François Gernelle Explained
François Gernelle (born December 20, 1944) is a French engineer, computer scientist and entrepreneur famous for inventing the first micro-computer using a micro-processor, the Micral N.[1]
Education
In the late 1960s, Gernelle earned an engineering degree at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. In 1978, he earned a Ph.D. in computer science at the Pierre Mendès-France University of Grenoble.
Career
Intertechnique and R2E
In 1968, he was hired by Intertechnique, a company specialized in electronic measurement for aviation. There he discovered the Intel 8008 microprocessor and imagined all its potential applications. As his hierarchy didn't share his views on the i8008 development capacity, he resigned in 1972 and joined R2E, a company created and led by Paul Magneron.[2] He designed the Micral N micro-computer to answer a request of INRA[3] [4] to measure agricultural hygrometry.[5] During this project, he granted two patents.[6] [7] [8] In 1973 he supported the Micral N and, with the company's growth, helped to design 20 other multi-user microcomputers for some were multi-processor one.[9]
Bull Micral
In 1981, the Bull company acquired R2E and he then joined the new entity Bull Micral. But the company wanted him to design IBM PC compatible machines and François Gernelle didn't agree because he thought this machine was poorly designed, using an 8 bit single-tasking single-user i8088 powered by a poor operating system. In his mind, this kind of poor computer design was a dead-end at a time where really good micro-processors existed and offered capacity to design powerful multi-user and multi-tasking systems at medium and even low cost.
FORUM International
In 1983, he resigned from Bull and founded a new company named FORUM International to create professional computers powered by Prologue OS.
External References
Notes and References
- Web site: R2E Micral1972 .
- Web site: Barthe . Oscar . 2016-11-04 . LMI 35 ans : Micral était une aventure formidable . 2023-01-15 . Le Monde Informatique . fr.
- Web site: Perrier . Alain . 2003-12-10 . Le premier micro-ordinateur de l'histoire, né de la rencontre entre l'agronomie et l'informatique . The first personal computer in history, born from the meeting of agronomy and computer science . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090306073512/http://www.inra.fr:80/60ans/60_ans_de_resultats/le_premier_micro_ordinateur_de_l_histoire_ne_de_la_rencontre_entre_l_agronomie_et_l_informatique . 2009-03-06 . 2023-01-15 . www.inrae.fr.
- Book: Beltran, Alain . Histoire d'un pionnier de l'informatique : 40 ans de recherche à l'Inria . Griset . Pascal . 2007 . EDP sciences . 978-2-86883-806-3 . Les Ulis, France . 377996828.
- News: Six . Nicolas . 2023-01-15 . Il y a cinquante ans, en France, naissait le Micral N, premier micro-ordinateur commercial au monde . fr . Fifty years ago, in France, the Micral N was born, the first commercial microcomputer in the world . Le Monde.fr . 2023-01-15.
- Petitgirard . Loïc . 2020 . Biographie de l'ordinateur R2E-Micral, ou comment faire exister un « micro-ordinateur » dans les années 1970s . History of the R2E-Micral computer: how to make a "microcomputer" exist in the 1970s . Technologie et Innovation . fr . 5 . 2 . 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2020.0480. 216501910 . free .
- Fr. 7303553. Ordinateur, en particulier pour des applications en temps réel. 1973-02-01. 1974-08-30. Gernelle. François.
- Fr. 7303552. Canal pour échange d'informations entre un ordinateur et des organes périphériques rapides. 1973-02-01. 1974-08-30. Gernelle. François.
- Web site: Maireau . Roma . Boucetta . Nadia . 2019 . Le Micral N : premier micro-ordinateur – Mardi 11 juin 2019 à 14h30 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220809222930/https://www.rouillac.com/fr/news-1252-le_micral_n_premier_micro_ordinateur_linformatique . 2022-08-09 . 2023-01-15 . www.rouillac.com . fr.
