Two versions of the Q1 microcomputer have been unearthed by cleaners in a UK house clearance.
The company Just Clear told Live Science via email that these models were last used by an oil drilling company and adds to the other known surviving device somewhere in Scandinavia.
Chief Executive officer of Just Clear, Brendan O’Shea donated the devices to the University of Kingston, going on display as part of the “Creating the Everything Device” Exhibition.
“In the course of our clearance work, we often discover remarkable items, including many old computers and intriguing artefacts with historical significance,” O’Shea told the University.
“Every year, our sustainable clearance teams collect thousands of computers from homes and businesses nationwide,” he continued.
“Occasionally, we encounter items deemed important enough to preserve and archive for the future. A few of these rare finds, such as the ultra-rare Q1 and a silver label Commodore 64, are featured in this exhibition.”
No Apple or Android without Q1
Paul Neve, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Systems and Mathematics said of the discoveries that it’s “ a real bonus being able to feature two Q1s – the world’s earliest microcomputers – at Kingston University.”
He said that “the early pioneers in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for today’s everything device – the modern computer now so ubiquitous in everyday life. We rely on computers for our work, communication, productivity and entertainment, but without the early trailblazers none of these would exist.”
“There would be no PCs, no Macs and no Apple or Android phones without Q1 Corporation, Sinclair and Acorn,” according to Neve.
What was the Q1?
The vintage device is regarded as the original microchip PC, designed by Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC) with the hardware and implementation of the devices completed by Intel.
It boasted a fully integrated single-chip microprocessor and the CPU was capable of processing sixteen kilobytes of memory. This figure seems minuscule compared to modern PCs, but in the 1970’s this was a leap in technology that would pave the path for Intel and their place in the United States microprocessor market going forward.
Image credit: Kingston University.
