The Sol-20 was the first fully assembled microcomputer with a built-in keyboard and television output, what would later be known as a home computer. The design was a combination of an Intel 8080-based motherboard, a VDM-1 graphics card, the 3P+S I/O card to drive a keyboard, and circuitry to connect to a cassette deck for program storage. Additional expansion was available via five S-100 bus slots inside the machine. It also included swappable ROMs, the manufacturer called them 'personality modules', containing a rudimentary operating system.
The design was originally suggested by Les Solomon, the editor of Popular Electronics. He asked Bob Marsh of Processor Technology if he could design a smart terminal for use with the Altair 8800. Lee Felsenstein, who shared a garage working space with Marsh, had previously designed such a terminal but never built it. Reconsidering the design using modern electronics, they agreed the best solution was to build a complete computer with a terminal program in ROM. Felsenstein suggested the name "Sol" because they were including "the wisdom of Solomon" in the box.
The Sol appeared on the cover of the July 1976 issue of...
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