So, looking this over, I really hope Ben Zotto checked to make sure that the name and logo weren't still owned by someone. It'd be a shame for someone doing good historical work to attacked by a random troll.
I got that vibe too. I wasn't alive in the 70's but I can only assume there were 50 different companies that built their own computer and "could have been Apple". From this link it's not clear what was different about them but it does seem like a cool dive into history
I was born 80 so it's a little before my time but pretty much.
Personal Computers where an absolutely gold rush once people realised it was "going to be the next big thing" lots of companies had to have a Computing Division even if it seemed a bit weird for that company to have an AI division, oops my bad Computing Division.
In reality what happened was the vast majority of them went splat in short order and a handful of makers reached market in volume and once software started for the ones who did it became self re-enforcing - people wrote software for machines that sold well because they had good software.
In my era/part of the world the PC wasn't even a thing at home for most people until the mid 90's, if you had a computer at home in the late 80's/early 90's it was going to be a ZX Spectrum/C64 or if your parents had money Atari ST/Amiga.
It was an exciting time in the 80's (once I was old enough to use computers) because the world hadn't yet consolidated on PC/Apple *and everyone else* off in the margins.
Somewhat related, if you like this stuff or early computers, Halt and Catch Fire is an amazing TV show that nails computing in the 80's into the early 90's.
So, looking this over, I really hope Ben Zotto checked to make sure that the name and logo weren't still owned by someone. It'd be a shame for someone doing good historical work to attacked by a random troll.
According to Wikipedia the company disappeared in 1975, so these trademarks are long since abandoned.
Missed opportunity for the virtual Sphere to work on mobile via the keyboard in the graphics!
It was the wrong shape for its name.
You may prefer the ABS Orb
https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5424/Orb-Computer-Th...
http://www.vintage-icl-computers.com/icl53t
I had never heard of them before but immediately thought: “I love it, what a cool name!”. Sphere and computer feels like such a juxtaposition
Dupe https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45662284
They could have been the Apple!
I got that vibe too. I wasn't alive in the 70's but I can only assume there were 50 different companies that built their own computer and "could have been Apple". From this link it's not clear what was different about them but it does seem like a cool dive into history
I was born 80 so it's a little before my time but pretty much.
Personal Computers where an absolutely gold rush once people realised it was "going to be the next big thing" lots of companies had to have a Computing Division even if it seemed a bit weird for that company to have an AI division, oops my bad Computing Division.
In reality what happened was the vast majority of them went splat in short order and a handful of makers reached market in volume and once software started for the ones who did it became self re-enforcing - people wrote software for machines that sold well because they had good software.
In my era/part of the world the PC wasn't even a thing at home for most people until the mid 90's, if you had a computer at home in the late 80's/early 90's it was going to be a ZX Spectrum/C64 or if your parents had money Atari ST/Amiga.
It was an exciting time in the 80's (once I was old enough to use computers) because the world hadn't yet consolidated on PC/Apple *and everyone else* off in the margins.
Somewhat related, if you like this stuff or early computers, Halt and Catch Fire is an amazing TV show that nails computing in the 80's into the early 90's.
According to a Steve Jobs interview, it was VisiCalc driving Apple II sales that set them apart from competitors.