George Morrow (computers)
Encyclopedia
George Morrow was part of the early microcomputer
industry in the United States
. Morrow promoted and improved the S-100 bus
used in many early microcomputers. Morrow was also a member of the Homebrew Computer Club
.
Starting in 1976, he designed and sold computers, computer parts, and accessories under several company names, including Thinker Toys and Morrow Designs. Morrow's companies built microcomputers that used the CP/M
operating system
. When IBM started selling their IBM PC personal computer in 1981, Morrow and other CP/M computer makers had trouble competing. Morrow Designs filed for bankruptcy in 1986.
Following his retirement from computer entrepreneurship, Morrow took a deep interest in 1920s and 1930s dance, jazz and personality music, and acquired a very large and prestigious collection of the original 78 rpm records issued in that era. Until his death, Morrow digitally transcribed and restored thousands of recordings, issuing a number of them on his "The Old Masters" label.
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
industry in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Morrow promoted and improved the S-100 bus
S-100 bus
The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE696-1983 , was an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, generally considered today to be the first personal computer...
used in many early microcomputers. Morrow was also a member of the Homebrew Computer Club
Homebrew Computer Club
The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist users' group in Silicon Valley, which met from March 5, 1975 to December 1986...
.
Starting in 1976, he designed and sold computers, computer parts, and accessories under several company names, including Thinker Toys and Morrow Designs. Morrow's companies built microcomputers that used the CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. When IBM started selling their IBM PC personal computer in 1981, Morrow and other CP/M computer makers had trouble competing. Morrow Designs filed for bankruptcy in 1986.
Following his retirement from computer entrepreneurship, Morrow took a deep interest in 1920s and 1930s dance, jazz and personality music, and acquired a very large and prestigious collection of the original 78 rpm records issued in that era. Until his death, Morrow digitally transcribed and restored thousands of recordings, issuing a number of them on his "The Old Masters" label.