soul of CPM' book, I was on fire. Compared to what I
learned with the Osborne, I consider my college courses teaching me
the syntax of Fortran and Pascal to be a waste of time (and money!).
John <john@somewhere> writes:
But when I really started using computers was in college; and my
first was an Osborne 01. That started me down the CPM road. After
reading 'The Soul of CPM' book, I was on fire. Compared to what I
learned with the Osborne, I consider my college courses teaching me
the syntax of Fortran and Pascal to be a waste of time (and money!).
I got my first computer when I was in my mid-40s. In 1987 the O1 was
already obsolete. But I learned BASIC, Z80 assembler, K&R C and some
LISP on it, then used it as a terminal to connect to Unix and VMS
systems.
I'm really happy that I started with the O1. Extensive O1 and CPM documentation available, system simple enough to understand without
recursive rabbit-hole excursions. All Linux now on hardware that I
don't really understand but I do understand the basic principals it
all works on.
(I check in on c.o.cpm periodically to watch for other O1 fans.)
On 08 Mar 2025 02:53:09 -0400
Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:
My first works "PC" (shared) was a "SuperBrain" - you could get a
John <john@somewhere> writes:
But when I really started using computers was in college; and my
first was an Osborne 01. That started me down the CPM road. After
reading 'The Soul of CPM' book, I was on fire. Compared to what I
learned with the Osborne, I consider my college courses teaching me
the syntax of Fortran and Pascal to be a waste of time (and money!).
I got my first computer when I was in my mid-40s. In 1987 the O1 was
already obsolete. But I learned BASIC, Z80 assembler, K&R C and some
LISP on it, then used it as a terminal to connect to Unix and VMS
systems.
I'm really happy that I started with the O1. Extensive O1 and CPM
documentation available, system simple enough to understand without
recursive rabbit-hole excursions. All Linux now on hardware that I
don't really understand but I do understand the basic principals it
all works on.
(I check in on c.o.cpm periodically to watch for other O1 fans.)
floppy drive with Classic Adventure (Colossal Cave), IIRC. - Properly
it was used for SuperCalc spreadsheets.
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