Another thing showing contemporary "popularity" of those early processors is surveys at the homebrew computer clubs. One I came across from Feb 1977 (pre Apple-2 release) had 182 responders.
Of those, 43(IMSAI)+22(Altair)+5(Sol)+5(Poly)+19(other) = 94 are marked as 8080 based, or 51%. For 6502, there are marked 6(Apple1)+4(KIM1)+9(other) = 19, or about 10% The rest are a combination of 6800, 1802, Z80, and a few lingering 8008's systems. (actually "AMI BOARD", I assume is the American Micro S6800 has a count of 20 -- so that alone actually makes the 6800 "more popular" than even the 6502 at this moment) It is also noted that about 70% of those 182 systems still had under 16KB RAM, and only 8% of them had disk drives (of these 182 surveyed). This is by no means a definitive answer, just a singular insight into one month at a West coast club in early 1977. But it does suggest the 8080 line was pretty darn popular :) On the other hand, has the Z80 or 8080 ever had a song written about it?? See song sample entry #4 "Add With Carry" here (The Stop Bits, and of course the "6502 song"): https://thestopbits.bandcamp.com/album/return-from-interrupt Have a good weekend ya'll! -Steve On Fri, Sep 19, 2025 at 1:31 PM Christian Liendo via cctalk < [email protected]> wrote: > I agree the 8080 which spawned the 8088 is a huge impact, however I > think the 6502 and subsequent MOS processors were a huge impact. > > Please note, I'm not saying you are incorrect. I just have a different > perspective. > > The number of consumer level devices and by consumer I mean not > hobbyist. The number of devices sold with that CPU or a variant was > large and it helped usher in home computing as we know it. > > In my opinion PC really didn't do that until later, but in the > beginning you had devices from the VIC-20, Apple II, BBC Micro, etc. > > Those machines created a real home market and it was people from that > market who ended up in the industry and created new technologies. > > I think without the 6502 and the consumer machines based on them, that > wouldn't have happened or it would have taken longer. > > By the way, I found your book and I am going to order it. I have many > books and I will enjoy reading this > > > https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Research-Guide-Microcomputer-2nd/dp/1411646525 > > > > On Wed, Sep 17, 2025 at 11:41 PM Murray McCullough via cctalk > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > "Unconfirmed stories and unreliable sources" are what mass readership is > > about. I'm not saying the MOS 6502 was not important but its impact does > > not match the 8080. The very early days the 6502 had its day in the sun! > > The INTEL monopoly was well underway solidifying with the 8088 in the PC > > World. I wrote a book about the early micro-computing days as an > historian > > and do confirm statements I make. I agree Chuck Guzis was the expert here > > and we do truly miss him. > > > > Happy computing, >
