主要参数编辑本段回目录
| Model: | V777 |
| Released: | July 1987 |
| Price: | US $1495 |
| How many: | 20,000 sold |
| CPU: | Motorola 68000 @ 5MHz |
| RAM: | 256kB |
| Storage: | internal 3.5-inch floppy drive |
| Display: | 9-inch white CRT |
| 640 x 400 resolution | |
| 80 x 24 text | |
| Ports: | serial, parallel |
| OS: | proprietary, written in FORTH |
 |  |
| NAME | CAT |
| MANUFACTURER | Canon |
| TYPE | Professional Computer |
| ORIGIN | Japan |
| YEAR | 1987 |
| END OF PRODUCTION | Six months later |
| BUILT IN LANGUAGE | Forth |
| KEYBOARD | Monobloc system. Full-stroke keyboard (compatible with IBM Selectric), 49 keys. Special keys: LEAP (left & right), USE FRONT, DOCUMENT/PAGE, PERM SPACE/TAB, UNDO, ERASE, LOCK, SHIFT (x2) |
| CPU | Motorola 68000 |
| SPEED | 5 MHz |
| RAM | 256 KB |
| ROM | 256 KB |
| TEXT MODES | Unknown |
| GRAPHIC MODES | Unknown |
| COLORS | Black & white 9'' display |
| SOUND | Unknown |
| SIZE / WEIGHT | 27.18 X 33.78 X 45.21 cm (10.7 X 13.3 X 17.8 inches) / 7.71 kg (17 lbs.) |
| I/O PORTS | Centronics parallel port, RS-232C serial port (DB-25 connector), 2 x RJ-11 jacks (for telephone connections) |
| BUILT IN MEDIA | 3.5'' floppy disk drive (256 KB) |
| OS | Machine Specific |
| POWER SUPPLY | PSU built-in, 120v |
| PRICE | $1495 (USA, 1987) |
详解编辑本段回目录
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The Canon Cat was designed by Jef Raskin, who in 1979 initiated the original Macintosh computer project while working at Apple (Raskin was Apple employee #31). The Macintosh, so-named by Raskin, was to be an inexpensive, text-based, keyboard-controlled system meant for the average "person in the street" (PITS). After Steve Jobs took over the project while still in its infancy, Raskin left Apple to start his own company, Information Appliance, Inc., where he was free to develop his ideas without external influence.
Continuing his "user interface" (UI) concepts, he developed the SWYFT, a protoype system which eventually evolved into the Cat, after Canon bought and financed the development.
The Canon Cat is an single unit, with the keyboard, electronics, and monitor all housed in an ergonomically-design enclosure. A convenient carrying handle is formed into the enclosure, behind the display.
Although the Cat has a serial port and software routines to support input devices such as a mouse or pointing pad, none were released or supported by Canon. The Cat also has advanced graphics tools in ROM, but they were never utilized - the Cat as released supports text only.
The optional Cat180 (Canon PR100) daisy wheel printer can print only text, and it does it very well, but at only 18cps (characters per second). All of the required software is permanently stored in system ROM. Floppy disks are required only to save and restore documents and other work. Approximately 80 pages (180kB) of text can be saved to each floppy disk.
The operator can easily and quickly save all current work to the floppy drive, by simply hitting a two-key combination - the entire 256K system memory is saved to the SSDD disk. When the Cat is restarted, the system RAM is restored from the floppy disk, allowing the operator to continue where last left off. By design, there is no operating system, as far as the user is concerned.
Navigation is performed using the "Leap" keys. With different Leap key combinations, it's possible to instantly jump to any paragraph in the document, any sentence, or any individual word to perform editing or correction. It's just as easy to return to the end of the document to continue writing.
The software is advanced enough to perform mathematical calculation right in the text document, using the [CALC] button. Columns and rows can be combined to act as a spreadsheet, allowing the use of advanced and complicated formulas.
The built-in 90,000 word dictionary helps minimize spelling errors, while the [EXPLAIN] key offers instant help on most topics and key useage.
The Cat has an internal 300/1200 baud modem, capable of connecting and transferring text (only) to and from another computer, or even another Cat. Simply highlight the desired text on the screen and hit [SEND] to transmit the text to the other system. All incoming text appears on the screen and becomes part of the current document. The Cat can also act as a 24-hour message center, saving all incoming messages to the floppy drive.
The Cat is actually much more powerful than let on by Canon, who marketed it as a closed-architecture secretarial workstation, not as the real computer which exists under the hood. Because of poor sales, Canon discontinued the Cat after only six months. This was due to poor marketing, according to Raskin.
苹果Mac计算机发明人杰夫·拉斯金去世编辑本段回目录
Until his Feb. 26 death at 61, the creator of the Macintosh led the rallying cry for easy-to-use computers, leaving an indelible mark on Silicon Valley and helping to revolutionize the computer industry.
美国苹果Macintosh计算机发明人杰夫·拉斯金2月26日因病在家中去世，享年61岁。说到杰夫·拉斯金这个名字，或许大多数人并不十分清楚。确实他并不像比尔盖茨那样，是世界闻名的巨型集团的CEO，他也不曾拥有动辄千万美元的资产，他只是一个默默无闻的高科技工作者。提起苹果公司的大名，或许大家都会将目光集中在公司现任CEO斯蒂夫·乔布斯的身上，然而又有谁清楚苹果今天辉煌业绩的真正缔造者——杰夫·拉斯金先生的名字呢？
据美国《商业周刊》3月1日报道，苹果公司知名产品Macintosh计算机就出自拉斯金之手，而拉斯金先生在电脑产品易用性方面作出的贡献几乎贯穿了整个硅谷的发展历史。我们可以这样说，拉斯金先生改变了当前电脑产品的操纵方式。2月26日，这位勤勤恳恳的老人因为胰腺癌晚期在美国家中去世，享年61岁。
去世之前的半年时间中，拉斯金先生将他的全部精力投入到一款名为Archy的操作系统软件研发中，根据项目中的合作伙伴提供的信息，此款操作系统将会大大提高用户易用性，并且有望将电脑用户沟通技术引入一个新的纪元。去年夏天，拉斯金先生的最后一个项目正式启动，然而也就是在同一时间，他被查出患有严重的胰腺癌。拉斯金先生并没有被疾病束缚住，他坚持在半年的时间内完成了软件工程的大体框架设计工作。
在苹果公司的发展史上，拉斯金先生可谓是战功显赫。拉斯金先生以苹果公司第31号员工的身份加入了公司，在接下来的时间里，拉斯金的产品设计天赋得以体现，Macintosh以及iPod等苹果知名产品先后诞生在拉斯金先生的旗下。当拉斯金先生带领团队研发苹果Macintosh产品的时候，他手下仅有4至5名工作人员。Macintosh在市场上取得的热烈反响帮助苹果打响了进军IT产业的第一枪，并最终跻身为美国顶级个人电脑制造商的行列。
拉斯金的构想在当时的IT领域可谓是独树一帜，在他的眼中电脑产品应该是以一种低廉价格的形式出现在市场上，并且应该拥有简单易用的特性来吸引那些非科技用户。在拉斯金的大力倡导下，苹果公司一直走在家用个人电脑领域的技术最前沿。他创造了“点击”和“拖拉”的鼠标选项，Macintosh正式推出后，图形界面的出现彻底改变了人机对话的方式。最终其他绝大部分的软件都开始走上图形界面之路，其中也包括微软的Windows操作系统。
不过就在Mac计算机推向市场的两年前，苹果公司现任CEO斯蒂夫·乔布斯先生接手这一项目，而因为彼此的矛盾拉斯金最终离开了公司。不过，他一手打造的研发团队还是沿着他的构想，最终设计出了具有划时代意义的Macintosh计算机。
在离开苹果公司后，拉斯金自己创办了一家名为Information Appliance的公司，并与佳能公司联手推出另一款小型电脑产品Canon Cat。此款产品中整合的搜索功能甚至还要高于现在Windows中整合的搜索功能。然而因为商业运作方面的失误，拉斯金先生品尝到了失败的痛苦。不过也有人将产品的失败归咎于佳能公司市场推广方面的失职。最终的结果是Canon Cat仅仅卖出了不到2万台，并且在不久之后就淡出了消费者的视线。
2000年，拉斯金出版了一本名为《人本界面》（Humane Interface）的著作，书中阐述了界面设计的基本原理。这本书还被翻译成多种文字出版发行。另外，拉斯金还建立了一个名为“拉斯金中心”的非盈利性用户界面理论研究中心，上文提到的Archy就是研究中心最新的一个项目。
有很多事情可以让拉斯金激情澎湃，他的家庭、音乐、艺术等等……然而，致力于让电脑更容易使用的工作占据了他大部分时间。用户总是在寻找应用程序以及相关文件上耗费大量的精力。而拉斯金先生感到自己有义务帮助世界上成千上万的电脑用户节省大量不必要浪费的时间。
现在这位传奇性的苹果天才已经离开了人间，他的理想何时才能得以实现？
相关链接编辑本段回目录
参考文献编辑本段回目录
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=642
http://eduzhai.net/yingyu/607/698/yingyu_225623.html
