MITS Altair 8800
A mail-order computer kit built around the Intel 8080 that started the personal computer hobby when it appeared on a magazine cover in January 1975.
Ed Roberts of MITS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed the Altair 8800 around the Intel 8080 processor. It appeared on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics. The kit cost $397 and an assembled machine cost $439.
The Altair had toggle switches and lights on its front panel and no keyboard or screen. Owners entered programs bit by bit. Paul Allen and Bill Gates wrote a BASIC interpreter for it and formed Microsoft in 1975. Hobbyists formed groups to share ideas, including the Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park.
Why it matters
The Altair showed that thousands of people wanted a computer of their own. It created the market that Apple, Commodore and others entered, and it gave Microsoft its start.
Key facts
- Featured on the January 1975 cover of Popular Electronics.
- Kit price was $397.
- Used the Intel 8080 processor.
- Microsoft's first product was BASIC for the Altair.
Sources
- Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray, et al. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. 3rd ed. Westview Press, 2013.
- Freiberger, Paul, and Michael Swaine. Fire in the Valley. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
- Popular Electronics, January 1975.