A unique find during cleaning: the cleaning service discovered two rare desktop computers that are more than 50 years old
What you can’t find when cleaning your grandmother’s apartment or pantry. Employees of the cleaning company Just Clear in London are constantly finding something interesting, but recently they came across a real rarity – 2 Q1 computers that were released back in 1972.
Cleaners were cleaning one of the houses and found old computers under a pile of boxes. Not knowing what it was, they decided to keep the discovery and seek help from a computer expert.
As a result, it turned out that this model was the world’s first fully integrated desktop computer equipped with a single-chip microprocessor. The Q1, more like a typewriter, was a big step forward in the history of computers. It was known for its high-quality build, unique design and neon orange plasma display. The computer was manufactured by Q1 Corporation in America, and only a few copies were brought to the UK.
“The computers were buried under a pile of boxes, and initially we just thought they were two great pieces of 1970s computer history that we would probably remove the data from if they weren’t reusable and send them to our e-waste stream. However, after consulting and researching over time, we realized that we had actually discovered two ultra-rare items, of which only three are known to exist in the world today,” said Brendan O’Shea, CEO of Just Clear.
The computers are now being demonstrated at a technology exhibition at Kingston University. Then, perhaps, they will be auctioned off.
