▁thousand ▁k its . ▁ ▁History ▁In ▁ 1 9 7 7 , ▁Ian ▁William son ▁approached ▁C live ▁S inc la ir ▁and ▁Chris ▁Cur ry ▁with ▁a ▁computer ▁design ▁based ▁around ▁the ▁National ▁Sem icon duct or ▁SC / MP ▁processor . ▁S inc la ir ▁and ▁Cur ry ▁both ▁liked ▁the ▁idea ▁and ▁saw ▁the ▁potential ▁of ▁making ▁a ▁low ▁cost ▁micro processor ▁system ▁available ▁to ▁the ▁h ob by ist ▁market . ▁Initial ly ▁it ▁was ▁planned ▁to ▁market ▁a ▁k it ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁William son ▁design . ▁However , ▁after ▁National ▁Sem icon duct or ▁had ▁been ▁contact ed ▁regarding ▁a ▁bulk ▁purchase ▁of ▁the ▁SC / MP ▁processor ▁S inc la ir ▁and ▁Cur ry ▁decided ▁to ▁use ▁the ▁chip ▁manufact urer ' s ▁own ▁design . ▁This ▁design ▁used ▁all ▁National ▁Sem icon duct or ▁ch ips ▁and ▁the ▁company ▁allowed ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁its ▁design ▁for ▁free . ▁ ▁To ▁keep ▁costs ▁low ▁a ▁memb rane ▁key pad ▁was ▁used . ▁The ▁size ▁of ▁the ▁initial ▁batch ▁was ▁two ▁thousand . ▁The ▁company ▁sold ▁between ▁fifteen ▁and ▁fifty ▁thousand ▁in ▁total . ▁ ▁Spec ification ▁The ▁computer ▁is ▁based ▁around ▁National ▁Sem icon duct or ' s ▁SC / MP ▁CPU ▁( IN S 8 0 6 0 ) ▁and ▁sh ipped ▁with ▁ 2 5 6 ▁bytes ▁of ▁random ▁access ▁memory ▁( RAM ) ▁as ▁standard . ▁It ▁used ▁an ▁eight ▁or ▁nine ▁red ▁light - em itting ▁di ode ▁( LED )