Monroe Computers - Overview

The Monroe calculator company appears to have made an early transition into electronic data processing. A late 1950s US governemnt report into the state of the US computer industry indentifies Monrobot machines and by the start of the 1960s the Monrobot computer line had reached mark XI.

This is consistent with Monoroe’s transition from mechanical to electronic calculators although it appears that in neither case did the transition to electronic technology lead to the same success that Monroe had achieved with its mechanical calculator business. Just as Monroe ceased to develop its own electronic calculators after the EPIC models of the early 1960s, so too did they end their computer development efforts in the early 1960s, after the Monrobot XI.

Monrobot XI

The Monrobot XI may have been the last Monrobot computer. It was a small business computer, built to the scale of an office desk and able to operate from standard office power. Peripherals were typically typewriters, paper tape and magnetic cards. There was no magnetic tape facility, data was stored on long punched tapes or on magnetic cards. This was consistent with the Monrobot being used in a smaller office environment rather than for mass data processing in a large organisation.

No examples of the Monrobot XI are know to exist. DoPECC does however have an archive of Monrobot XI software and technical information.

DoPECC is eager to hear of any Monrobot hardware or software that may still exist. Please use the About/Contact link to send any information.