The 4004 was the first Chip-based CPU and after it was released 15th of November 1971, haven't the world been the same :-). The Gnome do have some similarities with this very first processor - for instance the 4-bit data registers.

The purpose of The Gnome to present some of the principles which the basics of all CPU's and Computers. There's lots of stuff which could (and should) be optimized in order to make it useable in "real-life" application.