Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Kenbak-1 educational computer. (Photograph by Z. Stachniak.)
Of course, computers were being manufactured for personal
ownership and use long before the
MCM
/70's announcement.
But these were simple educational devices, such as Berkeley's
relay-based Simon or the digital, electronic Kenbak-1 computer
sold by Kenbak Corporation in 1971. Even the promotional lan-
guage used by Kenbak resembled that adopted two years later
by
MCM
. “Modern electronic technology created the Kenbak-1
with prices that even private individuals and small schools
can afford,” read a 1971 ad placed by Kenbak in the
Scientiic
American
. “Very quickly you, or your family or students, can
memory and no microprocessor, the Kenbak-1 was just another
educational toy which, at the price of $750, did not find too
many takers. The French Micral was not a personal computer
either. This microprocessor-based computer was announced by
R
2
E
three months before the
MCM
/70's first public demonstra-
tion. However, the Micral was a special-purpose computer in-
tended for, among other applications, process control, teletrans-
mission, and the operation of scientific instrumentation. That
leads us to the conclusion that the
MCM
/70, first demonstrated
in May 1973, was possibly the earliest versatile microprocessor-
based computer intended for individual use and ownership.