I have main unit RC 702, monitor RC 752,
disk unit RC 762 and keyboard RC 722.
type computer
country Denmark
year 1980
os CP/M
cpu Z80A
speed 4 MHz
ram 48 KB
rom 2 KB
graphic text
colors mono
sound beeper
disk 8″ floppy disk drive
ports monitor, keyboard, parallel, serial,
externel disk
The Regnecentralen RC 700 Piccolo — Denmark’s School Computer
The Regnecentralen RC 700 Piccolo was a Z80-based CP/M computer produced by Regnecentralen (RC) — Denmark’s oldest computer company, founded on 12 October 1955 and arguably the world’s oldest surviving computer-only company. Released in 1981, the RC 700 Piccolo used a Zilog Z80A processor at 4 MHz with 64 KB of RAM and ran CP/M as well as the Danish COMAL programming language — a structured BASIC-like language developed in Denmark that became the standard programming language taught in Danish schools. The RC 700 was widely used in Danish educational institutions throughout the early 1980s, introducing a generation of Danish students to computing.
Regnecentralen — Denmark’s Computing Pioneer
Regnecentralen was the first Danish computer company, founded in 1955 by the Danish Academy of Applied Sciences to keep abreast of developments in computing. Through the 1950s and 1960s, RC designed a series of computers for their own use and later for commercial sale. They developed high-speed paper tape machines, produced Data General Nova machines under license, and eventually transitioned to microcomputer products. The RC 700 Piccolo represented this final chapter — a microcomputer aimed at the educational market that drew on decades of Danish computing expertise.
COMAL — Denmark’s Programming Language
The RC 700’s support for COMAL (Common Algorithmic Language) was a distinctive and historically significant feature. COMAL was developed in Denmark in 1973 by Børge Christensen and Benedict Løfstedt as a structured alternative to BASIC — combining BASIC’s accessibility with Pascal’s structured programming features. It became the standard programming language in Danish schools and was also adopted in Irish education, making it one of the few nationally developed programming languages to achieve mainstream educational adoption. The RC 700’s COMAL support made it the natural choice for Danish schools implementing the national computing curriculum.
Legacy
The RC 700 was succeeded by the RC 759 Piccoline in 1984 — an Intel 80186-based machine that continued the educational computing tradition. Regnecentralen eventually wound down its computer manufacturing operations as the IBM PC-compatible standard displaced proprietary educational computers throughout Europe. The RC 700 Piccolo is today a rare collector’s piece representing Scandinavian computing heritage and the distinctive Danish approach to educational technology.