The man who made 'the world's first personal computer'

I remember hearing about this one whilst I was trying to program an Elliot 803 Autocode machine, whilst at school...and it seemed like science fiction at the time.
 
Baldrick

I really do not know which came in which order, but the first computer I had any real access to was the Timex-Sinclair ZX81.  It came in a box of parts: my Dad went the 'cheap' route and purchased the DIY kit that he had to put together.  It was also available pre-assembled, but that of course cost more.
 
Ours started out with a full 2 Kb of memory.  Previous versions only had 1Kb.  We REALLY felt we were in the BIG TIME when Dad go the 16 Kb expansion! (That 16 Kb pack was a large brick that plugged into the back of the unit.. not installed internally.  )
 
For such a simple machine it was actually pretty impressive what it could do.

Hi David
 
The Kenbak-1 came way before the Sinclair ZX-81. Sinclair first release the Cambridge MK14 in 1977, then in 1980 the ZX-80 and that was followed by the ZX-81...in 1981, of course...to be followed by his last, but greatest...the ZX Spectrum.
 
I owned a ZX-81 and then a ZX Spectrum...and have fond memories (no pun intended ;)) of getting to understand 'computers' and programming, even if it was just in BASIC.
 
Boy, am I old...:(

Youe are no older than I feel tonight Baldrick 😉

Oh, I am sure that I am and I probably feel older tonight than I actually am...having driven close to 300 miles (there and back) today...LOL

@ wrote:
Hi David
 
The Kenbak-1 came way before the Sinclair ZX-81. Sinclair first release the Cambridge MK14 in 1977, then in 1980 the ZX-80 and that was followed by the ZX-81...in 1981, of course...to be followed by his last, but greatest...the ZX Spectrum.
 
I owned a ZX-81 and then a ZX Spectrum...and have fond memories (no pun intended ;)) of getting to understand 'computers' and programming, even if it was just in BASIC.
 
Boy, am I old...:(

I am plenty old too LOL.  My Dad used to use machine language on the old thing.  I was not able to write in machine, I was only 11 or 12 when we got it, but I did play around a decent amount with Basic.
 
My Dad also had a 'cookbook' which had a number of fun programs (printed code... you had to type it all in yourself).  That is how I learned some basic Basic.  I used some of the machine language items too, but I had no clue just what I was typing in LOL

I know what you mean Baldrick and I hope everything is OK.
I even had to ask  my wife to help me with a pair of socks tonight 😃