General Computer
Encyclopedia
General Computer was a computer peripheral company whose main product was the HyperDrive, the first internal hard disk
for the original Apple Macintosh computer. The product was unusual because the Macintosh did not have any internal interface for hard disks. It was attached directly to the CPU, and ran about seven times faster than Apple's "Hard Disk 20", an external hard disk that attached to the floppy disk port.
The HyperDrive was considered an elite upgrade at the time, though it was hobbled by Apple's Macintosh File System
, which had been designed to manage 400K floppy disk
s; as with other early Macintosh hard disks, the user had to segment the drive such that it appeared to be dozens of floppy disk
s.
The second issue of MacTech
Magazine, in January 1985, included a letter that summed up the excitement:
In 1986 the company shipped the "HyperDrive 2000", a 20MB internal hard disk that also included a Motorola 68881
floating-point unit, but the speed advantage of the HyperDrive had been negated on the new Macintosh Plus
computers by Apple's inclusion of an external SCSI
port. General Computer responded with the "HyperDrive FX-20" external SCSI hard disk, but drowned in a sea of competitors that offered fast, large hard disks.
Before the video game crash of 1983
, General Computer was involved in video games, both arcade games and cartridge games for the Atari 2600
and Atari 5200
. GCC engineers also designed a custom graphics chip for the next Atari game player, the 7800. GCC's most successful foray into video games was the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man
.
Today, General Computer, currently located in Burlington, Massachusetts
, sells laser printers.
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
for the original Apple Macintosh computer. The product was unusual because the Macintosh did not have any internal interface for hard disks. It was attached directly to the CPU, and ran about seven times faster than Apple's "Hard Disk 20", an external hard disk that attached to the floppy disk port.
The HyperDrive was considered an elite upgrade at the time, though it was hobbled by Apple's Macintosh File System
Macintosh File System
Macintosh File System is a volume format created by Apple Computer for storing files on 400K floppy disks. MFS was introduced with the Macintosh 128K in January 1984....
, which had been designed to manage 400K floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s; as with other early Macintosh hard disks, the user had to segment the drive such that it appeared to be dozens of floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s.
The second issue of MacTech
MacTech
MacTech is the journal of Apple technology, a monthly magazine for software developers, system administrators, and other technical users of the Apple Macintosh line of computers....
Magazine, in January 1985, included a letter that summed up the excitement:
- The BIG news is from a company called General Computer. They announced a Mac mod called HyperDrive, which is a RAMRam-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
expansion to 512K, and the installation of a 10 meg hard disk with the controller INSIDE THE MACINTOSH. This allows direct booting from the hard disk, free modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
port, no serial I/O to slow things down, and no external box to carry around. Price is $2,795 on a 128K machine or $2195 on a 512K machine. They do the installation or you can buy a kit from your dealer.
In 1986 the company shipped the "HyperDrive 2000", a 20MB internal hard disk that also included a Motorola 68881
Motorola 68881
The Motorola 68881 and Motorola 68882 were floating-point coprocessor chips that were used in some computer systems in conjunction with the 68020 or 68030 CPUs. The addition of one of these chips added substantial cost to the computer, but added a floating point unit that could rapidly perform...
floating-point unit, but the speed advantage of the HyperDrive had been negated on the new Macintosh Plus
Macintosh Plus
The Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2599...
computers by Apple's inclusion of an external SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
port. General Computer responded with the "HyperDrive FX-20" external SCSI hard disk, but drowned in a sea of competitors that offered fast, large hard disks.
Before the video game crash of 1983
Video game crash of 1983
The North American video game crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. Beginning in 1983, the crash almost destroyed the then-fledgling industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing...
, General Computer was involved in video games, both arcade games and cartridge games for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
. GCC engineers also designed a custom graphics chip for the next Atari game player, the 7800. GCC's most successful foray into video games was the arcade game Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title...
.
Today, General Computer, currently located in Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,498 at the 2010 census.- History :It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, however this has never been confirmed....
, sells laser printers.