As much as I love vintage computers, even I still learn something new all the time.

I just learned of the Sphere 1 "personal" computer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_1

I don't know much about it, but according to the "never wrong" Wikipedia article, it beat Apple by about a year. The Apple 1 sold for $666.66 and the Sphere 1 in a usable, assembled form sold for $860 ($1400 assembled).

The Apple 1 user still had a bit of work to get their cheaper computer running...like a case and TV. So I don't see it as exponentially cheaper like most people believe.

Don't get me wrong, I ADORE early Apple computers...but why isn't Sphere mentioned more often? Am I missing something?

Or does it literally all come down to Steve Job's ability to make people believe something that isn't true (Reality Distortion Field).

I mean, I was under the impression that the Apple 1 and even Apple II were pricey...but, the next best thing would be astronomically more expensive (not counting the PET and TRS-80).

What are your thoughts?

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Cat; the other white meat.

Reams of material have been written on the question of what the "first personal computer" was, and it largely depends on who you're asking and what your criteria are, and loads of machines get overlooked for all sorts of reasons.

Personally, I'd give the title to one of the early minicomputers intended for interactive use by a single operator - particularly the PDP-1.

I think it's just that both the Apple I and the Sphere were completely upstaged by the Apple II. The Apple I is remembered as the older sibling of the Apple II, which was produced in various forms for 14 years or so. I don't think Sphere ever managed to sell enough computers to become a household name.

It also seems that Sphere had problems getting some form of BASIC running (see http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/sphere/newsletter/V1N1_Nov75.pdf). It is likely that this limited the appeal of the Sphere (as it did for the the Apple I).

I note the Sphere was a 6800 machine - if it had been 6502 that would have been big news! I think the Jolt at least predated the Apple 1.

I find it more interesting to learn about all the early systems, in preference to worrying about their respective claims to being some kind of first. There's an index at
http://oldcomputers.net/indexwp.html
but like all of these, it's neither exhaustive or definitive.

Yeah, I just find the history fascinating. It really does depend on what metrics you subscribe to. Things like cost, units sold, etc. all factor in.

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Cat; the other white meat.

Yeah, it's hard to tell about some of the firsts. Like the AIM-65. Wikipedia said it came out in 1978 but Old Computers say 1976.

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Cat; the other white meat.

Well, we had AIM-65 computers at the school lab in 1978.. in Norway. So I'm inclined to believe the 1976 claim more than the 1978 claim, for the introduction in the U.S.
(I remember hunting for early ads in old magazines a few years back, but I don't remember what I found - I should have it written down somewhere though.)

I have issue number 2 of Byte magazine. Circa 1975, IIRC. I have several other magazines from the late 70's and early 80's. I love reading through those and seeing what computers and peripherals were being sold. The prices (after conversion to 2017 values) always make me chuckle.

However, it's hard to tell what was actually available vs. what was being sold. It was quite common for companies to basically take "pre-orders" and never deliver or deliver very late.

So it's one thing to finish a prototype...it's quite another to sell and ship several thousand of them.

However, I believe there were several models that shipped before the Apple II and even the Apple I. I guess they just didn't get the fanfare Apple got.

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Cat; the other white meat.