Sony's first real venture into console gaming and a great console for fans or RPG's, as stated by IvyNeko.
The Playstation was responsible for bringing gaming to the masses. It was also responsible (along with Sega's complacency) for the death of the Sega Saturn, at least here in Britain. Sadly, I sold my playstation to buy an N64, which was possibly the biggest mistake I have ever made.
Some basic technical specifications (stolen straight from the instruction manual) are:
Processor: 32-bit RISC CPU (33.8Mhz).
CD-ROM: Double speed.
Memory: 2MB.
Graphics System: Capable of up to 1.5 million flat shaded polygons or 500,000 texture-mapped light sourced polygons per second. Capable of resolutions of up to 640x480.
Sound: 512KB or dedicated RAM, 24 sound channels.