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In-Depth Information
the
MCM
/70 demonstration units at
DDC
, due mostly to power
supply problems, he was confident that the personal computer
concept represented by the
MCM
/70 signaled a new era in af-
fordable computing. He was sure the
MCM
computer would
create a vast and lucrative market niche for itself and similar
hardware. On the notorious power supply issue, Berg shared
the opinion of Kutt, Laraya, and Rea that the success of the
MCM
/70 in the marketplace did not depend critically on the
degree of sophistication of its power supply.
Berg's immediate tasks as
MCM
's president were to increase
the sales of
MCM
/70s and to focus the company's activities on
finishing the
MCM
/700 refinement of the model /70. Externally,
there was no difference between the /70 and /700 models; both
computers used the same case, keyboard, and display. They
also used the same Intel 8008 microprocessor. However, the
/700 model could have as much as 32K of
ROM
(containing
EASY
,
AVS
, and an improved
MCM
/
APL
interpreter) and could
be interfaced with a range of peripheral equipment such as the
SDS
-250 and
DDS
-500 floppy disk drives, the
MCP
-132 printer,
the
VDU
-2480 and
VDU
-9620 external displays, the
PMR
-400
card reader, and a modem, all announced in the second half of
1975. The company set up the
MCM
User Club
and started to
publish the
MCM
News
newsletter for its shareholders, distribu-
tors, and users.
MCM
identified the small business systems market as the lar-
gest and potentially most profitable for its computers. The com-
pany estimated that in the United States alone there were more
than a million businesses and other organizations employing
fewer than 150 people. These businesses, including retail and
wholesaling firms, building contractors, and manufacturing
companies, were the primary targets of small business computer
manufacturers. Berg knew that making inroads in this market
with the
MCM
/700, given
MCM
's scarce financial resources,
would be challenging. What he didn't know was that
IBM
's ap-
