@dvogel You can think of it as a 24-bit architecture with a 1-bit implementation. Similar to the PDP-8/S, which implemented the 12-bit PDP-8 architecture with serial circuitry. Also, the Datapoint 2200, a serial 8-bit computer whose architecture was copied to create the Intel 8008 chip. (That's why x86 is little-endian; you have to start with the lowest bit on a serial machine.)