# Whats the Connection? Wait! What? Computers?!?



## Mark T (Oct 7, 2016)

OK, this week has no connection to Diabetes at all (well not that I'm aware of).

Nine items of technology which is unashamedly stuck in the 80's and 90's.  What are there and what is the connection here?







Answers at the end of the week if you don't get them all.  Bonus points if you have owned/used any of these!

Note: I've used #1 and owned #6

Next weeks puzzle will be diabetes related... promise!


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## David H (Oct 8, 2016)

1 is an Amstrad
2 is a Hewlett Packard or IBM
3 is a Sagem
4 is a Sega games console
5 
6 is a Macintosh
7
8
9


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## Mark T (Oct 8, 2016)

David H said:


> 1 is an Amstrad
> 2 is a Hewlett Packard or IBM
> 3 is a Sagem
> 4 is a Sega games console
> ...


1. Nope - Amstrad never made a computer that has this connection
2. HP - but it's a specific type as they also made models that don't meet the connection
3. Nope - didn't know they made computers?
4. Yes Sega - but it's a specific type as they also made models that don't meet the connection
6. Yes.  It's not a PowerMac or a iMac


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## Ralph-YK (Oct 8, 2016)

1 Atari ST
4 Dreamcast?  Is it one of the first with a CD drive?
7 Amega. My mush for brains refuses to admit to knowing the model range though.
Ugh. Commodore. and Amega is the model.  Darn mush for brains.


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## Matt Cycle (Oct 8, 2016)

4. Sega Saturn


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## Mark T (Oct 8, 2016)

Ralph-YK said:


> 1 Atari ST
> 4 Dreamcast?  Is it one of the first with a CD drive?
> 7 Amega. My mush for brains refuses to admit to knowing the model range though.
> Ugh. Commodore. and Amega is the model.  Darn mush for brains.





Matt Cycle said:


> 4. Sega Saturn


1. Atari ST - correct - specifically the picture is a 1040ST (but that's not important here)
4. Sega Saturn - correct
7. Commodore Amiga - correct - specifically it's an Amiga 500


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## Northerner (Oct 9, 2016)

Is number 8 an ICL 'one-per-desk'?  I had (still have!) an Atari 520 STFM


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## Mark T (Oct 9, 2016)

Northerner said:


> Is number 8 an ICL 'one-per-desk'?  I had (still have!) an Atari 520 STFM


The picture isn't a ICL 'one per desk'.  I had to actually go look up what one of those was.

But, you deserve a bonus point as ICL 'one-per-desk' actually fits the connection here.


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## Mark T (Oct 9, 2016)

Oh dear, I think I have got everyone stumped here! 

Maybe this helps, my specialism at university was electronics


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## mikeyB (Oct 10, 2016)

Moore's law?


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## Northerner (Oct 10, 2016)

Is 5 an HP 3000?


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## Mark T (Oct 10, 2016)

Northerner said:


> Is 5 an HP 3000?


Nope, you are close though...  3000 is a server/mainframe whereas this is a workstation.  This computer dates from somewhere between 1985 and 1990.

I stole lots of my pictures from wiki by the way...


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## Mark T (Oct 10, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> Moore's law?


Oops! I meant to respond to this one.

Nope, it's not Moore's law.  If I was going to try do that I would probably have shown pictures of processors themselves.  Given there is a span of years between the different items, it's interesting to see how they fit into Moore's law (well to me at least).


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## mikeyB (Oct 11, 2016)

68000 processors?


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## Mark T (Oct 11, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> 68000 processors?


Yes, well done!

They all contain processors in the 68000 family.


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## Mark T (Oct 11, 2016)

So, yes it's hardware with Motorola 680000 processors.  The summary or where we are up to on this:

1. Atari ST (Ralph-YK) - Motorola 68000.  Motorola 68030 in later models.
2. 
3. 
4. Sega Saturn (Matt C) - Motorola 68000 (as sound processor)
5.
6. Macintosh (David H) - various models utilising Motorola 68000, 68020, 68030 and 68040
7. Amiga (Ralph-YK) - Motorola 68000.  Motorola 68020 in later models.
8. 
9.

Can anyone fill in the remaining blanks, else I'll give the answers on Friday.


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## Mark T (Oct 13, 2016)

Oh dear! Anyone want to have a try for any of the remaining answers...

To give a clue, taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_68000#Applications

"At its introduction, the 68000 was first used in high-priced systems, including multiuser microcomputers like the WICAT 150,[13] early Alpha Microsystems computers, Sage II / IV, Tandy TRS-80 Model 16, and Fortune 32:16; single-user workstations such as Hewlett-Packard's HP 9000 Series 200 systems, the first Apollo/Domain systems, Sun Microsystems' Sun-1, and the Corvus Concept; and graphics terminals like Digital Equipment Corporation's VAXstation 100 and Silicon Graphics' IRIS 1000 and 1200. Unix systems rapidly moved to the more capable later generations of the 68k line, which remained popular in that market throughout the 1980s.

By the mid-1980s, falling production cost made the 68000 viable for use in personal and home computers, starting with the Apple Lisa and Macintosh, and followed by the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and Sharp X68000. On the other hand, the Sinclair QL microcomputer was the most commercially important utilisation of the 68008, along with its derivatives, such as the ICL One Per Desk business terminal. Helix Systems (in Missouri, United States) designed an extension to the SWTPC SS-50 bus, the SS-64, and produced systems built around the 68008 processor."


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## Mark T (Oct 14, 2016)

I better make the next one easier!

#2 is a HP 9000 workstation which used the full range of 68K micro's
#3 is a SAGE IV which used the 68000
#5 is a Silicon Graphics IRIS 1000 which used the 68000.  But you could have used the 1200 also which had the 68010 and 68020
#8 is a Tandy TRS-80 Model 16
#9 is a Texas Instruments TI-96 calculator


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## Northerner (Oct 15, 2016)

Gah! Should have recognised the Trash-80!


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