Product Code Database
The Canon Cat is a task-dedicated microcomputer released by Canon Inc. in 1987 for . Its appearance resembles dedicated of the late 1970s to early 1980s, but it is far more powerful, and has many unique ideas for data manipulation.
The system is primarily the creation of Jef Raskin, who originated the Macintosh project at Apple. After leaving the company in 1982 and founding Information Appliance, Inc., he began designing a new computer closer to his original vision of an inexpensive, utilitarian "people's computer". Information Appliance first developed the SwyftCard for the Apple II, then licensed it to Canon as the Cat. BYTE in 1987 described the Cat as "a spiritual heir to the Macintosh".
The hardware consists of a 9-inch (229 mm) black-and-white computer monitor (80 x 24 character display, 672 x 344 resolution), a single 3½-inch 256 kilobyte floppy disk drive, and an IBM Selectric–compatible keyboard. It uses a Motorola 68000 CPU (like the Macintosh) running at 5 Megahertz, has 256 KB of RAM, and an internal 300/1200 bit/s modem. Setup and user preference data are stored in 8 KB of non-volatile RAM with battery backup. The array of I/O interfaces encompasses one Centronics parallel port, one RS-232C serial port (DB-25), and two RJ11 telephone jacks for the modem loop. The total weight is .
A range of application software is built into 256 KB of read-only memory: a standard office suite, telecommunications, a 90,000-word spelling dictionary, and user programming for Forth and assembly language.
Graphics routines are in ROM, and connectors for a computer mouse or other pointing device are never used.
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