Micral

Micral
Micral N
ManufacturerRéalisation d'Études Électroniques (R2E)
TypeMicrocomputer
Release dateearly 1973

Micral is a series of microcomputers produced by the French company Réalisation d'Études Électroniques (R2E),[1] beginning with the Micral N[2] in early 1973. The Micral N was one of the first commercially available microprocessor-based computers.

In 1986, three judges at The Computer Museum, Boston – Apple II designer and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak, early MITS employee and PC World publisher David Bunnell, and the museum's associate director and curator Oliver Strimpel – awarded the title of "first personal computer using a microprocessor" to the 1973 Micral.[3] The Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit personal computer based on a microprocessor (in this case, the Intel 8008).[4]

The Computer History Museum currently says that the Micral is one of the earliest commercial, non-kit personal computers.[5] The 1971 Kenbak-1, invented before the first microprocessor, is considered to be the world's first "personal computer". That machine did not have a one-chip CPU but instead was based purely on small-scale integration TTL chips.[6]

  1. ^ "System.cfg - Base de données". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  2. ^ "R2E Micral N". www.system-cfg.com. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  3. ^ "What Was The First PC?". Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  4. ^ Strimpel, Oliver (Fall 1986). "The Early Model Personal Computer Contest" (PDF). The Computer Museum Report. The Computer Museum, Boston. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  5. ^ "Timeline of Computer History". Computer History Museum. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  6. ^ Erik Klein. "Kenbak Computer Company Kenbak-1". Old-computers.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2014.