• 1981

Hardware Description

The System/23 Datamaster (Model 5322) was announced by IBM in July 1981, only one month before the IBM PC. The Datamaster was an all-in-one computer with text-mode CRT display, keyboard, processor, memory, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives all contained in one cabinet. The processor was an 8-bit Intel 8085, with bank switching logic to manage 256 kB of memory. A BASIC interpreter was built-in. A second keyboard and screen could be attached in an extended configuration. The intention of the Datamaster was to provide a computer that could be installed and operated without specialists.