Few people have heard of it, yet John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 was the first commercially available personal computer.
DIY Pinball Machine Emulator
By James Grahame
In 2006, the Retro Thing team had a chance to try UltraPin. It was a $6500 commercial digital pinball machine that emulated 12 different tables on a pair of LCD flat panels. The device wasn't a commercial success, perhaps because of the price and perhaps because pinball enthusiasts prefer real tables.
Four years later, Ryan O'Horo has built a fantastic 1/3 scale DIY table that runs Windows XP and the Future Pinball emulator. It features a custom plywood cabinet, 19" LCD display for the table, speakers, LED backlit back glass, an LED marquee, shooter, coin acceptor, an accelerometer and flipper buttons with solenoid feedback.
I'm still not totally sold on the idea of a pinball emulator, but this little cabinet definitely beats having to find space for a dozen full-sized machines in the basement.
