Digital Group Advert - April 1978
From Byte - The Small Systems Journal
Tomorrow's computer here today: The Bytemaster
The Bytemaster - or perhaps more correctly the Mini Bytemaster - was the last computer to be designed by the Digital Group, of Denver, Colorado, before the company's collapse in 1979.
It was based around the company's previous Z80 machine, which was the first to have made use of the popular microprocessor of the same name. Apparently though, only a few dozen of the machines were ever made[1].
It was also much bigger than it looked: other luggables such as 1984's SX-64 or the Osborne 1 from 1982 were built around tiny 4" or 5" monitors, whereas this is a 9" screen - the same size as the contemporary full-sized Commodore PET.
The advert shows a model with a Shugart 5¼" minifloppy unit, perhaps unwisely sited right next to a source of strong electromagnetic radiation. However, there was also a cassett-tape-based version which was available as a kit at $1,995 - about £9,770 in 2024 money.
Date created: 27 December 2023
Sources
Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2024. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.
