This is one of the oldest computers in my museum. It
was introduced in a time when most computers aimed at the
early home computer market were still sold to
consumers in kit form ( Altair, Imsia, Heath....).
Commodore was one of the first computer manufacturers to
introduce a non-kit computer ready to use out of the box
in 1977. This model is the 2nd in the 2001series released
in 1978 with the improved keyboard and increased memory
capacity( a whopping 32K! ). The PET,( an acronym for Personal
Electronic Transactor), was designed by Chuck
Peddle who
also designed the 6502 microprocessor used in many of the
computers of the period, including Apple, Atari, and Commodore
computers. The PET series of computers used a Datassette
model # 1530 as a mass storage device. It came equipped
with an attached 9" green phosphor screen and had
the unique ability to have it's cover raised like the
hood of a car for servicing the computer. The case on
earlier models was made of metal to be replaced by formed
plastic on later models.
The BASIC
language built into the
PET was actually
written by a rather small and obscure (at that time)
company called Microsoft. I read somewhere that the BASIC in the original PET was written by Bill
Gates' little
software company way back in 1977,
but Jack
Tramiel purchased it from Bill on a one-time
license to use it in his computers.
This means that they only had to
pay for BASIC versions that were written for the early PETS, and any future versions
rewritten by Commodore for
newer models of computers would not be subject to the
original license fee. So in a rare business blunder Bill
didn't acquire the rights for the revised versions
rewritten by Commodore for their later computer models.
There were literally millions of VIC's, 64's, and 128's
all using a version of Microsoft
BASIC and Bill didn't
get a penny in licensing fees. :)
This PET was added to the museum on
October 18, 1999. It was purchased through an auction on Ebay. My thanks to
Ron Kneusel,
who was the original owner, for selling this PET to me. I have this PET hooked to a VIC-1530
Datassette it now is
displayed in the new museum area located in my workshop. Visit the 'History
of the Museum' page to see the display.
