“As a young aspiring mathematician, I had multiple jobs and that’s how I became part of the Micral’s history. The genius of a few engineers made the machine precede the Altair by 18 months. These were true pioneering days in the Personal Computing industry. That ultimately led me a decade later to build Borland a company built on leadership technology for professional development tools.”
Computers
Micral
The Micral was the earliest commercial, non-kit personal computer based on a micro-processor, the Intel 8008. Thi Truong developed the computer and Philippe Kahn the software. Truong, founder and president of the French company R2E, created the Micral as a replacement for minicomputers in situations that didn´t require high performance. Selling for $1,750, the Micral never penetrated the U.S. market. In 1979, Truong sold Micral to Bull.
The original article can be found at
http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?year=1973