Long before Microsoft and Intel ruled the PC world, a multitude of often quaint home computers were battling for supremacy in a melting pot that would shape the IT industry for years to come. Products from corporate giants clashed with machines that appeared to have been knocked together in a backyard by an eccentric inventor. Compatibility? Forget it! Each of these computers was its own machine and had no intention of talking to anything else. This book tells the story of the classic home computers that paved the way for the PCs we use today - from 1977's pioneering MITS Altair to the latest swivel-screen designs of the iMac and the Tablet PC. The 1980s were the golden decade - they saw an explosion of technological and design creativity, and were the heyday of such great names as Apple, IBM, Atari, Commodore, Osborne, Sinclair, and NeXT. Digital Retro is an essential book for anyone interested in these machines and the origins of the present-day PC.