Sphere 1

The Sphere 1 was a personal computer completed in 1975 by Michael Donald Wise and Monroe Tyler of Sphere Corporation, of Bountiful, Utah.[9] The Sphere 1 featured a Motorola 6800 CPU, onboard ROM, a full-sized CRT monitor, 4 KB of RAM, and a keyboard with a numeric keypad.

Sphere 1
1976 Sphere Computer Advertisement[1]
DeveloperMichael Donald Wise[2][3][4]
ManufacturerSphere Corporation[5][6]
Release date1975 (1975)
Introductory priceUS$860 (Kit:Sphere 1)
Discontinued1977[7][8]
Units sold1,300
Operating system"PDS" 1 KB Basic
CPUMotorola 6800
Memory4 KB of RAM (Expandable to 64 KB), 1 KB PROM
Display16 lines x 32 characters, CRT monitor
Inputkeyboard with a numeric keypad

The Sphere 1 was among the earliest complete all-in-one microcomputers that could be plugged in, turned on, and was fully functional.[10] Michael touted it as the first "true PC" because it had a keyboard, a number pad, a monitor, external storage, and did not run on a punch tape. In this respect, it is pre-dated by the 1973 MCM/70, among others, but the Sphere included a full-sized display that these generally lacked. When BYTE Magazine did its annual history of the computer, it always included Sphere 1, showing that prior microcomputers lacked the user I/O interface built into the Sphere 1.

The Sphere 1 also included a keyboard-operated reset feature consisting of two keys wired in series that sent a reset signal to the CPU triggering a hard reboot. Wise considered this to be the first keyboard activated reset – a predecessor to the now-common Control-Alt-Delete combination.[11][12]

It is not clear how many systems were sold; production models were sent to computer stores, but the company disappeared shortly thereafter.

References
  1. Sphere Corporation (January 1976). "Go Computer Now!". Byte. Vol. 1, no. 5. p. 23. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. Michael Donald "Mike" Wise (1949–2002), Find A Grave Memorial
  3. "Splore - About:Michael D. Wise, the founder of Splor". Archived from the original on April 11, 2004. Retrieved 2017-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "Sphere 1".
  5. sphere :: newsletter :: V1N1 Nov75, November 1975
  6. sphere :: newsletter :: V1N2 Apr76, April 1976, Internet Archive
  7. SOLOMON'S MEMORY, by Les Solomon, Digital Deli The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy, by The Lunch Group & Guests, Edited by Steve Ditlea, published 1984, The 1977 First West Coast Computer Faire.... Outside the Brooks Hall site of the show was parked a small van containing Mike Wise and his unique computer from the Sphere Company located in Bountiful, Utah. The one thing we remember about the Sphere was that its BASIC was s-l-o-w. Real s-l-o-w! The Sphere computer was never seen again: it was advertised and a couple were even delivered to computer stores, but very soon Sphere vanished from the face of the earth-a fate shared by many other pioneering computer models.
  8. The Sphere 1., by Early Computers Project, The Sphere Corporation put out a newsletter entitled, "Global News"
  9. Sphere Corporation (September 1975). "The Computer "System" Concept". Byte. No. 1. pp. 94–95. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. David H. Ahl. "The first decade of personal computing". CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 10, NO. 11 / NOVEMBER 1984 / PAGE 30. Retrieved 2020-12-14. You may think that the Apple II (1977) was the first integrated computer. Not so; the Sphere computer (1975) designed by Mike Wise contained the processor, keyboard, and display all in a case that looked very much like a Hazeltine terminal or TRS-80 Model III.
  11. "Vintage Computer Festival - Featured Speaker". Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  12. Vintage Sphere Computer at the "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum", 2013-03-10
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