Few people have heard of it, yet many consider John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 to be the first commercial personal computer.
The Grid Beam Building System
By James Grahame
Imagine if real world objects were like Meccano sets -- standardized bolt-together components that made it quick and easy to design, share and build everything from furniture to vehicles. That's the idea behind the Grid Beam system, which has been around since the mid-1970s.
Phil Jergenson, one of the founders of the system, says, "It has all the advantages of an industrial building system: standard, modular sizes; uniform materials; and interchangeable parts. Projects knock flat and are easy to transport. Since the pieces can be used over and over again, grid beam is easy both on your wallet and on the environment -- we have been using some of our components for over thirty years."
Jergenson's book, How to Build with Grid Beam, includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a sixty-year period, showing the many uses of grid beam, from shelves for college students to projects involving alternative energy.
Grid Beam Building System
