NeXT Computer
Encyclopedia
The NeXT Computer was a high-end workstation computer
developed, manufactured and sold by Steve Jobs
' company NeXT
from 1988 until 1990. It ran the Unix
-based NeXTSTEP
operating system
. The NeXT Computer was packaged in a 1-foot (305 mm) die-cast magnesium
cube-shaped case, which led to the machine being informally referred to as "The Cube". It cost US$6500.
A NeXT Computer was used by Tim Berners-Lee
at CERN
to develop the world's first web server
software, CERN HTTPd
, and also used to write the first web browser
, WorldWideWeb
. This workstation became the world's first web server on the Internet
.
The NeXT Computer was superseded by the NeXTcube
in 1990. The NeXT Computer was not a great commercial success. However, some are still used around the world as server
s and hobbyist desktops.
in place of the more usual hard disk
, though the latter was available as an option. The workstation came with a 1120×832 pixel four-level grayscale
MegaPixel 17" monitor
(with built-in speaker
s).
The 68030 CPU was supported by a 68882 FPU
for faster mathematical performance, a 56001
digital signal processor
(DSP) for multimedia work and two custom-designed six-channel direct memory access
(DMA) channel controllers, which allowed much of the input/output (I/O) processing to be offloaded from the CPU to boost the speed of common tasks.
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
developed, manufactured and sold by Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
' company NeXT
NeXT
Next, Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets...
from 1988 until 1990. It ran the Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
-based NeXTSTEP
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
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...
. The NeXT Computer was packaged in a 1-foot (305 mm) die-cast magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
cube-shaped case, which led to the machine being informally referred to as "The Cube". It cost US$6500.
A NeXT Computer was used by Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
to develop the world's first web server
Web server
Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....
software, CERN HTTPd
CERN httpd
CERN httpd was a web server daemon originally developed at CERN from 1990 onwards by Tim Berners-Lee, Ari Luotonen and Henrik Frystyk Nielsen...
, and also used to write the first web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
, WorldWideWeb
WorldWideWeb
WorldWideWeb, later renamed to Nexus to avoid confusion between the software and the World Wide Web, was the first web browser and editor. When it was written, WorldWideWeb was the only way to view the Web....
. This workstation became the world's first web server on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
The NeXT Computer was superseded by the NeXTcube
NeXTcube
The NeXTcube was a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured and sold by NeXT from 1990 until 1993. It superseded the original NeXT Computer workstation and was housed in a similar cube-shaped magnesium enclosure. The workstation ran the NeXTSTEP operating system.- Hardware :The...
in 1990. The NeXT Computer was not a great commercial success. However, some are still used around the world as server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
s and hobbyist desktops.
Hardware
Uniquely, the NeXT Computer featured a magneto-optical driveMagneto-optical drive
A magneto-optical drive is a kind of optical disc drive capable of writing and rewriting data upon a magneto-optical disc. Both 130 mm and 90 mm form factors exist. The technology was introduced commercially in 1985...
in place of the more usual hard disk
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...
, though the latter was available as an option. The workstation came with a 1120×832 pixel four-level grayscale
Grayscale
In photography and computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample, that is, it carries only intensity information...
MegaPixel 17" monitor
Computer display
A monitor or display is an electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure...
(with built-in speaker
Computer speaker
Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are speakers external to a computer, that disable the lower fidelity built-in speaker. They often have a low-power internal amplifier. The standard audio connection is a 3.5 mm stereo jack plug often color-coded lime green for computer sound cards...
s).
The 68030 CPU was supported by a 68882 FPU
Floating point unit
A floating-point unit is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root...
for faster mathematical performance, a 56001
Motorola 56000
The Motorola DSP56000 is a family of digital signal processor chips produced by Motorola Semiconductor starting in the 1980s and is still being produced in more advanced models in the 2000s. The 56k series was quite popular for a time in a number of computers, including the NeXT, Atari Falcon,...
digital signal processor
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
(DSP) for multimedia work and two custom-designed six-channel direct memory access
Direct memory access
Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
(DMA) channel controllers, which allowed much of the input/output (I/O) processing to be offloaded from the CPU to boost the speed of common tasks.