---
title: RCA Fred
categories:
- Computers
params:
  name: Fred
  image: /media/museum/photos/rca_fred2-computer_1_450px.jpg
  company: /companies/rca
  company_name: RCA
  tabs:
  - photos
  - software
  photos:
  - title: FRED "FUN1" PROTOTYPE
    subtitle: ''
    text: Picture courtesy of David Sarnoff library (digital.hagley.org)
    image: null
  - title: FRED "FUN1" PROTOTYPE
    subtitle: ''
    text: Picture courtesy of Joyce Weisbecker
    image: null
  - title: FRED PROTOTYPE - CIRCA 1972
    subtitle: ''
    text: |-
      The daughters of Joseph Weisbecker are posing for the picture. Joyse Weisbecker (right) will be the first woman to program games (for FRED and Studio II systems) and be paid for it. She was also the first independent game programmer of all time !

      Picture courtesy of David Sarnoff library (digital.hagley.org)
    image: null
  - title: RCA FRED 2 PROTOTYPE
    subtitle: ''
    text: The Sarnoff Collection, The College of New Jersey
    image: /media/museum/photos/rca_fred2-computer_1_800px.jpg
  - title: RCA FRED 2 PROTOTYPE - REAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: Thanks to Herb Johnson (http://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/cosmac_fred2.html) for this picture
    image: /media/museum/photos/rca_fred2-computer_rear_1.jpg
  software:
  - /software/bowling-851
  - /software/deduce-also-known-as-deduce-sa
  - /software/tic-tac-toe
  oc_id: 1308
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230601001754/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1308
    date: '2023-06-01'
---

This Fred computer is a prototype designed by Joseph Weisbecker, engineer at RCA. He already imagined several early computer designs before this Fred model, such as the System 00 or the original Fred concept.

Fred (Flexible Recreational & Educational Device) is in fact a concept imagined by Joseph Weisbecker for an educational computer able to play games. This concept emerged in several hardware versions through time. The first models could be dated as early as 1970 or 1971 !

The first models (like the one code-named System 00) used only small-scale digital TTL logic chips, the Fred computer picture here is the first system of the project to use integrated chipsets, particularly the RCA's COSMAC 1801 chip set, which would later become the single-chip COSMAC 1802.

All the incredible work initiated by Joseph Weisbecker eventually led to the RCA Cosmac line of computers (like The [Microtutor](/museum/rca-cosmac-microtutor/) or the [Cosmac VIP](/museum/rca-cosmac-vip/)) and the [RCA Studio II gaming system](/museum/rca-studio-ii/), among other projects.

---

*Photo of the Fred computer courtesy of the Sarnoff Collection, The College of New Jersey*

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this console ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>