Welcome! This is the home on the web for the 1970s Sphere Corporation Computers from Utah. Browse a virtual museum and use a virtual Sphere 1!

(Sphere history book coming soon.)

About Sphere

The Sphere 1 was a product of Sphere Corporation, launched in 1975 by Mike Wise in Bountiful, Utah. It was an all-in-one integrated microcomputer based on the new Motorola 6800 platform. It was ahead of its time; it was also delayed, somewhat difficult to use and frequently flaky. Sphere Corp itself disappeared in 1977, and Sphere was soon a punchline, then a footnote.

The Sphere computer may have been at its heart a hobbyist's machine, but its design and capabilities prefigured the mass-market computers that would become ubiquitous just a few years later.

About this project

I'm Ben Zotto, a research historian, engineer, and writer from California. I'm assembling the story of Sphere-- a unique computer, and the unique company who built it and the people who used it. In addition to maintaining this site, I'm working on a book that will document thousands of hours of research; sign up for updates and writings about early microcomputing.

As part of this project, I've built a virtual web emulator for the standard Sphere configuration, including the first new game for the Sphere in 40+ years. 👾 😂 Try computing like it's 1975. I've also created the first new Sphere hardware since the 1970s-- an add-on RAM expansion board.

VIRTUAL SPHERE EMULATOR HISTORY & TECHNICAL RESOURCES SIGN UP FOR UPDATES!

Do you have Sphere hardware, software, paperwork or stories?

I'd dearly love to hear from you. Sphere systems and kits were produced in small numbers; they were often unloved even in their time and are now quite obscure. Some material has been thankfully preserved, but there's plenty I haven't had the opportunity to study and archive. If you're looking to get your old Sphere stuff to a good home, have some unseen material in a closet, or have stories of working with or for these computers, let's talk.

Copyright © 2024 by Ben Zotto. Contact me at bzotto@gmail.com

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