Welcome to the latest edition of On This Day where we examine events that occurred on this day in technology history. Today in technology history we look back on the launch of the eMate 300 and the Altair Basic programming language.
1975 – Altair Basic Announced
In the MITS Altair newsletter titled “Computer Notes”, an announcement is made of the release of the Altair BASIC programming language. The language is the first product released by the new company Micro-Soft. The language will be distributed by MITS for the Altair 8800, which was released in January and sold through Popular Electronics and other hobby magazines.
1997 – Apple Releases the eMate 300
Apple announces the eMate 300. The device will be marketed as a low-cost laptop for the education market. It features a distinctive translucent green clamshell case with a 25 MHz ARM 710a RISC processor with the Newton operating system. The design will prove to be so popular that Apple will later reuse elements of its design in its first generation iBook. The laptop retails at the proce of $800.
