<s>
Canon	B-Device
Cat	I-Device
is	O
a	O
task-dedicated	O
desktop	O
computer	B-Architecture
released	O
by	O
Canon	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
1987	O
at	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
U.S.	O
$	O
1,495	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
surface	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
unlike	O
dedicated	B-General_Concept
word	I-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
popular	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
to	O
early	O
1980s	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
far	O
more	O
powerful	O
,	O
and	O
incorporated	O
many	O
unique	O
ideas	O
for	O
data	O
manipulation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Canon	B-Device
Cat	I-Device
is	O
primarily	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
Jef	O
Raskin	O
,	O
the	O
originator	O
of	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
project	O
at	O
Apple	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
leaving	O
the	O
company	O
in	O
1982	O
and	O
founding	O
Information	O
Appliance	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
he	O
began	O
designing	O
a	O
new	O
computer	B-Architecture
closer	O
to	O
his	O
original	O
vision	O
of	O
an	O
inexpensive	O
,	O
utilitarian	O
"	O
people	O
's	O
computer	B-Architecture
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Information	O
Appliance	O
developed	O
the	O
Swyft	O
computer	B-Architecture
prototype	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
developed	O
and	O
licensed	O
it	O
to	O
Canon	O
as	O
the	O
Cat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BYTE	B-Application
in	O
1987	O
described	O
the	O
Cat	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
spiritual	O
heir	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
features	O
a	O
text	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
not	O
making	O
use	O
of	O
any	O
pointer	O
(	O
mouse	B-Device
)	O
,	O
icons	O
,	O
or	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
using	O
a	O
traditional	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
interface	I-Application
or	O
menu	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
Cat	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
its	O
special	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
with	O
commands	O
being	O
activated	O
by	O
holding	O
down	O
a	O
"	O
Use	O
Front	O
"	O
key	O
and	O
pressing	O
another	O
key	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Cat	O
also	O
uses	O
special	O
"	O
Leap	O
keys	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
,	O
when	O
held	O
down	O
,	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
incrementally	B-Application
search	I-Application
for	O
strings	O
of	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machine	O
's	O
hardware	O
consists	O
of	O
a	O
9-inch	O
(	O
229mm	O
)	O
black-and-white	O
monitor	B-Device
(	O
80	O
x	O
24	O
character	O
display	O
,	O
672	O
x	O
344	O
resolution	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
single	O
3½-inch	O
256	O
KB	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
and	O
an	O
IBM	O
Selectric	O
–	O
compatible	O
keyboard	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
uses	O
a	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
CPU	B-General_Concept
(	O
like	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
Lisa	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
)	O
running	O
at	O
5	O
MHz	O
,	O
has	O
256	O
KB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
an	O
internal	O
300/1200	O
bit/s	O
modem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Setup	O
and	O
user	O
preference	O
data	O
are	O
stored	O
in	O
8	O
KB	O
of	O
non-volatile	O
(	O
battery	O
backed-up	O
)	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Cat	O
's	O
array	O
of	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
interfaces	I-General_Concept
encompasses	O
one	O
Centronics	O
parallel	B-Device
port	I-Device
,	O
one	O
RS-232C	O
serial	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
(	O
DB-25	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
RJ11	O
telephone	O
jacks	O
for	O
the	O
modem	B-Application
loop	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
extensive	O
range	O
of	O
application	O
software	O
is	O
built	O
into	O
256	O
KB	O
of	O
ROM	B-Device
:	O
standard	O
office	O
suite	O
programs	O
,	O
communications	O
,	O
a	O
90,000	O
-word	O
spelling	O
dictionary	O
,	O
and	O
user	O
programming	O
toolchains	B-General_Concept
for	O
Forth	B-Application
and	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
text-only	B-Application
machine	O
,	O
the	O
Cat	O
includes	O
graphics	O
routines	O
in	O
ROM	B-Device
as	O
well	O
as	O
connectors	O
for	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
or	O
other	O
pointing	B-Device
device	I-Device
that	O
are	O
never	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
defunct	O
software	O
project	O
called	O
Archy	B-Application
,	O
initiated	O
by	O
Raskin	O
,	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
similar	O
yet	O
even	O
more	O
capable	O
system	O
for	O
current	O
computing	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
eventually	O
replace	O
current	O
software	O
user	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
.	O
</s>
