Chapter 45: MOS 6502

In his past life, Ethan Jones wasn't a tech person, his knowledge of the tech world limited to autobiographies written by various industry giants. However, these memoirs also touched upon the reasons for the emergence and widespread popularity of personal computers.

The former reason was the birth of the central microprocessor.

The latter was the affordability of personal computers.

So, when Steve Wozniak mentioned finding inexpensive chips, Ethan Jones immediately thought of Magnavox.

Because, if he remembered correctly, Magnavox initially succeeded based on the attribute of offering good quality at an affordable price.

As for other details, like how Magnavox managed to cut costs and win the market through price wars? If Ethan could recall these things perfectly, would he still be sitting here now?

He would've been busy with it a long time ago! But, those details didn't matter.

When Steve Wozniak revealed finding a CPU for forty-two dollars, Ethan perked up, and when Steve Jobs inquired about the situation, Ethan listened even more intently.

The chubby guy didn't hold back and directly shared his findings.

"Oh, Steve, the story behind this is quite interesting, you know. When I found out that the design of the Personal Computer by Altair 8800 didn't match the level of my high school projects, an idea popped into my mind – a desire to showcase the inventions of the past."

"So, after last month's gathering, I redesigned the personal computer in my mind. During the design, I carefully reviewed the prices and specifications of microprocessors in the market."

"When I discovered that both Intel 8080 and Motorola 6800 were priced the same at 360 dollars, but the performance of Motorola 6800 was slightly better, I decided to use Motorola 6800 as the core of the computer."

"But just when I finished drawing the circuit diagram, my colleague suddenly told me that there's a company in Wisconsin selling cheap microprocessors. The retail price for each chip is forty-two dollars."

Hearing this, Steve Jobs widened his eyes, "WTF?"

"Isn't this news just too miraculous?"

Witnessing all this, Steve Wozniak raised his eyebrows and said, "Quite shocking, huh?"

"Absolutely!"

Jobs waved his hands, trying to lower his voice, but couldn't contain his excitement, "What's the concept of a forty-two dollar chip? When Motorola and Intel are selling chips for three hundred and sixty dollars, this price is simply heaven!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

The chubby guy vigorously nodded and said, "I was as excited as you at that time!"

"If it weren't for the distance between California and Wisconsin, I would have rushed to see the chip that night!"

"It's precisely because of the distance that I could only ask my colleagues for their contact information."

"At first, I hoped they could send a microprocessor over, but when I found out that, at the beginning of this month, they would come to San Francisco to promote their products, I decided to meet them in person."

"And then..."

"I felt like I saw God!"

Wozniak waved his hands, saying, "Although it's been several weeks since it happened, I'm still very excited. I can't describe my feelings at that time, but I know this is what I was looking for!"

"After getting it, I couldn't wait to solder it onto my circuit board!"

"And these days, I've been busy modifying the circuit diagram!"

"So... today, being called by those people, I was annoyed!"

"Because they are really wasting my time!"

Saying this, Steve Wozniak showed a hint of displeasure.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, was extremely excited, "Oh, Stephen! Does that mean you can make things right away?"

Jobs shouted, "Are we going to have our own computer right away?"

"If today's unexpected events don't happen again, I think I can finish it in a few days," Wozniak nodded earnestly.

"Oh! This is really a surprise!"

Jobs pumped his fist, "Dxmn! This is the best news I've heard today!"

In the next moment, he became angry again, "Sxxt! This group led by Steven Levy is really damned! They are truly wasting your time, no! They are executioners! Murdering your precious life!"

"Oh! Brother! Let's eat quickly now! Later, I must go back with you! I want to witness that thrilling moment! I, Steve Jobs, will also have a microcomputer! Hahaha!"

Speaking of this, Steve Jobs turned his head to look at Ethan, inviting warmly, "Ethan, do you have time? Want to come and see? Really! I guarantee Stephen's technology will definitely open your eyes!"

As the words fell, he noticed something was off, turned his head towards Steve Wozniak, and asked, "Oh, Stephen, I'm sorry. I'm a bit excited right now. What I wanted to say is, you don't mind showcasing your technology in front of Ethan, do you?"

"Of course!" The chubby guy straightened his nose and smiled at Ethan, "If you have time, you can come completely."

"Steve mentioned you before, said you're a great friend, very generous, unlike those guys from Grontai. You know who should share the joy with you."

"Oh, thanks." Ethan knew Wozniak was referring to him giving Jobs a thousand bucks.

"That's just normal cooperation," he emphasized.

"But you really helped Steve." The chubby guy shrugged, "He's happy, and I'm happy too."

"Alright, alright, don't emphasize this kind of thing again. If you keep saying it, I'll feel embarrassed." Ethan nodded, "I have time, and I'm honored to receive your invitation."

Ethan is certainly interested!

After listening to Wozniak's description of that cheap chip, he knew that this must be the moment when Magnavox was born.

When such a moment, destined to leave a mark in the history of technology, appears, witnessing it is indeed a fortunate thing.

In the excitement of this surprise, the three quickly finished lunch and then arrived at Palo Alto.

At this moment, Wozniak is an engineer at HP, so he settled his home here.

When the chubby Steve Wozniak invited Ethan and Jobs into the house, he excitedly displayed the black-packaged chip, about one-third the size of a modern memory module, in front of Ethan.

On both sides of the chip were two rows of symmetrical pins, and in the center of the chip, there were white printed words.

Three vertical bars, a circular cake, three horizontal bars – the logo of the chip manufacturer.

The string of numbers "6502" is the name of the chip.

Honestly, this is a moment to witness history.

But when Ethan saw the appearance of the chip clearly, he was struck like lightning, standing still, unable to believe his eyes!

Because in that instant, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have seen this chip before!

The time should be in his past life!

And at that time, the place where this chip existed should be in the teacher's lecture slides!

As for its name?

If Ethan remembered correctly, its name is the printed word on the chip—

MOS 6502!