Inside the first personal computer: Kenbak-1
Kenbak-1 Ad
The Kenbak-1 was designed in 1970 and pre-dated microprocessors. The Intel 4004 (the worlds first microprocessor) was introduced in 1971. Instead of being microprocessor based the Kenbak-1 was built almost entirely from TTL components.
Unlike many earlier machines and calculating engines, the Kenbak-1 was a true stored-program computer that offered 256 bytes of memory, a wide variety of operations and a speed equivalent to nearly 1MHz.
Approximately 40 of these machines were built and sold before they were discontinued. The world just wasn't quite ready for personal computing and the Kenbak-1 lacked some critical capabilities (such as expandability and I/O) that were needed to foster the revolution. 14 are currently known to exist with few more likely to be discovered.
The slot on the front panel was presumably intended to account for these deficiencies later in the machines life by providing a card reader of some sorts but with the limited interest, that was never to be.
C.T.I. Educational products purchased the Kenbak-1 from John Blankenbaker and renamed the device to the CTI 5050.
Reprinted with permission from Vintage-Computer.com
Unlike many earlier machines and calculating engines, the Kenbak-1 was a true stored-program computer that offered 256 bytes of memory, a wide variety of operations and a speed equivalent to nearly 1MHz.
Approximately 40 of these machines were built and sold before they were discontinued. The world just wasn't quite ready for personal computing and the Kenbak-1 lacked some critical capabilities (such as expandability and I/O) that were needed to foster the revolution. 14 are currently known to exist with few more likely to be discovered.
The slot on the front panel was presumably intended to account for these deficiencies later in the machines life by providing a card reader of some sorts but with the limited interest, that was never to be.
C.T.I. Educational products purchased the Kenbak-1 from John Blankenbaker and renamed the device to the CTI 5050.
Reprinted with permission from Vintage-Computer.com
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