{"id":20872,"date":"2023-11-09T12:07:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T10:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/?p=20872"},"modified":"2023-11-14T09:59:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T07:59:36","slug":"la-chasse-au-micral-n","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/","title":{"rendered":"Micral hunting N"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by <a href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pierre-%C3%89ric_Mounier-Kuhn\">Pierre Mounier-Kuhn<\/a><br \/>\nHistorian CNRS, Sorbonne University and CentraleSup\u00e9lec<\/p>\n<p>In 1990, while beginning my thesis on the history of computing in France, I organised an international symposium on the subject at the Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, embellished by an exhibition at the museum of the same name. Alongside the French and foreign pioneers of the 1950s, who came to present their electronic computers or the history of their companies, we had the pleasure of welcoming a young engineer, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle, who recounted the development of the <em>Micral N<\/em>. This story was not totally unknown to those interested in the subject, but it was the opportunity to launch a movement of interest and to show it to Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping in friendly contact with him, I asked him for further information, in particular about the first purchasers of the <em>Micral<\/em> after INRA had commissioned the prototype. In other words, information that would help us to understand how the small firm R2E went from developing the microcomputer to industrialising and marketing it. Knowing who the first purchasers were could also be a clue to finding and saving any potential buyers. <em>Micrals<\/em> by simultaneously studying its history and safeguarding its technical heritage.<\/p>\n<p>Among the 'pioneering' customers he cited was the company <em>AREA<\/em> manager of the Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry motorway, replied quite quickly, in substance: \"Yes, we always use <em>Micrals<\/em> to the remote control of the toll plazas. The plan is to replace them, but only after the Albertville Olympics are over, in the spring of 1992!<\/p>\n<p>On 18 April 1992, my old car took me to Chamb\u00e9ry. The attendant at the Nances toll plaza, who had been informed by his superiors, had put the <em>Micrals<\/em> who made the return trip to Paris in my trunk. There are moments of pure joy in the life of a technical historian, similar to Pagnol's \"la gloire de mon p\u00e8re\" (the glory of my father) after hunting bartavelles or to the jubilation you feel when you make a discovery or unearth a treasure. Thank you to the Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry motorway company!<\/p>\n<p>Surprise on arrival, on opening these gifts: the 'automation' units, which had spent 20 years practically in the open air, in the very relative shelter of the toll booths, had stored up blades of grass, or ears of country grass, or an adventurous grasshopper... Proof that the Micral N had indeed been designed by professionals in industrial computing, to operate in testing conditions, far from the playful spirit of the Californian 'counter-culture'. Now that was <em>French tech<\/em>.\u00a0!<\/p>\n<p>I didn't want to keep all this loot for myself. I took two copies to Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle, one of which was fitted with the control panel for programming the device 'aux cl\u00e9s', in binary. A third went to the Cit\u00e9 des Sciences et de l'Industrie at La Villette, where it soon featured in an exhibition. I kept a copy, both for the pleasure of the collector and to show it to my students or at some future exhibition.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20875\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20875\" class=\"wp-image-20875\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\" alt=\"Un Micral N de la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 AREA r\u00e9cup\u00e9r\u00e9 par Pierre Mounier Kuhn\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024-9x12.jpg 9w, https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024-225x300.jpg 225w\"  sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An AREA Micral N recovered by Pierre Mounier Kuhn<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Eleven years later, in 2003, when I organised a colloquium and a small exhibition at the CNAM to mark the 30<sup>e<\/sup> anniversary of the micro-computer, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle solemnly brought one of his <em>Micrals<\/em> at the Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, where it has been on display ever since. Other examples have subsequently appeared at auction, sometimes going on to American collections.<\/p>\n<p>As for mine, I'd quite like to give it a new lease of life, insofar as it's compatible with preserving its components, by making it control some machinery other than a motorway barrier!<\/p>\n<p>Pierre Mounier-Kuhn, 2023<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>par Pierre Mounier-Kuhn Historien CNRS, Sorbonne Universit\u00e9 et CentraleSup\u00e9lec En 1990, tout en commen\u00e7ant ma th\u00e8se sur l\u2019histoire de l\u2019informatique en France, j\u2019organisai un colloque international sur ce th\u00e8me au Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, embelli d\u2019une exposition au Mus\u00e9e du m\u00eame nom. \u00c0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 des pionniers fran\u00e7ais ou \u00e9trangers des ann\u00e9es 1950, qui venaient pr\u00e9senter leurs calculateurs \u00e9lectroniques ou l\u2019histoire de leurs entreprises, on eut le plaisir d\u2019accueillir un ing\u00e9nieur encore jeune, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle, qui raconta le d\u00e9veloppement du Micral N. Cette histoire n\u2019\u00e9tait pas totalement inconnue de ceux qui s\u2019int\u00e9ressaient au sujet, mais ce fut l\u2019occasion de lancer un mouvement d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat et de le montrer \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle. Gardant avec lui un contact amical, je lui demandai des compl\u00e9ments d\u2019information, notamment sur les premiers acqu\u00e9reurs du Micral apr\u00e8s l\u2019INRA qui en avait command\u00e9 le prototype. Autrement dit, des \u00e9l\u00e9ments permettant de comprendre comment la petit firme R2E \u00e9tait pass\u00e9e du d\u00e9veloppement du micro-ordinateur \u00e0 son industrialisation et \u00e0 sa commercialisation.\u00a0Conna\u00eetre ces premiers acqu\u00e9reurs pouvait \u00eatre aussi une piste pour retrouver et sauver d\u2019\u00e9ventuels Micrals survivants, en menant simultan\u00e9ment une \u00e9tude d\u2019histoire et une sauvegarde de patrimoine technique. Parmi les clients \u00ab\u00a0pionniers\u00a0\u00bb qu\u2019il cita, la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 AREA g\u00e9rant l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry me r\u00e9pondit assez rapidement,\u00a0en substance\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0Oui, nous employons toujours des Micrals au contr\u00f4le-commande des bornes de p\u00e9age. On pr\u00e9voit de les remplacer, mais seulement apr\u00e8s la fin des Jeux olympiques d\u2019Albertville, au printemps 1992\u00a0!\u00a0\u00bb Le 18 avril\u00a01992, ma vieille voiture m\u2019emmena donc vers Chamb\u00e9ry. Le pr\u00e9pos\u00e9 au p\u00e9age de Nances, pr\u00e9venu par sa hi\u00e9rarchie, avait d\u00e9pos\u00e9 dans des cartons les Micrals mis \u00e0 la retraite, qui firent dans mon coffre le voyage de retour vers Paris. Il y a comme \u00e7a des moments de joie pure dans la vie d\u2019un historien des techniques, semblables \u00e0 \u00ab\u00a0la gloire de mon p\u00e8re\u00a0\u00bb de Pagnol apr\u00e8s la chasse aux bartavelles ou \u00e0 la jubilation que l\u2019on \u00e9prouve en faisant une d\u00e9couverte ou en exhumant un tr\u00e9sor. Que la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry soit remerci\u00e9e\u00a0! Surprise \u00e0 l\u2019arriv\u00e9e, en ouvrant ces cadeaux\u00a0: les unit\u00e9s \u00ab\u00a0automatismes\u00a0\u00bb, qui avaient pass\u00e9 20 ans pratiquement en plein air, dans l\u2019abri tr\u00e8s relatif des gu\u00e9rites de p\u00e9age, avaient emmagasin\u00e9 au gr\u00e9 des vents, qui des brins d\u2019herbe, qui des \u00e9pis de gramin\u00e9es champ\u00eatres, qui une sauterelle aventureuse\u2026\u00a0Preuve que le Micral N avait \u00e9t\u00e9 bien con\u00e7u par des professionnels de l\u2019informatique industrielle, pour fonctionner dans des conditions \u00e9prouvantes, loin de l\u2019esprit ludique de la \u00ab\u00a0contre-culture\u00a0\u00bb californienne. \u00c7a, c\u2019\u00e9tait de la French tech.\u00a0! Je ne voulais pas garder tout ce butin pour moi. \u00c0 tout seigneur, tout honneur, j\u2019apportai \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle deux exemplaires, dont l\u2019un garni du panneau de commandes permettant de programmer l\u2019appareil \u00ab\u00a0aux cl\u00e9s\u00a0\u00bb, en binaire. Un troisi\u00e8me alla \u00e0 la Cit\u00e9 des Sciences et de l\u2019Industrie de La Villette, o\u00f9 elle figura bient\u00f4t dans une exposition. J\u2019en gardai un exemplaire, \u00e0 la fois pour le plaisir du collectionneur et pour le montrer, soit \u00e0 mes \u00e9tudiants, soit dans quelque exposition future. Onze ans plus tard, en 2003, quand j\u2019organisai au CNAM un colloque et une petite exposition pour le 30e anniversaire du micro-ordinateur, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle apporta [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":333,"featured_media":20875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,1485],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualite","category-micral"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>La chasse au Micral N - MO5.COM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"La chasse au Micral N - MO5.COM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"par Pierre Mounier-Kuhn Historien CNRS, Sorbonne Universit\u00e9 et CentraleSup\u00e9lec En 1990, tout en commen\u00e7ant ma th\u00e8se sur l\u2019histoire de l\u2019informatique en France, j\u2019organisai un colloque international sur ce th\u00e8me au Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, embelli d\u2019une exposition au Mus\u00e9e du m\u00eame nom. \u00c0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 des pionniers fran\u00e7ais ou \u00e9trangers des ann\u00e9es 1950, qui venaient pr\u00e9senter leurs calculateurs \u00e9lectroniques ou l\u2019histoire de leurs entreprises, on eut le plaisir d\u2019accueillir un ing\u00e9nieur encore jeune, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle, qui raconta le d\u00e9veloppement du Micral N. Cette histoire n\u2019\u00e9tait pas totalement inconnue de ceux qui s\u2019int\u00e9ressaient au sujet, mais ce fut l\u2019occasion de lancer un mouvement d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat et de le montrer \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle. Gardant avec lui un contact amical, je lui demandai des compl\u00e9ments d\u2019information, notamment sur les premiers acqu\u00e9reurs du Micral apr\u00e8s l\u2019INRA qui en avait command\u00e9 le prototype. Autrement dit, des \u00e9l\u00e9ments permettant de comprendre comment la petit firme R2E \u00e9tait pass\u00e9e du d\u00e9veloppement du micro-ordinateur \u00e0 son industrialisation et \u00e0 sa commercialisation.\u00a0Conna\u00eetre ces premiers acqu\u00e9reurs pouvait \u00eatre aussi une piste pour retrouver et sauver d\u2019\u00e9ventuels Micrals survivants, en menant simultan\u00e9ment une \u00e9tude d\u2019histoire et une sauvegarde de patrimoine technique. Parmi les clients \u00ab\u00a0pionniers\u00a0\u00bb qu\u2019il cita, la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 AREA g\u00e9rant l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry me r\u00e9pondit assez rapidement,\u00a0en substance\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0Oui, nous employons toujours des Micrals au contr\u00f4le-commande des bornes de p\u00e9age. On pr\u00e9voit de les remplacer, mais seulement apr\u00e8s la fin des Jeux olympiques d\u2019Albertville, au printemps 1992\u00a0!\u00a0\u00bb Le 18 avril\u00a01992, ma vieille voiture m\u2019emmena donc vers Chamb\u00e9ry. Le pr\u00e9pos\u00e9 au p\u00e9age de Nances, pr\u00e9venu par sa hi\u00e9rarchie, avait d\u00e9pos\u00e9 dans des cartons les Micrals mis \u00e0 la retraite, qui firent dans mon coffre le voyage de retour vers Paris. Il y a comme \u00e7a des moments de joie pure dans la vie d\u2019un historien des techniques, semblables \u00e0 \u00ab\u00a0la gloire de mon p\u00e8re\u00a0\u00bb de Pagnol apr\u00e8s la chasse aux bartavelles ou \u00e0 la jubilation que l\u2019on \u00e9prouve en faisant une d\u00e9couverte ou en exhumant un tr\u00e9sor. Que la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry soit remerci\u00e9e\u00a0! Surprise \u00e0 l\u2019arriv\u00e9e, en ouvrant ces cadeaux\u00a0: les unit\u00e9s \u00ab\u00a0automatismes\u00a0\u00bb, qui avaient pass\u00e9 20 ans pratiquement en plein air, dans l\u2019abri tr\u00e8s relatif des gu\u00e9rites de p\u00e9age, avaient emmagasin\u00e9 au gr\u00e9 des vents, qui des brins d\u2019herbe, qui des \u00e9pis de gramin\u00e9es champ\u00eatres, qui une sauterelle aventureuse\u2026\u00a0Preuve que le Micral N avait \u00e9t\u00e9 bien con\u00e7u par des professionnels de l\u2019informatique industrielle, pour fonctionner dans des conditions \u00e9prouvantes, loin de l\u2019esprit ludique de la \u00ab\u00a0contre-culture\u00a0\u00bb californienne. \u00c7a, c\u2019\u00e9tait de la French tech.\u00a0! Je ne voulais pas garder tout ce butin pour moi. \u00c0 tout seigneur, tout honneur, j\u2019apportai \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle deux exemplaires, dont l\u2019un garni du panneau de commandes permettant de programmer l\u2019appareil \u00ab\u00a0aux cl\u00e9s\u00a0\u00bb, en binaire. Un troisi\u00e8me alla \u00e0 la Cit\u00e9 des Sciences et de l\u2019Industrie de La Villette, o\u00f9 elle figura bient\u00f4t dans une exposition. J\u2019en gardai un exemplaire, \u00e0 la fois pour le plaisir du collectionneur et pour le montrer, soit \u00e0 mes \u00e9tudiants, soit dans quelque exposition future. Onze ans plus tard, en 2003, quand j\u2019organisai au CNAM un colloque et une petite exposition pour le 30e anniversaire du micro-ordinateur, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle apporta [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MO5.COM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Association-MO5COM\/9540357570\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@assomo5\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@assomo5\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/643ee8189bb4f178eee44aba20a2e0e7\"},\"headline\":\"La chasse au Micral N\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":705,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Actualit\u00e9\",\"Micral\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/\",\"name\":\"La chasse au Micral N - MO5.COM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"IMG 4795 1024\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"La chasse au Micral N\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"MO5.COM\",\"description\":\"Pr\u00e9server, explorer, rejouer\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Association MO5.COM\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Logo_MO5_A_Colo_Texte_Bleu-e1697059504554.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Logo_MO5_A_Colo_Texte_Bleu-e1697059504554.png\",\"width\":2094,\"height\":559,\"caption\":\"Association MO5.COM\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pages\\\/Association-MO5COM\\\/9540357570\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/assomo5\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/assomo5\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCRncMsBo89C9u_8gpWnsOVw\\\/featured\",\"https:\\\/\\\/bsky.app\\\/profile\\\/assomo5.bsky.social\",\"https:\\\/\\\/twitch.tv\\\/mo5assoretro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/643ee8189bb4f178eee44aba20a2e0e7\",\"name\":\"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mo5.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/pierremounierkhun\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Micral N hunt - MO5.COM","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"La chasse au Micral N - MO5.COM","og_description":"par Pierre Mounier-Kuhn Historien CNRS, Sorbonne Universit\u00e9 et CentraleSup\u00e9lec En 1990, tout en commen\u00e7ant ma th\u00e8se sur l\u2019histoire de l\u2019informatique en France, j\u2019organisai un colloque international sur ce th\u00e8me au Conservatoire des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, embelli d\u2019une exposition au Mus\u00e9e du m\u00eame nom. \u00c0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 des pionniers fran\u00e7ais ou \u00e9trangers des ann\u00e9es 1950, qui venaient pr\u00e9senter leurs calculateurs \u00e9lectroniques ou l\u2019histoire de leurs entreprises, on eut le plaisir d\u2019accueillir un ing\u00e9nieur encore jeune, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle, qui raconta le d\u00e9veloppement du Micral N. Cette histoire n\u2019\u00e9tait pas totalement inconnue de ceux qui s\u2019int\u00e9ressaient au sujet, mais ce fut l\u2019occasion de lancer un mouvement d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat et de le montrer \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle. Gardant avec lui un contact amical, je lui demandai des compl\u00e9ments d\u2019information, notamment sur les premiers acqu\u00e9reurs du Micral apr\u00e8s l\u2019INRA qui en avait command\u00e9 le prototype. Autrement dit, des \u00e9l\u00e9ments permettant de comprendre comment la petit firme R2E \u00e9tait pass\u00e9e du d\u00e9veloppement du micro-ordinateur \u00e0 son industrialisation et \u00e0 sa commercialisation.\u00a0Conna\u00eetre ces premiers acqu\u00e9reurs pouvait \u00eatre aussi une piste pour retrouver et sauver d\u2019\u00e9ventuels Micrals survivants, en menant simultan\u00e9ment une \u00e9tude d\u2019histoire et une sauvegarde de patrimoine technique. Parmi les clients \u00ab\u00a0pionniers\u00a0\u00bb qu\u2019il cita, la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 AREA g\u00e9rant l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry me r\u00e9pondit assez rapidement,\u00a0en substance\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0Oui, nous employons toujours des Micrals au contr\u00f4le-commande des bornes de p\u00e9age. On pr\u00e9voit de les remplacer, mais seulement apr\u00e8s la fin des Jeux olympiques d\u2019Albertville, au printemps 1992\u00a0!\u00a0\u00bb Le 18 avril\u00a01992, ma vieille voiture m\u2019emmena donc vers Chamb\u00e9ry. Le pr\u00e9pos\u00e9 au p\u00e9age de Nances, pr\u00e9venu par sa hi\u00e9rarchie, avait d\u00e9pos\u00e9 dans des cartons les Micrals mis \u00e0 la retraite, qui firent dans mon coffre le voyage de retour vers Paris. Il y a comme \u00e7a des moments de joie pure dans la vie d\u2019un historien des techniques, semblables \u00e0 \u00ab\u00a0la gloire de mon p\u00e8re\u00a0\u00bb de Pagnol apr\u00e8s la chasse aux bartavelles ou \u00e0 la jubilation que l\u2019on \u00e9prouve en faisant une d\u00e9couverte ou en exhumant un tr\u00e9sor. Que la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019autoroute Lyon-Chamb\u00e9ry soit remerci\u00e9e\u00a0! Surprise \u00e0 l\u2019arriv\u00e9e, en ouvrant ces cadeaux\u00a0: les unit\u00e9s \u00ab\u00a0automatismes\u00a0\u00bb, qui avaient pass\u00e9 20 ans pratiquement en plein air, dans l\u2019abri tr\u00e8s relatif des gu\u00e9rites de p\u00e9age, avaient emmagasin\u00e9 au gr\u00e9 des vents, qui des brins d\u2019herbe, qui des \u00e9pis de gramin\u00e9es champ\u00eatres, qui une sauterelle aventureuse\u2026\u00a0Preuve que le Micral N avait \u00e9t\u00e9 bien con\u00e7u par des professionnels de l\u2019informatique industrielle, pour fonctionner dans des conditions \u00e9prouvantes, loin de l\u2019esprit ludique de la \u00ab\u00a0contre-culture\u00a0\u00bb californienne. \u00c7a, c\u2019\u00e9tait de la French tech.\u00a0! Je ne voulais pas garder tout ce butin pour moi. \u00c0 tout seigneur, tout honneur, j\u2019apportai \u00e0 Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle deux exemplaires, dont l\u2019un garni du panneau de commandes permettant de programmer l\u2019appareil \u00ab\u00a0aux cl\u00e9s\u00a0\u00bb, en binaire. Un troisi\u00e8me alla \u00e0 la Cit\u00e9 des Sciences et de l\u2019Industrie de La Villette, o\u00f9 elle figura bient\u00f4t dans une exposition. J\u2019en gardai un exemplaire, \u00e0 la fois pour le plaisir du collectionneur et pour le montrer, soit \u00e0 mes \u00e9tudiants, soit dans quelque exposition future. Onze ans plus tard, en 2003, quand j\u2019organisai au CNAM un colloque et une petite exposition pour le 30e anniversaire du micro-ordinateur, Fran\u00e7ois Gernelle apporta [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/","og_site_name":"MO5.COM","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Association-MO5COM\/9540357570","article_published_time":"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@assomo5","twitter_site":"@assomo5","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/"},"author":{"name":"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#\/schema\/person\/643ee8189bb4f178eee44aba20a2e0e7"},"headline":"La chasse au Micral N","datePublished":"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/"},"wordCount":705,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg","articleSection":["Actualit\u00e9","Micral"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/","url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/","name":"The Micral N hunt - MO5.COM","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-09T10:07:38+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-14T07:59:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_4795_1024.jpg","width":768,"height":1024,"caption":"IMG 4795 1024"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/la-chasse-au-micral-n\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"La chasse au Micral N"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/","name":"MO5.COM","description":"Preserve, explore, replay","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#organization","name":"MO5.COM Association","url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Logo_MO5_A_Colo_Texte_Bleu-e1697059504554.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Logo_MO5_A_Colo_Texte_Bleu-e1697059504554.png","width":2094,"height":559,"caption":"Association MO5.COM"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Association-MO5COM\/9540357570","https:\/\/x.com\/assomo5","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/assomo5","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCRncMsBo89C9u_8gpWnsOVw\/featured","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/assomo5.bsky.social","https:\/\/twitch.tv\/mo5assoretro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/#\/schema\/person\/643ee8189bb4f178eee44aba20a2e0e7","name":"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7798ebc745f2f7b34c514fd987decd851cc4b0e6aa7394cdb5a668f39bdfa27?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Pierre Mounier-Kuhn"},"url":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/author\/pierremounierkhun\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/333"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mo5.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}