when was the first home computer sold?

Answer 1

The HP 9830, introduced in 1972, was the first desktop all-in-one computer. It even had BASIC in ROM, but few people know about it because HP marketed it primarily to scientists and engineers, very quiet people.
Even earlier (1968), HP produced a similar desktop machine called the 9100. However, since it didn't have a full alphanumeric keyboard or display, it is generally considered a sophisticated programmable calculator rather than a general-purpose computer. According to one researcher, the term personal computer was first used to describe the 9100A.

the Kenbak was designed by John Blankenbaker, introduced in 1971 and sold through small ads in magazines like Scientific American. It was affordable and small, but far from the first.
This otherwise obscure machine was named "first personal computer" by a smart group of judges under the auspices of a contest held by The Computer Museum in Boston in 1986.

The GENIAC, designed by Edmund C. Berkeley in 1955, and sold by both Berkeley Enterprises and several distributors was small, affordable, digital, and user-programmable. It couldn't do much, but you can't get much more personal than the GENIAC.
Thomas Haddock calls the GENIAC the first personal computer in his "Collector's Guide...". A GENIAC Poem
How the GENIAC works
Tic-Tac-Toe
Nim
Adding machine
Binary to decimal

The GENIAC was the first of several similar machines designed and sold by Berkeley:

Geniac = Genius Almost-Automatic Computer
Tyniac = Tiny Almost-Automatic Computer
Weeniac = Weeny Almost-Automatic Computer (only 60 made)
Brainiac = Brain-Imitating Almost-Automatic Computer
Edmund Berkeley first described Simon in his 1949 book, "Giant Brains, or Machines That Think" and went on to publish plans to build Simon in a series of Radio Electronics issues in 1950 and 1951.
Simon touched such pioneering computer scientists as Ivan Sutherland, who went on to influence development of interactive graphical personal computers.


1950 Simon FAQ
1956 Berkeley Enterprises Report
1956 Berkeley Enterprises Memo
Edmund C. Berkeley Timeline
By 1959, over 400 Simon plans were sold.

Answer 2

I think that would be the Sinclair ZX80. It was white, had ONE KILOBYTE of memory and used the TV as a display.
That would be in about 1974.
In those days, I was a Computer operator, and I worked on a £1,000,000 IBM 370 145 which had SIXTEEN KILOBYTES of memory, so believe me when I tell you that it was fairly amazing to see this little flat white thing with a whole kilobyte.

Answer 3

The IBM PC was introduced in 1981. It was perhaps the first to wear the "PC" label, but that was IBM's only innovation. They sure sold a bunch of them, though

Answer 4

I believe it was the Commodore 64 in 1985

Answer 5

June 1977: Apple II (North America) (color graphics, eight expansion slots)

Answer 6

zx81 i think