Datapoint 2200 (1970)

+ Datapoint 2200 © Achim Baqué Datapoint 2200

I own some Datapoint 2200 and other datapoint models.
The Datapoint 2200 is one of the most important but often overlooked computers in the history of personal computing. Developed by the American company Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC) , later renamed Datapoint Corporation , the Datapoint 2200 was released in 1970 and is widely recognised as a forerunner to the modern personal computer.

Originally, the Datapoint 2200 was marketed as a programmable terminal. It was designed to replace teletype machines and allow businesses to input, edit, and transmit data more efficiently. What made the Datapoint 2200 remarkable, however, was that it was much more than just a simple terminal , it was a complete, general-purpose computer hidden in a desktop terminal’s casing.

The Datapoint 2200 used a processor built entirely from discrete TTL logic chips because, at the time, microprocessors did not yet exist as single-chip solutions. Interestingly, CTC had approached Intel and Texas Instruments to develop a custom integrated circuit version of its processor design. This design later became the basis for the Intel 8008, which was one of the first commercial microprocessors and an ancestor of Intel’s famous x86 family.

Technically, the Datapoint 2200 featured a keyboard, a display screen that could show one line of text at a time, and two cassette tape drives for data storage and program loading. Users could program it in machine code or higher-level languages, which made it extremely versatile for data entry, simple computing tasks, and even early forms of word processing.

The Datapoint 2200’s architecture and its influence on the development of the Intel 8008 played a key role in shaping the future of microprocessors. While CTC never fully capitalized on this legacy, its idea of a desktop, general-purpose computer laid the foundation for the personal computers that would follow in the 1970s and 1980s.

In hindsight, the Datapoint 2200 deserves credit as one of the first true personal computers , a compact, affordable, and programmable system that showed what was possible long before the Apple II or IBM PC became household names.

Today, it stands as a testament to the innovation and vision of its designers, and its story reminds us how early ideas can spark entire industries.

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