A few examples of the ABC-24 and ABC-26 desktop PCs exist in collections in Australia, Germany and UK. Those involved with these collections have recently become aware of each other.
Information about these systems is limited. Hence, this post is a request for those who are familiar with museums and repositories in Japan to contribute to the search for documentation and disks. The 'Ai' in the company name makes it challenging to search among the avalanche of recent references to 'Artificial Intelligence'.
Ai Electronics originated in 1962 with minicomputer products. The company offered 'micro' PCs based on the Intel 8080 (1975). It was not, therefore, a new entrant to the market for desktop personal computers when the ABC-24 and ABC-26 Z80-based business computers were introduced in 1979.
It appears there was an 'ABC 20-Series' of PCs of which the ABC-24 and ABC-26 were successful configurations. The ABC-24 had a pair of 5¼ inch drives manufactured by YE-Data. The ABC-26 had 8-inch drives, also made by YE-Data. Both systems used a similar main board with multiple interfaces, including GP-IB. The differences appear to have been in power supplies. There were 9-inch and 12-inch monitors and various keyboards.
Outside Japan, the most popular operating system for the ABC PCs was probably CP/M-80 with important applications of the time, such as WordStar. There was also an in-house operating system called DOSKET, which may have been more popular in Japan, although there were disks and manuals for DOSKET which used English.
(Some of the historical information above is based on:
classictech.wordpress.com
This site also has links to brochures and specifications)
At one level, it would be interesting to learn about the popularity and reputation of the ABC micros in the Japanese market in the 1970s and 1980s. It would also be useful to know about the extent to which the company was successful in offering these PCs outside Japan, if such information can be located.
More directly relevant would be links to information about holdings of technical documentation and disk images in collections in Japan. Schematic drawings and datasheets would be valuable – it appears there are no restored examples of ABC PCs in the currently-known collections mentioned at the start of this post.
Where else are these PCs to be found?
Information about these systems is limited. Hence, this post is a request for those who are familiar with museums and repositories in Japan to contribute to the search for documentation and disks. The 'Ai' in the company name makes it challenging to search among the avalanche of recent references to 'Artificial Intelligence'.
Ai Electronics originated in 1962 with minicomputer products. The company offered 'micro' PCs based on the Intel 8080 (1975). It was not, therefore, a new entrant to the market for desktop personal computers when the ABC-24 and ABC-26 Z80-based business computers were introduced in 1979.
It appears there was an 'ABC 20-Series' of PCs of which the ABC-24 and ABC-26 were successful configurations. The ABC-24 had a pair of 5¼ inch drives manufactured by YE-Data. The ABC-26 had 8-inch drives, also made by YE-Data. Both systems used a similar main board with multiple interfaces, including GP-IB. The differences appear to have been in power supplies. There were 9-inch and 12-inch monitors and various keyboards.
Outside Japan, the most popular operating system for the ABC PCs was probably CP/M-80 with important applications of the time, such as WordStar. There was also an in-house operating system called DOSKET, which may have been more popular in Japan, although there were disks and manuals for DOSKET which used English.
(Some of the historical information above is based on:
AI Electronics Corp. (Japan)
Established in 1962, Ai Electronics was one of the earliest computer manufacturers in Japan. It specialized in minicomputers and microcomputers for scientific and industrial markets. Its first mini…
classictech.wordpress.com
At one level, it would be interesting to learn about the popularity and reputation of the ABC micros in the Japanese market in the 1970s and 1980s. It would also be useful to know about the extent to which the company was successful in offering these PCs outside Japan, if such information can be located.
More directly relevant would be links to information about holdings of technical documentation and disk images in collections in Japan. Schematic drawings and datasheets would be valuable – it appears there are no restored examples of ABC PCs in the currently-known collections mentioned at the start of this post.
Where else are these PCs to be found?
