How RISC Based Computers Changed The World
Before the personal computer, most computing was done on mainframes. These massive computers cost millions of pounds to buy and maintain, making them impractical for the majority of businesses and individuals.
In response to this limitation, engineers began creating smaller computers that were cheaper, more user-friendly, and easier to deploy. These new machines also had much less expensive maintenance costs because they were simpler than mainframes.
In the following article we will talk about some of these RISC-based computers that influenced technology and the world in general.
Vax Computer
The VAX was an early leader in the world of RISC-based computers. It was manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation, which was one of the major players in the mainframe computer market.
Vax was Digital’s first attempt at creating a smaller, cheaper computer to compete with the likes of Apple, Commodore, and other home computer manufacturers. It was largely successful, as VAX computers were used heavily in universities throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
One of the reasons the VAX was so successful was because Digital designed it with reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architecture, which made it significantly faster than other computers of its era. This, along with its competitive price, made it a top choice for both educational and business settings.
Apricot Computer
The Apricot is a lesser-known computer compared to the ones listed above, but it was one of the first RISC-based computers. It was created in 1982 by the Apricot Computers Corporation, which was a startup company that quickly failed. Despite the fact that Apricot didn’t survive, the computer was a success. It was one of the first computers to use the RISC architecture, making it faster and less expensive to produce than other computers of its day.
The Apricot helped pave the way for the Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, and other early RISC-based computers that changed the computing world. However, the Apricot is most well known for being the computer that inspired Steve Wozniak to design the Apple Macintosh.
EDVAC Computer
The Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) is a computer that was designed by a committee of scientists in 1945. While the committee failed to produce a functioning machine, the concept of the computer is still important.
The committee designed EDVAC in an attempt to create a computer that integrated circuitry, software, and hardware into a single machine. If EDVAC had been successful, it would have been a major breakthrough in the history of computing.
Unfortunately, the design was too ambitious for it's time. It required integrated circuits (which had not yet been invented), a large number of vacuum tubes, and a fully programmable memory. In the end, the engineers on the committee were unable to create a working model.
However, some of its ideas were used in the design of other early computers. Notably, EDVAC had a fairly modern-looking architecture, including a combination of hardware and software. This architecture would later be implemented in computers like the Apricot and EDVAC’s successor, the VAX.
Commodore Computer
The Commodore computer was a major player in the home computer market during the 1980s and 1990s. Commodore was one of the first companies to create a personal computer designed for home use, and their computers set the standard for other companies in the space.
Commodore’s first computer was the Commodore PET, which was released in 1977 and is often called the first true personal computer. However, the PET was based on the Z80 microprocessor and was not a RISC-based computer like the later machines.
The Commodore 64, which was released in 1982, was one of the first RISC-based home computers. It had a MOS 6502 microprocessor, which was another RISC-based chip.
CoCo Computer
The Commodore 64 was a massive success, but there was a lot of competition in the home computer market. In 1982, a new computer was released that would compete with and eventually replace the Commodore 64 in many settings: the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 CoCo.
The CoCo was a RISC-based computer with a Z80-like microprocessor and a relatively advanced operating system. This allowed the computer to have impressive features, such as multiple windows and full-screen editing, when it was released.
Commodore was slow to respond to this competition, which allowed the CoCo to become a major force in the home computer market. While the CoCo eventually faded away, it is remembered as one of the first RISC-based computers and one of the primary players that drove Commodore out of the home computer market.
HP Computer
The HP computer was a RISC-based computer that was designed by Hewlett-Packard, one of the largest computer manufacturers at the time. They were designed as an alternative to other computers, such as the Apple computer that was gaining in popularity at the time.
They were designed to be smaller and less expensive than other computers. They were based on RISC architecture, making them much cheaper to produce than other computers.
HP computers were one of the first RISC-based computers that were widely used. They were a commercial success, and they helped to popularize RISC architecture.
MIPS Computer
The MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipelined Stages) architecture is another important RISC-based system. It was developed in the 1980s and became a standard architecture in the 1990s. It was originally designed to be a RISC-based computer architecture, but over time it was used in a wide variety of computer designs. In fact, it was one of the most commonly used computer architecture in the 1990s.
The popularity of the MIPS architecture was largely due to the licensing terms that allowed companies to create their own designs based on the architecture. This made it easy for designers to create their own computers, which helped to popularise it.
However, the MIPS architecture was not just used in whole-new computers. Many computer manufacturers used the MIPS architecture to replace their existing architecture. They did this as a way to reduce maintenance costs and switch to a more efficient design.
Conclusion
The computers listed in this article were all important predecessors to personal computers. They were powerful machines, at the time, that helped lay the foundation for modern computing.
The RISC architecture made these computers faster and more efficient than the computers of their day. However, it was not until the 1980s that RISC architecture was implemented in commercially successful computers.
These computers helped change the world by making computing more accessible and faster. They also had a significant impact on the technology we use today, such as the Intel processors that are used in nearly every computer.