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First computer for sale
ONE of only five existing Micral N machines – the world’s first microcomputer built in 1972 – is to be sold at auction.
The Micral N has special status among computer history specialists as its creator, François Gernelle, was the first to have integrated a microprocessor. At the time, computers were so large that an entire room was required to house them.
90,000 of the machines, which had no keyboard or screen and weighed eight kilos, were produced by the company Réalisation d’Etudes Electroniques.
“The Micral gave ideas to the Americans,” said Aymeric Rouillac, the auctioneer at Château d’Artigny, Indre-et-Loire.
“In 1975, the IBM 5100 arrived in people’s homes and then 1977 saw the first microcomputer designed by Steve Jobs, the Apple II. The Micral N is at the origin of this new conception of IT.” The auction starting price is €20,000.
