page_title: History of personal computers
section_title: K-202
hierarchical_section_title: History of personal computers / The beginnings of the personal computer industry / K-202
caption_attribution_description: English: K-202 minicomputer built in 1972 in Poland by Jacek Karpiński. Asynchronous, with 64 KB RAM and 300000 operations per second was faster than first American PCs. Never in mass production. Exhibit of Warsaw Museum of Technology (Muzeum Techniki) Polski: Minikomputer K-202 zbudowany w 1972 przez inż. Jacka Karpińskiego. Asynchroniczny, z 64 KB RAM i 300000 operacji na sekundę, był szybszy od pierwszych amerykańskich PC-tów. Niestety nigdy nie trafił do masowej produkcji. Eksponat warszawskiego Muzeum Techniki.
context_page_description: The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.
context_section_description: K-202 was a Polish PC computer designed between 1969 and 1970 and made its debut in 1971 in Poznań at the Poznań International Fair. The MSRP was $5000 which was an extremely competitive price. At the time of its introduction K-202 was the fastest PC computer in the world capable of performing one million operations per second. K-202 was designed by Polish computer engineer Jacek Karpiński and featured multiprogramming, multiprocessing, 16bit word architecture, and was based on TTL/MSI integrated circuits. Only 30 units of K-202 were ever produced and the company was shut down by a decree of communist regime.
caption: 1970: K-202.
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