Editing Datapoint 2200 (section)

{{DEFAULTSORT:}}{{Short description|Personal computer and terminal}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name         = Datapoint 2200
| image        = Datapoint-2200.jpg
| caption      = Datapoint 2200 computer
| manufacturer = [[Computer Terminal Corporation]]
| type         = [[Computer terminal#"Intelligent" terminals|Intelligent terminal]], [[personal computer]]
| releasedate  = {{Start date and age|1970|05}}
| discontinued = {{Start date and age|1979}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=596|title=Datapoint Corporation Datapoint 2200|website=OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum}}</ref>
| os           = Datapoint O/S
| cpu          = serial, discrete logic implementation of the [[Intel 8008]] instruction set
| memory       = 2 [[kilobyte|KB]] standard; expandable to 16&nbsp;KB
| display      = Text only, 80×12 characters
}}
The '''Datapoint 2200''' was a mass-produced programmable [[computer terminal|terminal]] usable as a [[computer]], designed by [[Datapoint|Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC)]] founders Phil Ray and Gus Roche<ref name="wood">{{cite magazine|first=Lamont|last=Wood|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2532590/forgotten-pc-history--the-true-origins-of-the-personal-computer.html|title=Forgotten PC history: The true origins of the personal computer|magazine=Computerworld|date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> and announced by CTC in June 1970 (with units shipping in 1971). It was initially presented by CTC as a versatile and cost-efficient terminal for connecting to a wide variety of [[mainframe computer|mainframe]]s by loading various terminal [[emulator|emulation]]s from tape rather than being hardwired as most contemporary terminals, including their earlier [[Datapoint 3300]].<ref name="lamont-wood-book">{{cite book|title=Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer|first=Lamont|last=Wood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idTeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT102|publisher=Hugo House Publishers, Ltd.|year=2013|isbn=9781936449361|pages=102–103}}</ref>

Dave Gust, a CTC salesman, realized that the 2200 could meet [[Pillsbury (brand)|Pillsbury Foods]]'s need for a small computer in the field, after which the 2200 was marketed as a stand-alone computer.<ref name="lamont-wood-book"/> Its industrial designer [[John Frassanito|John "Jack" Frassanito]] has later claimed that Ray and Roche always intended the Datapoint 2200 to be a full-blown [[personal computer]], but that they chose to keep quiet about this so as not to concern investors and others.<ref name="wood" /><ref name="weinkrantz">{{cite web|first=Allen|last=Weinkrantz|url=http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/san-antonio-has-claim-as-the-birthplace-of-the-personal-computer-read-all-about-it/|title=San Antonio Has Claim As The Birthplace of the Personal Computer. Read All About It.|date=June 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040904/http://www.alanweinkrantz.com/san-antonio-has-claim-as-the-birthplace-of-the-personal-computer-read-all-about-it/|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

The terminal's multi-chip [[central processing unit|CPU]] (processor)'s [[instruction set architecture|instruction set]] became the basis of the [[Intel 8008]] instruction set, which inspired the [[Intel 8080]] instruction set and the [[x86]] instruction set used in the processors for the original [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] and its descendants.