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After 50 Years, Digital Voices Speak Again

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Instead, they were encoded in the grooves of a phonograph record bound inside the magazine. Due to their low cost, thin form factor, and pliability, flexi discs became the medium of choice for magazine publishers who wished to supplement articles with audio content. Recordings were not limited to musical performances.

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Inventing Postscript, the Tech That Took the Pain out of Printing

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The time was right because of the imminence of three hardware developments: the first low-cost, bit-mapped personal computer, the first low-cost laser printer, and a decline in price of high-density memory chips. Other page description languages are optimized for one of these purposes, not both.) 2, 1988, pp.

Design 106
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Flight Simulator Gave Birth to 3D Video-Game Graphics

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In 1977, he wrote an article for Kilobaud: The Small Computer Magazine describing the “Sublogic Three-Dimensional Micrographics Package” he had created, which brought 3D to microcomputers outfitted with the popular Motorola 6800 microprocessor. “It Microsoft worried that some consumers might view it as a low-cost PC alternative.

Building 142
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Designing the First Apple Macintosh: The Engineers’ Story

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make a low-cost “appliance”-type computer that would be as easy to use as a toaster. Jobs offered him a spot on the Macintosh team, Mr. Belleville was impatiently waiting for authorization from Xerox to proceed on a project he had proposed that was similar to the Macintosh—a low-cost version of the Star.

Design 119
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How the Graphical User Interface Was Invented

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In 1984, the low-cost Macintosh from Apple Computer Inc., But it was simple to interface with the computer: the processor just read frequent samples of the potentiometer positioning signals through analog-to-digital converters. Cupertino, Calif., brought the friendly interface to thousands of personal computer users.

Design 145
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How Ted Hoff Invented the First Microprocessor

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Busicom had hired Intel to develop a set of custom chips for a low-cost calculator and had sent three engineers to Santa Clara to work on the chip designs. In May 1971 an article in Datamation magazine mentioned the product, and the following November Intel produced its first ad for the 4004 CPU and placed it in Electronic News.

IDEA 122
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Creating the Commodore 64: The Engineers’ Story

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When the design of the Commodore 64 began, the overriding goals were simplicity and low cost. The initial production cost of the Commodore 64 was targeted at $130; it turned out to be $135. Computer magazines such as Creative Computing and Compute! review software and publish programs that run on the C-64.

Engine 118