The world’s first true microcomputer – the Q1 – is about to go on display at a special public exhibition at Kingston University showcasing the early decades of computing. The exhibition, entitled Creating the Everything Device, will feature more than 60 computers from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – all predecessors of today’s modern technology.

Two Q1 microcomputers will be on show, including the original model which looked like a typewriter with a distinctive orange screen and operated using an Intel 8008 processor. Considered the first true microcomputer, the Q1 was the first to be commercially produced. Manufactured by the Q1 Corporation in the United States in December 1972, only a few Q1s were imported into Britain. It is believed the two Q1s on display could be the only surviving models in the country.

“It is a real bonus being able to feature two Q1s – the world’s earliest microcomputers – at Kingston University,” senior lecturer and course leader of the University’s undergraduate computer science programme, Paul Neve, an expert in early computers, said.

“The early pioneers in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for today’s everything device – the modern computer now so ubiquitous in everyday life. We rely on computers for our work, communication, productivity and entertainment, but without the early trailblazers none of these would exist. There would be no PCs, no Macs and no Apple or Android phones without Q1 Corporation, Sinclair and Acorn.” Visitors to the exhibition will be able to play classic games on retro computers such as the ZX Spectrum.

More than 60 different computers and gaming machines, some first-generation including Atari, Sinclair ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Sinclair QL, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Amstrad, Commodore and the Dragon 32 will be on display at the exhibition.

Some will be operational and visitors will be able to play classic computer games of the era, many from companies that eventually became today’s gaming powerhouses, such as Activision and Rare. Visitors will also be able to try their hand at coding and use the productivity software from the era.

Creating the Everything Device is being curated by Mr Neve and Dr Islam Choudhury, also from the Department of Computer Science, in association with national house clearance company Just Clear, which has its headquarters in Kingston. Several of the archive computers on display have been collected by Just Clear.

“We are delighted to support this special exhibition at Kingston University,” Just Clear’s chief executive officer, Brendan O’Shea, said. “Increasingly now we are finding in our clearance work many old computers and interesting artefacts of historic value.

“Last year our house clearance teams collected more than 200 computers. Some we find are important to save and archive for the future and a few of these are featured in this exhibition, including the ultra-rare Q1 and a silver label Commodore 64,” he said. Other more common models are disposed of in a sustainable way.

The exhibition will be formally opened at midday on Tuesday 13 February by the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Councillor Diane White, with a keynote speech delivered by the chief executive officer of Lyvely, Farah Zafar.I’m