Microcomputer interfacing—past developments, possible ways forward

Abstract

This year marks the tenth anniversary in Britain of the first microcomputer interface for schools. This was a Commodore device, which had four digital inputs and four digital outputs and ran from the user port of the PET 2001 microcomputer via a set of simple control programs. The PET 2001 itself had 8K of RAM, its screen resolution was 4000 dots and it stored programs on cassette tape.