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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tiki-100 was a desktop home/personal computer manufactured by Tiki Data of Oslo, Norway. The computer was launched in the spring of 1984 under the original name Kontiki-100, and was first and foremost intended for the emerging educational sector, especially for primary schools. Early prototypes had 4 KB ROM, and the '100' in the machine's name was based on the total KB amount of memory.
 | |
| Also known as | Kontiki-100 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Tiki Data |
| Manufacturer | Tiki Data |
| Type | Desktop computer |
| Release date | April 1984 |
| Introductory price | NOK 12,000 (1984) (~US$1,350) |
| Discontinued | 1989 |
| Media | 5.25" Floppy disks |
| Operating system | TIKO, BBC BASIC, COMAL (Tiki-100) TIKOS (8/16) |
| CPU | Z80 @ 4MHz (Tiki-100) Z80 & 8088 @ 4MHz (8/16 & Rev. D) |
| Memory | 64KB RAM, 32KB VRAM, 8KB ROM 256 to 736 KB RAM (8/16 & Rev. D) |
| Storage | Hard drive (8/16) |
| Graphics | 256-color palette; 256x256x16, 512x256x4 or 1024x256x2 simultaneous colours (Tiki-100) CGA (Rev. D) |
| Sound | AY-3-8912 |
| Connectivity | RS-232, Centronics |
| Successor | Tiki 200 |
It was decided by the Norwegian government that Norwegian schools should all use the same standardized computer in education. The Tiki-100 was developed as a direct response to this decision, and was as such greatly influenced by the specifications laid out by the government.[2] One of the most influential of these specifications was compatibility with CP/M and the Z80 CPU.
Being designed as a computer intended for education, interactivity was prioritized. The machine was given good audiovisual capabilities for its time. While other educational computers at the time had a main focus on BASIC and simple computer-science, the Tiki-100 had more focus on being a tool to aid in education and everyday-life situations. This put forth the need and memory requirements to run more complex applications.
The first prototype was built using wire-wrap and a bigger prototype case. Soon followed a prototype made on PCB, and there were very little changes from this prototype to the final product. The most significant changes was the change from Siemens keyboard switches to cheaper Sasse switches, along with the re-arranging of the analog video output connection. Very few, if any, revision A or B Tiki-100 computers ever hit the store shelves.
Tiki-100 was released under the original name 'Kontiki-100' in the spring of 1984. Thor Heyerdahl threatened to open a legal case on the use of the Kontiki name, with reference to the name of his famous raft. The name was changed to "Tiki-100" as a result.[3] Around the same time, Computerworld magazine claimed the operating system "KP/M" was a direct copy of CP/M, due to KP/M being able to run CP/M software. As a response to these claims, KP/M was renamed "Tiko" to avoid direct association to CP/M and Digital Research.
Specifications for the basic Tiki-100 model:
Software included:
Optional expansions:
An 8/16 upgrade was possible, consisting of a secondary CPU card with a 4 MHz 8088 processor.[3] With this upgrade the machine is capable of running TIKOS(a CP/M-86 clone) and MS-DOS 2.11, with RAM being expanded up to 736 KB.[5] Although running MS-DOS, the expansion does not provide PC-compatibility. When programs are running on the 8088, the Z80 CPU is serving as an I/O processor, handling disk I/O, graphics etc.
Later, an Intel 8088 based IBM PC compatible model running MS-DOS was made, somewhat confusingly called Tiki-100 Rev. D. In addition to being PC-compatible (including CGA-compatible graphics), it also contained a Z80 processor so that it could run the original Tiki 100 software, although with a slightly reduced graphics specification due to the CGA. The two processors shared the same bus, and the Z80 programs still ran under the 8088 operating system.
After the commercial failure of the Tiki-100 rev. D, it was succeeded by the Tiki-200. This was a standard IBM PC-clone, with imported hardware which did not make any attempt at maintaining backward-compatibility with the Tiki-100. Despite these attempts at adapting to the personal-computer market, due to steep competition Tiki-Data was unable to maintain a stable foothold in it and went into gradual decline. In 1996 the company along with its deficit was bought by Merkantildata.
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