Kenbak-1 and Kenbak-1 Registry

Kenbak-1 Prototype (1971)

+ John Blankenbaker signed the Kenbak-1 prototype for me © Achim Baqué John Blankenbaker signed the Kenbak-1 prototype for me

+ Kenbak-1 prototype © Achim Baqué Kenbak-1 prototype

+ Kenbak-1 prototype © Achim Baqué Kenbak-1 prototype

+ Kenbak-1 prototype © Achim Baqué Kenbak-1 prototype

More information about it: thefirstpc.com.

I have always been fascinated by the Kenbak-1. This unique computer from 1971 is very rarely available for purchase. John Blankenbaker created this computer from scratch by himself. Later it was sold in small numbers.
I called John Blankenbaker and asked him if he still own a Kenbak-1. And yes, he still had his one and only prototype of the Kenbak-1. More unique is impossible. His granddaughter was playing with it when I called him. Unluckily he gave it to an auction house just some weeks before I called him.

My final bid was not high enough and for technical reason I had no chance to bid more.

Just by chance I had contact to the new owner of the Kenbak-1 in 2018. After some talks, we had a deal. Probably only 15 Kenbak-1 still exist. And only one prototype. From my point of view the fact that it is the only prototype and the very first was highly underestimated and I was more than surprised to get the chance to buy it.

The last owner of the Kenbak-1 prototype is a very friendly and interesting men from California. He got his own business and works for Computer History Museum as well. We spent a day talking.

After picking-up the Kenbak-1 in a small town close to San Francisco (California) I visited John Blankenbaker and his wife in Vermont. They invited me to stay at their home. Both are such friendly people.

John plugged the Kenbak-1 into the wall socket, before I could say ‘wait, shouldn’t we check the components first?’. switched it on and started to program it. The Kenbak-1 instantly worked and I got it on video!
Amazingly, John was 88 years old when he entered the program in his prototype. It was 48 years after he built the prototype. Eventually John signed the prototype for me. We talked almost two days about the early computer days.

I gave John various glass and metal signs (one with a little dedication) as a memento and present (see pictures) to honour his work.

In 2019 I visited John and his wife again. We had lunch and talked a lot. Finally, John lent me his bare PCB board which I took back to Germany.

John Blankenbaker's former website kenbak-1.net

+ John Blankenbaker © Achim Baqué

John Blankenbaker was 92 years old when he stopped maintaining his website, which eventually went offline. I had been in contact with him for years and had the privilege of visiting him twice. Eventually, he gave me permission to take over the website and preserve his legacy. John wrote to me on March 4, 2022: "Yes, you may have the content. I used a .net designation. Perhaps you might want to convert to a .com or a .info designation."

John Blankenbaker’s original kenbak-1.net website.

Note: His website is very old and static, making it unsuitable for mobile devices. Any changes were made with great care to preserve its original state as faithfully as possible. It now stands as a piece of history.

Kenbak-1 Registry

After taking care of John Blankenbaker’s former webpage to preserve his legacy and the history of the Kenbak-1, I decided to create a Kenbak-1 Registry. Someone should preserve this history and follow the path of the few original Kenbak-1 units. I also maintain the Apple-1 Registry. It involves more effort and work than one might imagine, but the result is worth it.

Visit the Kenbak-1 Registry.

The direct contact and many conversations made me feel very connected to John. It was a twist of fate that he was so far ahead of his time. He even planned a successor with a CPU. But since the computer was only advertised in Scientific American, commercial success was limited. Who knows, maybe otherwise we would have been working with a 'Kenbak-X'?
It's amazing anyway that it was not Xerox that became the world's number one in computers, despite the incredible developments at Xerox PARC.