Delete : a design history of computer vapourware /
Atkinson, Paul,1962-author.
While most historical accounts of the development of computer design focus on specific computers or manufacturers, examining the success stories of hardware and operating systems, Delete: A Design History of Computer Vapourware creates a completely new narrative by investigating the machines that didn't make it. Fascinating, full-colour images of computer designs, many of them previously unpublished, are accompanied by the hitherto untold stories of their planning and development, the pitfalls and successes in their creation, the market and competition at the time and the reasons why they never finally appeared for sale. Appealing both to a broad audience and to a more specialist one of designers and computer historians, Delete, with its unique collection of prototypes that never made it to the market, depicts a technological world that might have been.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 234-236) and index.
Introduction -- Imagined machines -- Mainframes and minicomputers -- Personal and portable computers -- Pen computers -- Mobile computers -- The agency of ideas.
While most historical accounts of the development of computer design focus on specific computers or manufacturers, examining the success stories of hardware and operating systems, Delete: A Design History of Computer Vapourware creates a completely new narrative by investigating the machines that didn't make it. Fascinating, full-colour images of computer designs, many of them previously unpublished, are accompanied by the hitherto untold stories of their planning and development, the pitfalls and successes in their creation, the market and competition at the time and the reasons why they never finally appeared for sale. Appealing both to a broad audience and to a more specialist one of designers and computer historians, Delete, with its unique collection of prototypes that never made it to the market, depicts a technological world that might have been.
Computer engineering
Electronic digital computers
Computers
Computer industry