Simon (computer)

Simon was a relay-based electromechanical computer, described by Edmund Berkeley in a series of thirteen construction articles in Radio-Electronics magazine, from October 1950. Intended for the educational purpose of demonstrating the concept of a digital computer, it could not be used for any significant practical computation since it had only two bits of memory. A working model was first built by two graduate students at Columbia University for less than US$300 ($3,650 in 2022 dollars) in parts.^[1] Some have described it as the "first personal computer",^[2] although its extremely limited capacity and its unsuitability for use for any purpose other than as an educational demonstration make that classification questionable.

^ Berkeley, E.C. (November 1950). "Simple Simon". Scientific American. 183 (183): 40–43. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1150-40.
^ What was the first personal computer? at Blinkenlights Archaeological Institute. Accessed: March 15, 2008.

[Sciam-1] Berkeley, E.C. (November 1950). "Simple Simon". Scientific American. 183 (183): 40–43. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1150-40.

[2] What was the first personal computer? at Blinkenlights Archaeological Institute. Accessed: March 15, 2008.

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Simon

Release date	1950; 74 years ago (1950)