Category: Hardware

The golden age of sound cards

Not all computers were created equal. Some were made for education, others for gaming, and IBM PC was designed for business. In 1981, the 5150 was introduced, the first model of what would become the ubiquitous architecture that we have all used. Its sound capabilities were mostly harmless.

However, over time, these computers swept everything aside. During their peak, Macintosh computers were a minority, and both the Amiga and Atari ST faded away. How did they fare in terms of sound to compete with them? It was the era of sound cards for PCs and compatibles.

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The most important computers in history

We often come across articles about famous computers and lists that include some very beautiful ones, those that sold well, or simply ones that the author likes a lot. Today, I want to present a list of those I consider most important from a technical innovation standpoint, the ones that truly advanced the industry with new features that set them apart from the rest.

It’s also true that a commercial success can lead to significant advancements, dragging others along, or simply have the merit of bringing them to the masses. Let’s take a look.

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Graphics cards of the IBM era

Not all computers were created equal. Some were born to educate, others for playing and in the case of the IBM PC it was for business. This has been already discussed in my famous article about golden age of sound cards. This time we will focus in the graphical aspect of the ancient and ubiquitous computer of the Big Blue. CGA, EGA, VGA… does it ring a bell to you?

Unlike contemporary home computers, PC architecture didn’t use an integrated graphics chipset, it would use expansion cards to undertake graphical tasks. This –along with its philosophy of a more-or-less open architecture– would result in many solutions coming into existence along its lifetime. I’ve devoured quite a lot of old computer magazine pages and thus my impressions.

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