PUMPING RETRO IRON
Since the dawn of the PC market, most consumer users have been able to get by with the bare minimum of computing power. During the personal computer’s first two decades, that typically meant performing functions like word processing, light gaming, and home finance. Typical low- or mid-range PCs could handle those tasks with aplomb.
But not long after the first personal computers launched in the 1970s, manufacturers began to target businesses, universities, and government institutions with beefier machines. Those organizations often needed extra computing muscle for advanced production or research tasks, and later, high-end computers also served creative users such as graphic designers, video producers, and musicians.
That’s what we’re going to look at here—eight vintage “muscle machines” of the 1980s and 1990s that pushed the limits…
