1977
1940
TODAY
Cromemco Z-2
Introduced: 1977
Price: $595 kit, $995 assembled
CPU: 4MHz Zilog Z80
Cromemco was founded by Roger Melen and Harry Garland, two Stanford students living in Crowthers Memorial Hall, from which they took the company name. They bought one of the first Altairs and began making accessory boards for it and other S-100 computers. Two of their earliest products were a video camera interface and a television output interface. In 1976 they introduced their Z-1 computer, built mostly from Cromemco boards plugged into an IMSAI 8080 box. Its successor, the Z-2, was all Cromemco. It was a very rugged, rack-mountable computer designed as part of a system, and it became very popular in scientific and industrial applications.
In 1979 Cromemco introduced a multi-user operating system based on UNIX called CROMIX.
Price: $595 kit, $995 assembled
CPU: 4MHz Zilog Z80
Cromemco was founded by Roger Melen and Harry Garland, two Stanford students living in Crowthers Memorial Hall, from which they took the company name. They bought one of the first Altairs and began making accessory boards for it and other S-100 computers. Two of their earliest products were a video camera interface and a television output interface. In 1976 they introduced their Z-1 computer, built mostly from Cromemco boards plugged into an IMSAI 8080 box. Its successor, the Z-2, was all Cromemco. It was a very rugged, rack-mountable computer designed as part of a system, and it became very popular in scientific and industrial applications.
In 1979 Cromemco introduced a multi-user operating system based on UNIX called CROMIX.
Related Links
Lee Felsenstein and the Homebrew Computer Club
Links to information on the club and one of its most prominent members.
Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member
Bob Lash remembers what it was like when computers were new.
CROMEMCO Computing
The Cromemco Computing exhibit at the Stanford University Gates Computer Science Building Museum.
Links to information on the club and one of its most prominent members.
Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member
Bob Lash remembers what it was like when computers were new.
CROMEMCO Computing
The Cromemco Computing exhibit at the Stanford University Gates Computer Science Building Museum.
Cromemco Z-2 is currently on display in the Rise of the Machines section of the STARTUP Gallery. Click on the map to explore the whole gallery.
