It’s All About Power - Inventing the PC - page 72

5
It's All About Power
1973 was a successful year for MCM , one in which the com-
pany made excellent progress in both product development and
marketing. By the end of the year, the company had engaged
most of its resources in the process of converting the prototype
into the production model, and it seemed for a while that the
mass manufacture of the computer would commence with the
dawning of 1974. The production targets were estimated at
an astonishing level of 500 to 1,000 machines a month, which
would generate enough cash not only to satisfy the most profit-
hungry investors but also to develop the next generation of
MCM computers.
Although some MCM /70 units manufactured in-house were
indeed shipped to distributors in early 1974, and the pilot run
and shipments continued through the year, the launch of full-
scale production was disrupted by a prolonged and devastating
power struggle between Kutt and some of MCM 's investors. The
corporate unrest culminated in October 1974: Mers Kutt was
forced out of the company which, by then, was barely showing
signs of life.
From the history of computing's point of view, the events
at MCM in 1974 provide a unique opportunity to identify the
technological and corporate challenges faced by companies on
the front line of personal computing in jump-starting the new