Microcomputer

A microcomputer is a computer built around a microprocessor. Some very early personal computers (in the general sense of the term), such as the Datapoint 2200, had CPUs built out of many integrated circuits, but as a result they were too expensive for average people to afford. The advent of the microprocessor changed that, leading to the 'personal computer' (in the sense of 'a small computer which an ordinary person could afford').

The first production microcomputer to be openly available was perhaps the MICRAL N, produced in France, in early 1973 (although it was not really a personal computer, as it was intended for use in embedded roles). The Altair 8800, introduced in January, 1975, may have been the first microcomputer personal computer; the Apple II, unveiled in May, 1977, was the first massively commercially successful microcomputer.

Further reading

• Gordon Laing, Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer, Sybex, Alameda, 2004
• Michael Nadeau, Collectible Microcomputers (Schiffer Book for Collectors), Schiffer, Atglen, 2002

External links

• What Was The First PC?
• Oliver Strimpel, The Early Model Personal Computer Contest, in The Computer Museum Report, Volume 17, Fall 1986