Before computers were everyday consumer items sitting in homes worldwide, they were restricted to experts, specialists and those with technical know-how. Enter the Sphere 1 in 1975 – one of the first complete, integrated and usable personal computer systems aimed at general users. Packed with innovations like a keyboard, display monitor and reset button, the Sphere 1 pioneered concepts that seem commonplace today. Its visionary capabilities and expandable open architecture made a lasting, if subtle impact on the personal computing revolution soon to follow.
Giving Birth to the Sphere 1
The Sphere 1 traces its origins back to Michael "Mike" Wise, an Air Force veteran enthralled with electronics and computing since childhood. After using various machines from IBM mainframes to minicomputers during his physics studies, Wise conceived of an all-in-one microcomputer optimized for personal use. He teamed up with business partner Monroe Tyler in Utah, and set forth building the Sphere 1 in 1974 with ambitious goals.
Wise described the motivation in a 1977 interview: "We wanted to design a complete system that would be easy for the average person to use and operate. That was the whole challenge."
Central to their vision was having the main computer operations self-contained in one enclosure, unlike the racks of equipment found in businesses and schools. The Sphere 1 was thus designed from the outset to be a centralized, friendly computer system for the individual user – a revolutionary idea then.
Equipped for the Future: Technical Specifications
For 1975, the Sphere 1 was astoundingly well-equipped and robust. It featured a Motorola 6800 8-bit CPU running at 1 MHz – equaling larger minicomputers of just a few years prior. This was supplemented by a full 4 kilobytes of RAM and onboard ROM to hold the operating system software.
In a monumental move, it came bundled with a 9-inch CRT color display allowing 80 characters by 24 lines of text. Compare this to the arrays of blinking lights or teletypes used by earlier computers – the Sphere 1‘s display was crisp and far more usable right out of the box. It also had an integrated 53-key keyboard with numeric keypad for easy text or data entry.
Another advanced feature was the dual-key reset mechanism to manually restart the system. Two buttons placed on opposite sides of the keyboard had to be pressed together to issue a reboot command, preventing accidental restarts. According to Wise, this concept directly inspired the now-standard Ctrl-Alt-Delete keyboard sequence.
For storage, the Sphere 1 utilized 5.25-inch floppy disk drives, able to hold over 100 kilobytes per removable disk – considerable capacity for 1975! Various peripherals could be added like printers and extra terminals for a multi-user experience. There was even an onboard interface for electronics projects involving lights, switches and sensors – catering directly to the target tech hobbyist customer.
Sphere 1 Specifications
| Specification | Description |
|---|---|
| Processor | Motorola 6800 8-bit CPU, 1 MHz clock speed |
| Memory | 4 KB RAM capacity (typical system had 2 KB) |
| Storage | 5.25" floppy disk drives, 106 KB per disk |
| Display | 9" CRT color display, 80 x 24 character resolution |
| Keyboard | 53-key alphanumeric keyboard with numeric keypad |
| Ports & Slots | Onboard interface for electronics circuits, external device ports |
Against a backdrop where even hobbyist computers were barely functional, the Sphere 1 was almost unrecognizable. It more closely resembled what we would think of today as a basic desktop PC in both form and function.
Breaking Convention: Advanced Capabilities
When first unveiled in 1975, the Sphere 1 stood clearly apart from existing microcomputers of the time in major ways. Instead of a specialized kit meant for electronics tinkerers, it was intentionally designed as general-purpose computer that was welcoming and usable. The integrated keyboard, numeric keypad and CRT color monitor meant it could be used productively right away without needing to cobble together external components and devices.
And with its robust Motorola processor, 4 kilobytes of RAM and storage capacity via floppy disk, it could run useful software applications right out of the box. Included was an enhanced BASIC programming language supplemented by both a debugger and assembler for machine code development. An innovative Disk Operating System brought file handling, text editing tools and disk utilities comparable to what larger minicomputers had at the time. Third-party software packages offered accounting, database management, word processing and more – bringing meaningful functionality to the individual owner.
BYTE magazine raved about the Sphere 1 as a landmark product in the space, stating it was the first microcomputer to successfully integrate meaningful I/O into a standalone package tailored toward personal use and learning. Compared even to machines like the Altair 8800 released earlier that year, largely intended as a kit for hobbyists to tinker with, the Sphere 1 represented an enormous leap forward in delivering an accessible and functional computer system to the everyday user.
Popular Electronics magazine spoke to the machine‘s broad capabilities in a 1976 review: "The Sphere 1 system is a complete computer system, not just a bare-bones kit, but a complete system with video terminal, keyboard, floppy disk and software packages."
Shooting for the Stars: Bold Plans
Initially the Sphere 1 looked poised for wide success. As a flagship product of the Sphere Computer Corporation, the company advertised widely in electronics and computer magazines of the time, showing off the system‘s ready-to-use abilities versus the blank slates marketed to engineers. Pre-orders and early enthusiasm were high in the emerging personal computer marketplace.
In early 1976, Sphere began shipping completed systems – base models priced around $1400, with a "kit" version as low as $650. One could purchase the Sphere 1 in either pre-assembled form or as a construct-it-yourself kit for greater cost savings. In just over a year an estimated 1300 systems were manufactured and sold – an impressive number in the dawn of the PC age.
Sales brochures additionally promised that video games, appliance control modules, laboratory test equipment and more add-ons were "coming soon" as the platform gained user adoption. Unfortunately financial reality intervened…
The Rise and Fall of a Dream
However by early 1977 problems emerged for the fledgling company. There were delays fulfilling existing orders amidst component supply issues and faulty memory chips received from a vendor. Despite glowing press coverage and user excitement about the pioneering product, Sphere found itself financially overextended.
After Michael Wise departed from the role of president in March 1977, the company descended into bankruptcy just one month later. Still, in little over a year of full production, they had delivered hundreds of advanced, trailblazing computer systems to customers – before most competitors like Apple and Tandy had gotten past the concept phase.
Ultimately the Sphere 1 – arguably ahead of its time – failed commercially because consumers just weren‘t ready. The market for friendly home computers was still years away from mainstream viability. Other manufacturers able to incrementally improve systems while lowering costs would soon fill this void.
Yet the struggling dreamers at Sphere Corporation set the stage by putting unprecedented utility and innovations into buyers‘ hands early on, paving the way.
Lasting Influence: Roots of a Revolution
While short-lived commercially, the pioneering Sphere 1 had an outsized influence on the eventual personal computer industry boom. BYTE Magazine continually cited it following its demise as the formative seed that others grew from. The template of bundling keyboard, video display and flexible software into one usable package provided a reference point as the market developed towards better integrated systems.
Other manufacturers finding major success later on including Apple, Tandy and Commodore clearly took inspiration on both features and pricing from Sphere‘s visionary foundation. Integrated keyboards, monitors and disk storage wouldn‘t remain luxury features for long thanks to this conceptual trailblazing.
The fundamental elements the Sphere 1 proved viable directly catalyzed adoption from niche hobbyist curiosity into an eventual mass-consumer phenomenon in just a few years. As computing historian Lee Felsenstein commented:
"The Sphere was the first desktop personal computer that had a bit mapped display and keyboard…It pointed to the future by demonstrating what was possible."
Michael Wise himself would significantly influence descendants like the TRS-80, PET and early Apple desktop lines while continuing in the software industry. But with the Sphere 1 project back in 1975, he laid vital groundwork for many core concepts around friendly, integrated desktop computing we now take for granted.
The Creator‘s Story: Michael Donald Wise
The creative force behind the Sphere 1 had long immersed himself in the worlds of electronics and computing technology. Michael Donald Wise was born in 1949 to an Air Force family while they were stationed in Germany.
Fascinated early on by radio circuits and transmitters, his skills accelerated studying physics and computer programming at college. Wise learned assembly language and multiple operating systems while working on campus computers like the Digital PDP-8.
After some time in the private sector, Wise struck out on his own founding Information Processing Computer Systems (IPCS) in 1971. It found success marketing a mailing list program Wise had developed to run on minicomputer hardware of the era. This promising start got him thinking – what more was possible?
Wise expressed: "We were looking for an excuse to build our own machine customized the way we thought a computer should be organized." Disillusioned with the limitations of current systems, he began conceiving ideas for an integrated desktop computer tailored for personal use rather than just business or scientific needs. This directly led Wise to initiate the Sphere 1 project soon thereafter.
While the Sphere company itself didn‘t endure, Michael Wise still enjoys a lasting technology career. In 1978 as the PC revolution began heating up, he founded software company A-Systems which specialized in accounting and database applications for emerging desktop platforms.
He was even an early Internet entrepreneur, launching an online commerce business in 1994 to capitalize on the still new World Wide Web. Though not often in the public eye in later decades, Wise and his clever innovations maintain relevance as computing became commonplace.
Standing Out from the Pack
The Sphere 1 entered a relatively empty personal computing landscape – dominated by incomplete kits, bare-bones hobbyist machines and esoteric electronics projects. Consumer products were non-existent. The MITS Altair 8800 of 1975 is an example – sold as a box of lights and switches to tinker with but requiring extensive additions to be useful.
Against this backdrop catering to specialists, the Sphere 1 stood out as a balanced, turnkey system carefully considering the user experience. It wasn‘t until 1977 that competitors like the Apple II, Commodore PET and Tandy TRS-80 followed a similar tack. These later mass-produced, affordably priced machines ultimately captured the emerging home market.
Limited comparisons can also be drawn between the Sphere 1 and the similar IMSAI 8080 microcomputer first sold in late 1975. IMSAI boasted comparable base architecture – an 8080 processor, 4 KB RAM capacity and integrated storage. It persisted business-wise longer than Sphere – yet never matched innovations around personal focus, integrated peripheral devices or future-leaning software ecosystem.
While dwarfed fame-wise by subsequent commercial successes, the forward-looking Sphere 1 pointed towards this coming revolution. It pioneered the template of a consumer appliance-like desktop computer system tailored for average users.
Lasting Impressions: An Early Spark
With its premature demise by mid 1977, the Sphere 1 became a largely forgotten pioneer microcomputer overshadowed by the explosion soon to come. Other contemporaneous machines also drowned out by more commercialized products and amped-up marketing budgets.
Yet occasionally recognizing Sphere‘s accomplishments, Byte Magazine – the barometer of the nascent PC industry – kept referencing the Sphere 1 in annual reports on the bubbling personal computer space through 1981. Well past its operational lifespan and dissolution, the technical innovation and unprecedented completeness of the system continued to inspire as a herald of things just over the horizon.
Cookbook-style instructions on modifying the Sphere 1 sporadically appeared over the years in niche publications like Kilobaud Microcomputing magazine catering to the enduring hobbyist user community. Photos of Sphere systems even popped up in retrospective articles as symbolic of the infancy period before desktop computing became commonplace.
Like most businesses taking a gamble on an unfamiliar, untested market, the Sphere Corporation was a bit ahead of things timing-wise but their vision was sound. The industrious Sphere 1 endures as an under-appreciated pioneer to the universal digital appliances we adopt almost instantly today.
