Editing IBM PALM processor (section)

== Origin: SCAMP, 1973 ==

PALM was originally developed for the '''SCAMP''' (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) prototype built at the '''IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center / Palo Alto Scientific Center''' under Dr. '''Paul J. Friedl''' between January and June 1973. SCAMP was commissioned by IBM General Systems Division (Atlanta) — specifically GSD engineer Dave Slattery — to demonstrate a self-contained portable computer that could run the APL programming environment.

SCAMP's hardware was sourced across multiple IBM divisions:

* '''Processor''' — the PALM board, from the PALM Development Group at IBM Boca Raton (led by Roger Abernathy).
* '''Memory cards''' — from IBM Germany.
* '''Keyboard''' — from IBM Raleigh, North Carolina.
* '''CRT''' — sourced from Ball Brothers, Inc.
* '''Secondary storage''' — a Norelco / Philips audio cassette deck.

SCAMP ran an '''IBM 1130 minicomputer emulator in PALM microcode''', allowing it to host '''APL\1130''' (APL for the IBM 1130). The prototype was demonstrated to IBM management in late 1973 and led directly to the IBM 5100 production programme.

PC Magazine in November 1983 retroactively called SCAMP "the world's first personal computer".<ref>Friedl 1983, PC Magazine.</ref> The SCAMP prototype itself is preserved at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (object record nmah_334628).

[[File:IBM SCAMP at Smithsonian.jpg|center|thumb|480px|The SCAMP prototype at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. SCAMP carried the first PALM board, and is the direct ancestor of every IBM 5100/5110/5120 (and indirectly of the IBM PC). Image: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.]]