<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
,	O
short	O
for	O
Keyboard	O
Input	O
Monitor	B-General_Concept
,	O
is	O
a	O
small	O
6502-based	O
single-board	B-Device
computer	I-Device
developed	O
and	O
produced	O
by	O
MOS	B-Architecture
Technology	I-Architecture
,	I-Architecture
Inc	I-Architecture
.	I-Architecture
and	O
launched	O
in	O
1976	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
very	O
successful	O
in	O
that	O
period	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
low	O
price	O
(	O
thanks	O
to	O
the	O
inexpensive	O
6502	B-General_Concept
microprocessor	I-General_Concept
)	O
and	O
easy-access	O
expandability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MOS	B-Architecture
Technology	I-Architecture
's	O
first	O
processor	O
,	O
the	O
6501	B-General_Concept
,	O
could	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
existing	O
motherboards	O
that	O
used	O
the	O
Motorola	B-Device
6800	I-Device
,	O
allowing	O
potential	O
users	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
Motorola	O
immediately	O
sued	O
,	O
forcing	O
MOS	O
to	O
pull	O
the	O
6501	B-General_Concept
from	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Changing	O
the	O
pin	O
layout	O
produced	O
the	O
"	O
lawsuit-friendly	O
"	O
6502	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Otherwise	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
6501	B-General_Concept
,	O
it	O
nevertheless	O
had	O
the	O
disadvantage	O
of	O
having	O
no	O
machine	O
in	O
which	O
new	O
users	O
could	O
quickly	O
start	O
playing	O
with	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chuck	O
Peddle	O
,	O
leader	O
of	O
the	O
650x	O
group	O
at	O
MOS	O
(	O
and	O
former	O
member	O
of	O
Motorola	O
's	O
6800	O
team	O
)	O
,	O
designed	O
the	O
KIM-1	B-Device
in	O
order	O
to	O
fill	O
this	O
need	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
came	O
to	O
market	O
in	O
1976	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
complete	O
system	O
could	O
be	O
constructed	O
for	O
under	O
with	O
the	O
purchase	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
itself	O
for	O
only	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
adding	O
a	O
power	O
supply	O
,	O
a	O
used	O
terminal	B-Application
and	O
a	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
books	O
were	O
available	O
demonstrating	O
small	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
programs	O
for	O
the	O
KIM	O
,	O
including	O
The	O
First	O
Book	O
of	O
KIM	O
by	O
Jim	O
Butterfield	O
et	O
al	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Canadian	O
programmer	O
Peter	O
R	O
.	O
Jennings	O
produced	O
what	O
was	O
probably	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
for	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
to	O
be	O
sold	O
commercially	O
,	O
Microchess	B-Application
,	O
originally	O
for	O
the	O
KIM-1	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
system	O
became	O
more	O
popular	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
common	O
additions	O
was	O
the	O
Tiny	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hard	O
part	O
was	O
loading	O
the	O
BASIC	O
from	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
—	O
a	O
15-minute	O
,	O
error-prone	O
ordeal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rockwell	O
International	O
—	O
who	O
second-sourced	O
the	O
6502	B-General_Concept
,	O
along	O
with	O
Synertek	O
—	O
released	O
their	O
own	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
in	O
one	O
board	O
in	O
1978	O
,	O
the	O
AIM-65	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AIM	O
included	O
a	O
full	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
keyboard	O
,	O
a	O
20-character	O
14-segment	B-General_Concept
alphanumeric	O
LED	O
display	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
small	O
cash	O
register-like	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
debug	B-General_Concept
monitor	I-General_Concept
was	O
provided	O
as	O
standard	O
firmware	B-Application
for	O
the	O
AIM	O
,	O
and	O
users	O
could	O
also	O
purchase	O
optional	O
ROM	B-Device
chips	I-Device
with	O
an	O
assembler	B-Language
and	O
a	O
Microsoft	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
interpreter	B-Application
to	O
choose	O
from	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
the	O
Synertek	O
SYM-1	B-Device
variant	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
said	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
machine	O
halfway	O
between	O
the	O
KIM	O
and	O
the	O
AIM	O
;	O
it	O
had	O
the	O
KIM	O
's	O
small	O
display	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
simple	O
membrane	B-Device
keyboard	I-Device
of	O
29	O
keys	O
(	O
hex	O
digits	O
and	O
control	O
keys	O
only	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
provided	O
AIM-standard	O
expansion	O
interfaces	O
and	O
true	O
RS-232	O
(	O
voltage	O
level	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
current	O
loop	O
mode	O
supported	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
consisted	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
printed	O
circuit	O
board	O
with	O
all	O
the	O
components	O
on	O
one	O
side	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
included	O
three	O
main	O
ICs	O
;	O
the	O
MCS6502	B-General_Concept
CPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
two	O
MCS6530	B-Device
Peripheral	O
Interface/Memory	O
Devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
MCS6530	B-Device
comprises	O
a	O
mask	O
programmable	O
1024	O
x	O
8	O
ROM	B-Device
,	O
a	O
64	O
x	O
8	O
RAM	O
,	O
two	O
8	O
bit	O
bi-directional	B-Architecture
ports	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
a	O
programmable	B-Device
interval	I-Device
timer	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
brochure	O
said	O
"	O
1	O
K	O
BYTE	B-Application
RAM	O
"	O
but	O
it	O
actually	O
had	O
1152	O
bytes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
memory	O
was	O
composed	O
of	O
eight	O
6102	O
static	B-Architecture
RAMs	I-Architecture
(	O
1024	O
x	O
1	O
bits	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
two	O
64	O
byte	B-Application
RAMs	O
of	O
the	O
MCS6530s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
early	O
hobbyist	O
computer	O
advertisements	O
would	O
use	O
both	O
"	O
words	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
bytes	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
common	O
to	O
see	O
"	O
4096	O
words	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
4K	O
(	O
4096	O
)	O
words	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
4	O
K	O
bytes	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
the	O
April	O
1976	O
issue	O
of	O
BYTE	B-Application
and	O
the	O
advertisement	O
stated	O
"	O
1	O
K	O
BYTE	B-Application
RAM	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
2048	O
ROM	B-Device
BYTES	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
included	O
were	O
six	O
7-segment	B-General_Concept
LEDs	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
those	O
on	O
a	O
pocket	O
calculator	B-Application
)	O
and	O
a	O
24-key	O
calculator-type	O
keypad	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
pins	O
of	O
the	O
I/O	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
6530s	B-Device
were	O
connected	O
to	O
two	O
connectors	O
on	O
the	O
edge	O
of	O
the	O
board	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
serial	B-Protocol
system	O
for	O
driving	O
a	O
Teletype	B-Application
Model	I-Application
33	I-Application
ASR	O
and	O
paper	O
tape	O
reader	O
and	O
punch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
these	O
connectors	O
also	O
doubled	O
as	O
the	O
power	O
supply	O
connector	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
analog	O
lines	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
a	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
recorder	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earlier	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
systems	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
MITS	B-Architecture
Altair	I-Architecture
used	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
switches	O
on	O
the	O
front	O
of	O
the	O
machine	O
to	O
enter	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
do	O
anything	O
useful	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
had	O
to	O
enter	O
a	O
small	O
program	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
bootstrap	B-Operating_System
loader	I-Operating_System
"	O
into	O
the	O
machine	O
using	O
these	O
switches	O
,	O
a	O
process	O
known	O
as	O
booting	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
would	O
often	O
take	O
upwards	O
of	O
five	O
minutes	O
to	O
load	O
the	O
tiny	O
program	O
into	O
memory	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
single	O
error	O
while	O
flipping	O
the	O
switches	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
bootstrap	B-Operating_System
loader	I-Operating_System
would	O
crash	O
the	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
included	O
a	O
somewhat	O
more	O
complex	O
built-in	O
Terminal	B-Application
Interface	O
Monitor	B-General_Concept
software	O
called	O
TIM	O
that	O
was	O
"	O
contained	O
in	O
2048	O
bytes	B-Application
of	O
ROM	B-Device
in	O
two	O
6530	B-Device
ROM/RAM/IO	O
arrays	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
monitor	B-General_Concept
software	O
included	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
for	O
storage	O
,	O
drive	O
the	O
LED	O
display	O
,	O
and	O
run	O
the	O
keypad	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
soon	O
as	O
the	O
power	O
was	O
turned	O
on	O
,	O
the	O
monitor	B-General_Concept
would	O
run	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
could	O
immediately	O
start	O
interacting	O
with	O
the	O
machine	O
via	O
the	O
keypad	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
KIM-1	B-Device
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
single-board	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
needing	O
only	O
an	O
external	O
power	O
supply	O
to	O
enable	O
its	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
experimental	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
designer	O
of	O
the	O
TV	B-Device
Typewriter	I-Device
,	O
Don	O
Lancaster	O
,	O
developed	O
a	O
low	O
cost	O
video	O
display	O
for	O
the	O
KIM-1	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
add-on	O
board	O
would	O
display	O
up	O
to	O
4000	O
characters	O
on	O
a	O
TV	O
or	O
monitor	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
format	O
of	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
tape	O
is	O
:	O
100	O
bytes	B-Application
with	O
the	O
value	O
0x16	O
(	O
SYN	O
,	O
Synchronous	O
Idle	O
)	O
,	O
one	O
byte	B-Application
with	O
the	O
value	O
0x2A	O
( *	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
record	O
identification	O
number	O
,	O
the	O
start	O
address	O
(	O
two	O
characters	O
for	O
the	O
low	O
byte	B-Application
of	O
address	O
,	O
two	O
characters	O
for	O
the	O
high	O
byte	B-Application
)	O
,	O
the	O
end	O
address	O
(	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
format	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
actual	O
data	O
,	O
one	O
byte	B-Application
with	O
the	O
value	O
0x2F	O
("/"	O
character	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
two-byte	O
checksum	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
two	O
bytes	B-Application
with	O
the	O
value	O
0x04	O
(	O
EOT	O
,	O
End	O
Of	O
Transmission	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
byte	B-Application
of	O
memory	O
is	O
stored	O
as	O
two	O
sequential	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
characters	I-Protocol
on	O
tape	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
hexadecimal	O
B5	O
in	O
memory	O
(	O
181	O
decimal	O
)	O
would	O
be	O
stored	O
as	O
two	O
sequential	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
characters	I-Protocol
"	O
B	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
5	O
"	O
(	O
42	O
and	O
35	O
hexadecimal	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
