Home printing became remarkably more affordable and advanced in 1993, thanks to the introduction of the Epson Stylus 800. This printer was the first in Epson’s inkjet line, and some of the technology applied in this system is still used in today’s Stylus line.
This printer greatly improved the quality and speed of printing available to personal use seeking consumers. As far as quality, this printer was capable of 360 dpi. At this level, the output rivaled the quality of far more expensive laser printers. Regarding speed, users were treated to performance equaling 180 characters per second. Not only was this faster than its dot matrix predecessors, it was also much quieter.
Since this system was aimed at personal use, it printed on A4 size paper. The most important technical aspect of the printer was the print head. It did not use heat (like other models of the time) and never needed to be replaced. As such, cost effectiveness was also a big selling point for this unit.
Due to the unique heatless print head, Epson was afforded flexibility in its ink formulation. The options available served as a precursor to the possibility of inkjet color printing. In fact, this model directly led to Epson’s first color inkjet printer the following year.
Those of us who remember spending countless hours flying our virtual planes or jets with our keyboards, on such programs as Microsoft Flight Simulator or Falcon 3.0, certainly also recall yearning for a quality joystick. A thirty degree bank to the right made by holding down an arrow key just doesn’t feel the same as the same maneuver initiated by the tilt of a joystick. This lack of continuity led me on a search for my first computer joystick.
Being a long time arcade and console gamer, I was no stranger to this form of user input. This experience caused me to be rather picky when it came to buying my new device. Many models seemed flimsy and lacked the features I required. However, one model stood out above the crowd: the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro.
The 3D Pro was both digital and analog. The digital mode addressed drift issues that were typical in older analog designs, but this mode required software that did not support most DOS based games. The controller offered eight buttons, a hat switch (great for changing views in flight simulators), and a throttle slider. Additionally, the stick itself twisted to support yaw controls in select games. Since this model was fully programmable through Windows based software, it was an excellent choice for all genres of games. However, I found it most effective when I found myself in a virtual dogfight.
Apple made its foray into the world of mobile computing in 1989 with the Macintosh Portable. This fully self-contained unit housed a black and white active-matrix LCD screen, the CPU, battery, a 3 ½ floppy disk drive, full keyboard, and a trackball. Additionally, an internal hard drive and an internal modem were both available. This computer ran at an extremely fast (for the time) 16 MHz and came with 1 MB of RAM onboard. The memory was expandable to 9 MB by means of a single expansion slot.
The early years of mobile computing actually offered a lot of features we would probably like to see in more modern hardware. For example, the battery life on the Macintosh Portable reached an amazing ten hours! Even with the most conservative energy settings, it is difficult to find a contemporary system offering half of that battery life. Of course, with the sealed lead-acid design of the Macintosh Portable’s batteries, the system did suffer from a nearly sixteen pound weight statistic. That is a far cry from the new MacBook Air’s three pounds!
Unfortunately for Apple, this model was not a commercial success. The primary complaints addressed poor viewing ability in low light conditions and long term battery issues. Regardless, the company’s efforts in this early model led the way for the future of mobile computing.
In 1988, Apple launched the final version of its Apple II series, the Apple IIc Plus. This model offered a number of improvements over its predecessors. Gone was the 5¼ inch floppy disk drive, as it was replaced by the higher capacity 3½ inch floppy drive. Not only did this drive offer 800 KB of storage, but it operated at significantly faster speeds than the 5¼ drive. Additionally, Apple eliminated the external power source, which on previous models had resembled a brick attached to the power cord (similar to smaller versions seen on notebook computers today). It was moved into the compact computer case, which also housed the keyboard. This keyboard was also changed from previous models; it matched the layout of Apple’s Macintosh line.
Out of the box, the Apple IIc Plus ran at 4 MHz and ran 8-bit Apple II software. The speed was user adjustable to 1MHz, primarily for the purpose of running older software such as games. The onboard memory was a dedicated 8 KB static RAM buffer. An expansion slot permitted a 1 MB memory upgrade.
This computer was only produced for a two year run before being discontinued. After ending the Apple II line, the company focused on it Macintosh line, which was originally introduced in 1984.