Kenbak-1

The Kenbak-1 is considered by the Computer History Museum and the American Computer Museum [http://www.compustory.com/Pioneers.html] to be the world's first "personal computer" [ http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?year=1971 Timeline of COmputer History, retrieved July 22,2008 ] (however, the Datapoint 2200 may have been invented first, sold first, or both; the exact dates have not been established). Little information is recorded regarding the Kenbak-1, as around only 40 machines were ever built and sold. It was designed and invented by John Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and was first sold in early 1971. The system first sold for US$750 . In 1973, production of the Kenbak-1 stopped as Kenbak Corporation folded.

Since the Kenbak-1 was invented before the first microprocessor, the machine didn't have a one-chip CPU but instead was based purely on discrete TTL chips. The 8-bit machine offered 256 bytes of memory (≈1/4000 megabyte). The instruction cycle time was 1 microsecond (equivalent to an instruction clock speed of 1 Mhz).

To use the machine, one had to program it with a series of buttons and switches, using pure machine code. Output consisted of a series of lights.

References

External links

* [http://www.kenbak-1.net/ KENBAK-1 Computer] – Official Kenbak-1 website at www.kenbak-1.net
* [http://www.kenbakkit.com/index.html KENBAK-1 Series 2] – Official Kenbak-1 reproduction kit at www.kenbakkit.com
* [http://www.computermuseum.20m.com/kenbak.htm The Kenbak 1 - The first Personal Computer] – At the Computer Museum of Nova Scotia
* [http://www.vintage-computer.com/kenbak-1.shtml Kenbak 1] – Images and information at www.vintage-computer.com
* [http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/kenbak_video.html Kenbak-1 video] – Watch Kenbak-1 replica running a simple program at www.oldcomputermuseum.com