There was, in fact, a revolution in power supplies in the late 1960s through the mid 1970s as switching power supplies took over from simple but inefficient linear power supplies, but this was a few years before the Apple II came out in 1977. While most people view the power supply as a boring metal box, there's actually a lot of technological development behind it. The history of switching power supplies turns out to be pretty interesting. It turns out that Steve Jobs was making his customary claim that everyone is stealing Apple's revolutionary technology, entirely contrary to the facts. Modern computer power supplies are totally different and do not rip off anything from Rod Holt's design. It turns out that Apple's power supply was not revolutionary, either in the concept of using a switching power supply for computers or in the specific design of the power supply. I found it amazing to think that computers now use power supplies based on the Apple II's design, so I did some investigation. Every computer now uses switching power supplies, and they all rip off Rod Holt's design." "Rod doesn't get a lot of credit for this in the history books but he should. "That switching power supply was as revolutionary as the Apple II logic board was," Jobs later said. It switched the power on and off not sixty times per second, but thousands of times this allowed it to store the power for far less time, and thus throw off less heat. Instead of a conventional linear power supply, Holt built one like those used in oscilloscopes. Steve Jobs contains a remarkable claim about the power supply of the Apple II and its designer Rod Holt:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |