Few people have heard of it, yet many consider John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 to be the first commercial personal computer.
Korg Unveils Tiny Analog Synth
By James Grahame
Synthtopia just broke news of Korg's new Monotron synthesizer. Powered by 2 x AAA batteries, this little music machine incorporates the same filter circuit found in their classic MS-20 semi-modular synthesizer from the 1970s.
The front panel includes just five knobs and a single switch, along with a monophonic ribbon keyboard. There's an audio input jack on the back panel, along with an internal speaker and headphone jack to jack your little musical bleep box into the outside world.
This strikes me as an absolutely brilliant gadget for the 21st century - a cheap and cheery all-analog synthesizer to introduce legions of younglings to the wonders of real hardware. Available within a couple of months at a music store near you. I wouldn't be surprised to see a street price of under $50.
