Wait..Wait..No..I Got It..

[mknkt]

A Trivia Forum... I'll throw out the first question

Who was the inventor of the first Personal Computer?

[xeron]

Well, i would say Ed Roberts, and Bill Yates (the team behind the Altair 8800).

But then you could say it was Sir Clive Sinclair and Jack Tramiel who really brought the computer into the home.

Edit: Well, I say Jack Tramiel, but more like the MOS Technologies guys Jack aquired ;-)

[Gulliver]

I would say Konrad Suze.
BTW his designs were Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) proof.

[xeron]

@Gulliver

He said personal computer.. I wouldn't call Suze's machines personal computers.

[meega]

Here (http://www.tnmoc.org/40/section.aspx/24) is an early personnel computer.

[xeron]

Here (http://www.tnmoc.org/40/section.aspx/24) is an early personnel computer.

If you actually meant "personnel" computer, i guess it might have been used for payroll, but that wasn't the question.

If you meant "personal" computer, I can't imagine many people bought one of these for their own personal use.

[meega]

It was indeed used to do the company payroll.

[mknkt]

As far as I know it was... Chuck Peddle

[zipper]

H. Edward Roberts, Altair 8800:

[save2600]

Everyone is wrong. Time to think outside the confines boys and girls!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/science/30computecnd.html

...it was personal and computed more important things than what most of modern society uses to do with the computers of today. :laughing:

[persia]

Simon? (http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/berkeley/simonfaq.html)

http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/berkeley/re1050sm.jpg

[abbub]

lol. Is it really a 'trivia' question when there's no single correct answer? As far as this question goes (particularly on a forum like this) you might as well ask who invented fire.

[Trev]

Well before the invention of mechanical and electrical devices, the term "computer" referred to a person hired to perform computations. I doubt anyone knows who the first computer was, let alone the names of the their parents.

[Boudicca]

A Trivia Forum... I'll throw out the first question

Who was the inventor of the first Personal Computer?

Well if you found him inside the pile of scrap. He might be worth ebaying too ;)

[mknkt]

Well before the invention of mechanical and electrical devices, the term "computer" referred to a person hired to perform computations. I doubt anyone knows who the first computer was, let alone the names of the their parents.

First "Personal Computer" that was marketed and you could use in home / office :)

[Kronos]

First "Personal Computer" that was marketed and you could use in home / office :)

So now we are talking slave-trade ?

Better move this to the coffee-house ;)

[mknkt]

So now we are talking slave-trade ?

Better move this to the coffee-house ;)

LOL:roflmao:

[Boudicca]

First "Personal Computer" that was marketed and you could use in home / office :)

None the wiser. U said invented....are you losing that moniker ?

[mknkt]

Actually... it was GOD... our brain is our "personal computer" making thousands upon millions of computations every minute... well... some of us :lol:

HE was the inventor:angel:

[psxphill]

A Trivia Forum... I'll throw out the first question

Who was the inventor of the first Personal Computer?

From wikipedia:

"IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate themselves from other microcomputers, often called "home computers", and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers. Unfortunately for IBM, the microcomputer itself was widely imitated, as well as the term. The component parts were commonly available to manufacturers and the BIOS was reverse engineered through cleanroom design techniques. IBM PC compatible "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "Personal Computer," and especially "PC" stuck with the general public."


"A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense)."

"The Datapoint 2200, made by CTC in 1970, is perhaps the best candidate for the title of "first microcomputer". While it contains no microprocessor, it used the 4004 programming instruction set and its custom TTL logic was the basis for the Intel 8008, and for practical purposes the system behaves approximately as if it contains an 8008. This is because Intel was the contractor in charge of developing the Datapoint's CPU but ultimately CTC rejected the 8008 design because it needed 20 support chips.[7]"

So the altair is out, because it's not a personal computer & it's late by 5 years. IBM made the term popular, but Datapoint 2200 seems to be the first.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9111341/Forgotten_PC_history_The_true_origins_of_the_perso nal_computer

"Also in 1972, design Patent 224,415 was issued to Roche, Ray, and Frassanito for the appearance of the Datapoint 2200, allowing them to say they held the patent for the first PC. (Other parties claimed utility patents for the microprocessor, and the precedence of these other patents was in litigation for decades.) "

http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=arU8AAAAEBAJ&dq=224,415

[robo-ant]

From wikipedia:

"IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate themselves from other microcomputers, often called "home computers", and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers. Unfortunately for IBM, the microcomputer itself was widely imitated, as well as the term.

My PET 2001-8K with mini keyboard from 1977 says "personal computer" on its front label. It was a term that was used often before IBM came out with their PC.

[djrikki]

I would imagine the arguments about who invented the first 'personal' computer have been going around for years. But as for the first computer, I pretty sure that was the Colossus which was housed at Bletchley Park for many years. Strangely I saw no mention of it on my visit to the park the other week - just the enigma, or rather the Da Bombe Recreation Project.

[EDanaII]

THE first personal computer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)

[DBAlex]

A Trivia Forum... I'll throw out the first question

Who was the inventor of the first Personal Computer?

Chuck Peddle!

As always the history gets lost in the spin.

[kolla]

HE was the inventor:angel:

And just like everyone else HE went for the broken, inefficient, but cheap solution?