Wang 2200
Wang 2200 Basic Computer
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| Manufacturer | Wang Laboratories |
|---|---|
| Type | minicomputer |
| Release date | May 1973 |
| Introductory price | US$7,400 (equivalent to $39,923 in 2016) |
| Units shipped | 65,000 |
| Operating system | Wang MOS(OS), BASIC |
| Memory | 4 kB of RAM (Expandable in 4 kB increments up to 32 kB) / MOS(OS) in 4 kB ROM / BASIC in 16 kB ROM |
| Storage | cassette tape storage unit |
| Display | 16 lines x 64 characters cathode ray tube (CRT) |
| Input | keyboard |
The Wang 2200 appeared in May 1973, and was Wang Laboratories' first minicomputer that could perform data processing in a common computer language. Unlike some other desktop computers, such as the HP 9830, it had a cathode ray tube (CRT) in a cabinet that also included an integrated computer-controlled cassette tape storage unit and keyboard. Microcoded to run interpretive BASIC, about 65,000 systems were shipped in its lifetime and it found wide use in small and medium-size businesses worldwide. The 2200 evolved into a desktop computer and larger system to support up to 16 workstations and utilized commercial disk technologies that appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The disk subsystems could be attached to up to 15 computers giving a theoretical upper limit of 240 workstations in a single cluster.
Unlike the other product lines such as the VS and OIS, Wang Laboratories aggressively used value added resellers (VARs) to customize and market 2200 systems. One such creative solution deployed dozens of 2200 systems and was developed in conjunction with Hawaii- and Hong Kong-based firm, Algorithms, Inc. It provided paging (beeper) services for much of the Hong Kong market in the early 1980s.
In the 1970s, Wang 2200 computers were extensively used by Gosplan and Goskomstat, the main Soviet planning and statistical agencies. The fear of backdoors in the Western hardware led to the reverse engineering of the original system and the development of the Iskra-226, a 100% binary-compatible clone.
The development started in 1978, and the series production began in 1980, so the oft-cited reason of CoCom restriction in the wake of Afghan War (which started in 1980) appear to be baseless. Soviet computer historians note that the Gosplan and Goskomstat users much preferred the original Wang hardware, so the clones were mainly used by the other organizations, mainly in research and industry. It was helped by the fact that Iskra, while 100% software compatible with the Wang's T-Basic code, had completely different internal structure and included many features that made it an excellent industrial controller, such as twin high-speed RS-232 interfaces, IEEE-488 equipment control interface, and CAMAC crate control circuitry. Later a somewhat simplified Unix port was created to run on this machine.
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