Two of the world’s first desktop computers have been discovered during a house clearance. The Q1, which was launched in 1972, changed the way we use computers today.

These two models, which are among only three known surviving examples worldwide, were found hidden under boxes during a house clearance in London by waste firm Just Clear. The staff at Just Clear, who aim to salvage and reuse as many items as possible, didn’t know what they had stumbled upon but decided to set them aside until they could find out more.

  • ChrisOP
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    4 months ago

    I think that was quite common in that era - probably from typewriters which had a shift lock rather than a caps lock (as due to the mechanical nature it isn’t possible to shift just the alphabetic characters on a typewriter). Commodore used Shift Lock on their computers pre-Amiga (also it was a physical clicky button, which is the most satisfying thing ever).