30 years ago was just the begi ing

A new ba er on A le Computer's main page states that the first 30 years were just the begi ing. "Welcome to 2007," it tells us. We at TUAW like to look backwards as well as forwards. Here's a nostalgic peek back to 1976, to the A le-1. (Click the advertisement image to enlarge.)

It's been a long trip indeed from the A le-1, which was priced at an easy-to-remember $666.66. Compare and contrast today's widescreen di lays with the su ort (not monitor, just su ort) for 24 line x 40 character per line video output. The motherboard shi ed with 4 Kbytes of RAM, and you could put up to 8 KB of RAM on that baby, not to mention its su ort for FAST 1 Kilobaud ca ette tape storage (really, just about everything was an optional extra). And A le Basic was FREE! Oh, and did I mention that you had to build the kit yourself? More than "some a embly" required.

It's hard to believe that my iPod and Mac Mini come from the same company as the A le-1, separated by only thirty years.