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Do you know that

September 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the world's first microprocessor-powered computer designed specifically for personal use — the Canadian-made MCM/70 PC. The computer was conceived and manufactured by a Toronto-based electronics company Micro Computer Machines (MCM).

With the launch of the MCM/70, the company offered a new personal computing paradigm — these were inexpensive, easy-to-operate computers, such as the MCM/70, that were to make widespread, personal information processing a reality. During the unveiling, Mers Kutt, the inventor of the computer and MCM's first president, painted computing's future landscape as one filled with millions of small computers, just like the MCM/70, and only a limited number of large ones.

It was also MCM that coined the term 'personal computer'. In 1973, the MCM/70 was advertised as a computer "of a size, price and ease-of-use as to bring personal computer ownership to business, education and scientific users previously unserved by the computer industry."

Visit the MCM/70 Personal Computer exhibit.

New at YUCoM

New online exhibit—Computer Hobby Movement in Canada—chronicles  a decade-long computer hobby movement in Canada and its role in bringing computing into the homes of Canadians.