Imagesource: https://youtu.be/dFOKQoWlpGk

Have you ever heard of the Sphere Computer? No? Then it's about time. This rather unknown machine was quite significant. Built in 1975 and based on the Motorola 6800, it was in direct competition with machines like the Altair 8800, but instead of Blinkenlights and switches on a front panel, it already came with a CRT output module, that allowed the connection to a monitor.

But what made the box really special, was the IDE consisting of a scrollable text editor and integrated assember, which made software development really easy for that time.

Why didn't the concept make it? Ben Zotto aka @bzotto doesn't have an answer to that question in his recent video yet. But on sphere.computer you can find an emulator and the necessary documentation.