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A museum of old computers

MOS Technology
Former owners
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MOS Technology was originally a privately owned company which manufactured processors to calculators. In 1974 Chuck Peddle (later the creator of PET 2001) came to the company and was involved in developing the MOS 6502. This processor came to almost dominate the market for a number of years and it was, eventually, found in, for example, Apple, Atari, Commodore and NES various micro-computers (as the term was in those days) and game consoles.

Chuck Peddle thought that there was a gap that needed to be filled up, so MOS Technology made there own microcomputer, KIM-1. It was actually meant for industry and laboratories, where it could control and manage experiments and processes. But it quickly became very popular even among hobbyists. Why did it then turn out be so popular.

At past times microcomputers, such as Altair from MITS, you first had to load - or boot - a program, to then be able to run other programs that made something proper. It could take several minuts, and if you happend to make a single mistake in any line of programme, the computer "died", and it was just to start over. KIM, which stands for Keyboard Input Monitor, had its program, or operating system, in a special processor called ROM, and was automatically read when the computer started. KIM-1 was ready to be used almost immediately after boot. By contrast, it was only "talking" machine code.

It is understod when you look at KIM-1. What you see is a small "keyboard" at the lower right with just a few keys and just above them a small digital display showing 6 characters in 7-segment. In addition to make inputs through the keys, you could also program by switching connectors or jumpers (see the left side on images) for additional features.

If you wanted, you could also connect a serial port and then connect to an external terminal or join a tape recorder.

Many of the KIM-1 micro computers which still exist today, looks quite different. That's because they're not delivered with any outer shell. In fact, many actually built up their own computer themself, and the enclosures in an outer shell was often resolved in different ways. This specific copy is built in a wooden box with a transparent lid. The power supply tend to be quite large for some copies while this copy has a relatively small one.

Shortly after the introduction, MOS Technology was bought up by Commodore, most to secure a steady supply of processors. KIM-1 became the CBM's first computer, and it was followed up by many well-known models such as PET, VIC-20, C64 and Amiga. If you are an owner of a KIM-1, it can be marked with MOS, or perhaps Commodore. Or, as on this Swedish sold model - Digitus.

Is there any errors? e-mail and correct me!



Former owner: Emaus, Malmö

Technical data

Year 1976
Origin USA
Manufacturer MOS technology
Name KIM-1
CPU 6502
Speed 1 Mhz
RAM 1 152 byte
I/O ports Tape recorder, expansions, serial
Text modes LED screen with 6 characters
Graphic modes  
Built in media  
Power supply Built-in in this copy