This is a point-of-sale computer from MOS Scale International. They initially sold their products to the mailing and shipping industries, including businesses with mail centers. However, it was this specific device, sold in 1985, that led to a long partnership with the United States Post Office.

The particular computer used an all-in-one design with a built-in monitor, keyboard, floppy disk drive and scale. It was powered by the Motorola 6802 processor and used custom ROMs, a custom OS, and strangely, even a custom video signal. Later models were called Integrated Retails Terminals and we upgraded to the Motorola 68000 processor.

The computer got me curious about the history of point-of-sale systems and when they first started to become the modern, computerized solutions that we see today. The history of POS systems and how incredibly influential they were in the evolution of computers really surprised me; however, what surprised me even more was how this story has been completely overlooked in the history books. This led me to making a sort of documentary on the topic.

Here is the video: