Only because I thought it would be funny to hear ChatGPT's wrong answer. Here is ChatGPT's answer on the first personal computer.
ME> What was the first personal computer? ChatGPT> The first personal computer is a bit of a debated topic, but one of the earliest and most influential examples is the Altair 8800, released in 1975. It was developed by a company called MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). The Altair 8800 was a build-it-yourself kit based on the Intel 8080 microprocessor, and it featured toggle switches and LED lights for input and output. This computer is often credited with sparking the microcomputer revolution and inspiring a generation of computer enthusiasts, including a young Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who famously developed a version of the BASIC programming language for the Altair. (Pouring gas on the fire, but thought it was funny.) On Tue, May 28, 2024 at 1:23 PM Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk < cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > Could this be the answer to the question we have been studying? > > https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cleaning-crew-discovers-one-worlds-oldest-surviving-desktop-computers-180984399/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0XLQ55t9rqdmPmIZ2G9wnk5PQyQBAPgIldqyWY1aSBSumxmnIxxj1pKB8_aem_AYsP2xUVa1G4_zU9npLd2aOC1SSXE13QtKIpVwLXoSfmIprnTqf2pwotD3ZeGgUwtxN5ggJxhF9_IcL815ePnMlO > > cheers, > Nigel > > > On 2024-05-28 13:45, Nigel Johnson Ham wrote: > > > > In line with my memories completely, Tony, although I was just a wee > > sapling back then. > > > > It is also where the terms 'A', 'B' and 'C' supplies come from, since > > there were three batteries per radio, grid bias, HT, and heaters. The > > grid bias battery lasted a long time since there was very little > > current drawn. > > > > And I have fond memories of learning to play the piano by gaslight, > > since the elderly spinster piano teacher and her mother refused to let > > the house be connected to the electric mains as they were afraid of it! > > > > Then of course there was the Ronan Point gas explosion which blew out > > a whole floor of a high-rise building in London that might have > > changed people's minds! > > > > 73 de Nigel ve3id > > > > > > > > On 2024-05-28 13:17, Tony Duell via cctalk wrote: > >> On Tue, May 28, 2024 at 6:06 PM ben<bfranc...@jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: > >> > >>> Just what is a gas radio? > >> A radio that runs off gas rather than plugging into the electricity > mains. > >> > >> Let me explain. The main use for either gas or electriciy in UK homes > >> until the mid 1920s was heating (including cooking) and light. Both > >> energy sources could easily be used for that. But then a large number > >> of electric appliances using motors started to appear, along with > >> other things, like radios that ran off the electricity mains (rather > >> than a dry battery for the HT supply (B+) and a single-cell lead acid > >> accumulator for the valve filaments). > >> > >> The gas supply companies were worried they would lose business as a > >> result and designed gas powered version of all the mains electrical > >> devices. One classis was the table fan which had a small Stirling-type > >> hot air engine to turn the blades. There was of course a little gas > >> burner to run the engine. The only problem was the heat of the flame > >> rather negated the cooling effect of the fan. > >> > >> Anyway, the gas radio. This was a wooden floor-standing console > >> cabinet looking like most other radios of the time. The bit I > >> repaired (for a museum, where I understood it would be run off a > >> normal electrical power supply for obvious reasons) was the radio > >> which was a normal-for-the time 3 or 4 valve (tube) set. There was a > >> speaker in the cabinet too. At the bottom was the power supply. This > >> consisted of a gas burner with a thermopile (array of thermocouple > >> junctions) on top to provide the valve filament and HT voltages. > >> > >> There was no flue. The combustion products were simply vented into the > >> room, And yes the gas burner was inside the wooden console cabinet, so > >> it was something of a fire risk to be polite about it. > >> > >> AFAIK they were never sold to the public, thankfully. > >> > >> -tony > >> > >> > > -- > > Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU > > Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! > > Skype: TILBURY2591 > > > > > > -- > Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU > Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! > Skype: TILBURY2591 > >
