🎄💾🗓️ Day 8: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Commodore PET 🎄💾🗓️
The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) came out in 1977 and was among the earliest personal computers - featuring an all-in-one design with a keyboard, monochrome monitor, and cassette deck - all within a single chassis. Powered by an MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, it had 4 KB of RAM and was expandable up to 96 KB in later models. The PET had Commodore BASIC stored in ROM, allowing users to write and execute programs directly. Its display supported text resolutions of 40×25 or 80×25 characters, using the PETSCII character set for semigraphic capabilities. While early models did not have sound, later versions included a basic beeper. PET's all-in-one design and user-friendly interface contributed to its popularity in education and business, and it sold approximately 219,000 units before its discontinuation in 1982.
Check out the wikipedia page for some extended history and great photos -
Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!
