8 Apr
2003
8 Apr
'03
4:30 a.m.
On Tue, 8 Apr 2003, The Design Fort DTP wrote:
One thing I was always interested in - and the
visitors in my Computer
Museum often want to know - is how many of the very first personal computers
are still in existence. By first PCs I mean the following machines:
Kenbak 1
Scelbi 8h
Mark-8
IBM 5100
Apple 1
Altair 8800
IMSAI 8080
I know it's quite difficult to figure out how many Altairs or IMSAIS are
still around. But a search on the Mark-8 e.G. (on the Internet) turned out
that there are only a handful still in existence.
The machines that show up on the web can at best only be assumed to be a
fraction of those actually in existence.
As far as Apple-1's, I have been tracking them for several years and have
located 27 throughout the world. I estimate that there are no more than
50 in existence. The actual number may be much less.
As far as the Kenbak 1, the only one I know of is in the Computer History
Museum's collection. There might be another on display in another museum
somewhere in the world.
There may well be dozens of forgotten Mark-8's in various states of
assemblage sitting in basement workshops or attics all around the US. The
Scelbi 8H is probably a bit more obscure. Perhaps less than 50 of those.
This is just a wild assed guess.
There are hundreds of IBM 5100's, and hundreds (if not thousands) of
Altair 8800's and IMSAI 8080's.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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