Tuesday, 28 June 2011



CONVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES  Convergent Technologies
Workslate

Convergent Technologies of Santa Clara, California introduced the Worslate the same time as the Tandy Model 100. Although it was about the same size of the Model 100, the Workslate was primarily a spreadsheet machine. No other software could be loaded except some application which was adaptations of the basic spreadsheet program.

The Workslate used a CMOS version of the old 6800 processor and 16B KB of RAM. RAM size couldn't be extended and allowed a limited 720 cells spreadsheet to be filled. The keyboard with circular rubber-keys was hard-to-use for text entry. However, with its phone book, memo pad, and financial calculator, the Workslate was designed for those who only wanted a business tool and didn't want to learn about computers.

Also built-in were a tape drive able to record and play data's or voice annotations, a 300-baud modem and a printer port.

The Workslate was first launched in the American Express Christmas catalog, and was sold as a high-tech novelty product. But no one was interested in buying a limited spreadsheet machine for $895. Convergent Technology planned to sell 200,000 units within a year, but only 5,000 systems were sold in the U.S.A plus some hundreds in Europe. The product was discontinued in July 1984, and the company lost about $15 million.

If you notice the keyboard has a "DoIt" key. The President of the fledgling company Allen Michaels used to roam the halls of the company at night and spray paint "DoIT" everywhere, hence the key name.



NAME  Workslate
MANUFACTURER  Convergent Technologies
TYPE  Portable
ORIGIN  U.S.A.
YEAR  December 1982
END OF PRODUCTION  July 1984
BUILT IN LANGUAGE  None
KEYBOARD  61 rubber keys with numeric keypad and 5 function keys
CPU  Hitachi 6303 (CMOS version of the Motorola 6800)
SPEED  1.228 MHz.
RAM  16 KB
ROM  64 KB
TEXT MODES  46 chars x 16 lines. LCD display
GRAPHIC MODES  Unknown
COLOrsc  Monochrome
SOUND  Unknown
SIZE / WEIGHT  28 (W) x 21.5 (D) x 2.5 (H) cm. / 1.5 Kg.
I/O PORTS  Telephone jack, Printer
BUILT IN MEDIA  Micro-cassette drive
POWER SUPPLY  4 x AA size batteries or AC adaptor
PERIPHERALS  Printer, universal peripheral adapter
PRICE  $1795 - Pen-type printer/plotter: $399


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