Timeline: 1977-1980

1977 Home Computers

Apple, Commodore, Radio Shack, Microsoft, more microprocessors, VisiCalc, Sinclair

1977

January
•The Apple Computer Company is incorporated.  (March) •Apple employees move into an office on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, California.  •A working model of the first Radio Shack computer is demonstrated to company president, Charles Tandy.] •Commodore's Chuck Peddle shows the first PET to Radio Shack, hoping to have Radio Shack sell it.  •Xerox puts David Liddle in charge of developing the Alto computer into a marketable product.

February
•The first ComputerLand franchise is opened in Morristown, New Jersey, under the name Computer Shack. (Tandy franchise) •Apple Computer moves from Jobs' garage to an office in Cupertino. •Bill Gates and Paul Allen sign a partnership agreement to officially create the Microsoft company.

April
•The First West Coast Computer Faire is held, in San Francisco's Brooks Civic Auditorium. Nearly 13,000 attended the weekend event.  •Commodore Business Machines Inc. unveils its PET computer at the West Coast Computer Faire. The PET includes a 6502 CPU, 4KB RAM, 14KB ROM, keyboard, display, and tape drive, for US$600.   (US$800) (March) (June) •Apple Computer introduces the Apple II at the West Coast Computer Faire. The computer features a 6502 CPU, 4KB RAM, 16KB ROM, keyboard, 8-slot motherboard, game paddles, graphics/text interface to color display, and built-in BASIC, for US$1300. It is the first personal computer with color graphics.  (March) •Apple Computer delivers its first Apple II system.  (May)

May
•10 months after its introduction, 175 Apple I kits have sold. •Pertec buys MITS and the Altair line for US$6 million in stock.

June
•Camp Retupmoc, the first week-long computer camp, is held in Terre Haute, Indian