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> Back then people wrote assembly language themselves. Not only this. It made for more compact code, and memory was very expensive. So expensive that 64kB was
by tgv 4y ago
> Back then people wrote assembly language themselves.
Not only this. It made for more compact code, and memory was very expensive. So expensive that 64kB was practically unheard of. In 1980, 4kB would cost $100 or so. If I read it correctly, the original board with the 6800 was shipped with 128B.
- ddingus 4y agoSame with the KIM 1 boards. 128 bytes is a lot! Seems absolutely insane small now, but back then every bit mattered. And being so close to the hardware meant being able to do things super lean and mean. On the KIM 1, the RIOT chip came with 128bytes of RAM, and Rockwell, MOS, and others also later packaged the CPU with small amounts of RAM, timers, and other handy things. Early origins of system on chip designs. And there was a jumper or solder pad one could use to sort out address decoding should more RAM be added. 128 bytes, probably split between zero page and the stack, can do a lot! For perspective, the Atari 2600 had 128 bytes of RAM in its RIOT chip and that was the total system RAM! Atari 2600 Space Invaders fit into 4K ROM and the 128 bytes of RAM. https://youtu.be/QB7GGkCx5Bg https://youtu.be/QB7GGkCx5Bg No frame buffer, no tile engine! Graphics were generated line by line, game logic happening during the screen blanking period!
- 8bitsrule 4y ago>memory was very expensive No lie! I recall paying $200 for a Godbout 12KB (static RAM) board kit (96 1K chips to hand-socket) for my H-8 (8080; Heathkit included no RAM). Later added another 12KB for an incredible 24KB total. Only a few years later at a swap meet I landed two 16KB manufactured boards for only $50!
- ddingus 4y agoBrutal times! A similar thing happened with SGI workstations. Drop $20 on a high end box, score one for a fraction on ebay some while later. Not long enough later.