4 adverts that feature the National Semiconductor SC/MP "Scamp"

National Semiconductors' SC/MP or Scamp - for Small Cost (or Simple Cost-effective) Micro-Processor - was launched in 1976 as a simple processor for the embedded market.

However, as it used a serial arithmetic logic unit instead of parallel, it was much slower than the competition. It could also only directly address the first 12 bits of its 16-bit memory address, making it trickier to program anything bigger than 4K.

Although it was never popular, it did appear in the UK's first kit computer - the Bywood Scrumpi, which launched in 1976 - as well as Science of Cambridge's (Sinclair's) MK14, launched in 1978.