Sphere 1

The Sphere I was a personal computer completed in 1975 by Michael Donald Wise and Monroe Tyler of Sphere Corporation, of Bountiful, Utah.[9] The Sphere I featured a Motorola 6800 CPU, onboard ROM, a full-sized CRT monitor, 4 KB of RAM, and a keyboard with a numeric keypad.

Sphere I
1976 Sphere Computer Advertisement[1]
DeveloperMichael Donald Wise[2][3][4]
ManufacturerSphere Corporation[5][6]
Release date1975 (1975)
Introductory priceUS$860 (Kit:Sphere 1)
Discontinued1977[7][8]
Units sold1,300
Operating system"PDS" 1 KB Basic
CPUMotorola 6800
Memory4 KB of RAM (Expandable to 64 KB), 1 KB PROM
Display16 lines x 32 characters, CRT monitor
Inputkeyboard with a numeric keypad

The Sphere I was among the earliest complete all-in-one microcomputers that could be plugged in, turned on, and was fully functional.[10] Michael touted it as the first "true PC" because it had a keyboard, a number pad, a monitor, external storage, and did not run on a punch tape. In this respect, it is pre-dated by the 1973 MCM/70, among others, but the Sphere included a full-sized display that these generally lacked. When Byte Magazine did its annual history of the computer, it always included Sphere 1, showing that prior microcomputers lacked the user I/O interface built into the Sphere I.

The Sphere 1 also included a keyboard-operated reset feature consisting of two keys wired in series that sent a reset signal to the CPU triggering a hard reboot. Wise considered this to be the first keyboard activated reset – a predecessor to the now-common Control-Alt-Delete combination.[11][12]

It is not clear how many systems were sold; production models were sent to computer stores, but the company disappeared shortly thereafter.

References
  1. Byte Magazine, Volume 1 Issue 5, January 1976
  2. Michael Donald "Mike" Wise (1949–2002), Find A Grave Memorial
  3. "Splore - About:Michael D. Wise, the founder of Splor". Archived from the original on April 11, 2004. Retrieved 2017-07-11.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?25740-Sphere-1
  5. sphere :: newsletter :: V1N1 Nov75, November 1975
  6. sphere :: newsletter :: V1N2 Apr76, April 1976, Internet Archive
  7. SOLOMON'S MEMORY, by Les Solomon, Digital Deli The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy, by The Lunch Group & Guests, Edited by Steve Ditlea, published 1984, The 1977 First West Coast Computer Faire.... Outside the Brooks Hall site of the show was parked a small van containing Mike Wise and his unique computer from the Sphere Company located in Bountiful, Utah. The one thing we remember about the Sphere was that its BASIC was s-l-o-w. Real s-l-o-w! The Sphere computer was never seen again: it was advertised and a couple were even delivered to computer stores, but very soon Sphere vanished from the face of the earth-a fate shared by many other pioneering computer models.
  8. The Sphere 1., by Early Computers Project, The Sphere Corporation put out a newsletter entitled, "Global News"
  9. Sphere Advertisement (pages 94–95), Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 01, Published September 1975, Internet Archive
  10. David H. Ahl. "The first decade of personal computing". CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 10, NO. 11 / NOVEMBER 1984 / PAGE 30. Retrieved 2020-12-14. You may think that the Apple II (1977) was the first integrated computer. Not so; the Sphere computer (1975) designed by Mike Wise contained the processor, keyboard, and display all in a case that looked very much like a Hazeltine terminal or TRS-80 Model III.
  11. "Vintage Computer Festival - Featured Speaker". Archived from the original on 2012-02-06. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
  12. Vintage Sphere Computer at the "Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum", 2013-03-10
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