Geniac?

[porkchop88]

Hey all. I recently came across a Geniac build a brain kit and wanted to try and gleen a little more info. I am admittedly not a collector of old computers but do collect old stuff in my travels and this thing looked interesting so I picked it up at a thrift store. Googling gave me some info on the thing but not much. Any help would be appreciated. Apologies for the rough photo, I can take more with a better camera if it would help out.

 

[dabone]

There is a little bit about it in this article.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/231027/kids_computers_through_the_ages.html

Edmund C. Berkeley Geniac (1955)
In the 1950s, computers entered the American consciousness in a big way. Enterprising companies soon found ways to scale down the "electric brain" experience and bring it to the home in kit form. The Geniac was one of the first kits to do so, retailing for a mere $20 in 1955 (that's about $167 in today's dollars).

The Geniac kit shipped with a wooden frame and a set of six predrilled Masonite discs that served as rotary switches. The user programmed the computer by wiring the switches in a certain way, and then gave the computer input by positioning the discs. Assuming that the program was set up correctly, the user would see the result flash on a series of miniature light bulbs. Believe it or not, the Geniac could play an unbeatable game of Tic-Tac-Toe if wired correctly.

later,
dabone

 

[Chuck(G)]

I remember seeing ads for this thing in the back of Scientific American.

 

[porkchop88]

Thanks for the help on this.