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428:. However, it never arrived due to a strike by the shipping company. Solomon already had a number of pictures of the machine and the article was based on them. Roberts got to work on building a replacement. The computer on the magazine cover is an empty box with just switches and LEDs on the front panel. The finished Altair computer had a completely different circuit board layout than the prototype shown in the magazine. The January 1975 issues appeared on newsstands a week before Christmas of 1974 and the kit was officially (if not yet practically) available for sale.
557:. Some salesmen said that MITS was getting cosmetic rejects or otherwise inferior chips. In July 1975, Intel sent a letter to its sales force stating that the MITS Altair 8800 computer used standard Intel 8080 parts. The sales force should sell the Intellec system based on its merits and that no one should make derogatory comments about valued customers like MITS. The letter was reprinted in the August 1975 issue of MITS Computer Notes. The "cosmetic defect" rumor has appeared in many accounts over the years although both MITS and Intel issued written denials in 1975.
437:
604:, MITS was flooded with inquiries and orders. They had to hire extra people just to answer the phones. In February MITS received 1,000 orders for the Altair 8800. The quoted delivery time was 60 days but it was months before they could meet that. Roberts focused on delivering the computer; all of the options would wait until they could keep pace with the orders. MITS claimed to have delivered 2,500 Altair 8800s by the end of May. The number was over 5,000 by August 1975. MITS had under 20 employees in January but had grown to 90 by October 1975.
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812:, and the machine consisted of four boards stacked on top of each other with stand-offs. Another problem facing Roberts was that the parts needed to make a truly useful computer were not available, or would not be designed in time for the January launch date. So during the construction of the second model, he decided to build most of the machine on removable cards, reducing the
329:
760:" with the Altair 8800. The computer cost $ 439 as a kit. The first 50 IMSAI computers shipped in December 1975. The IMSAI 8080 computer improved on the original Altair design in several areas. It was easier to assemble: The Altair required 60 wire connections between the front panel and the motherboard (
463:
One explanation of the Altair name, which editor Les
Solomon later told the audience at the first Altair Computer Convention (March 1976), is that the name was inspired by Les's 12-year-old daughter, Lauren. "She said why don't you call it Altair – that's where the Enterprise is going tonight." The
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Ed
Roberts said: "We had a Nova 2 by Data General in the office that we sold timeshare on … The front panel on an Altair essentially models every switch that was on the Nova 2. We had that machine to look at. The switches are pretty much standard of any front panel machine. It would
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in binary, then used the "DEPOSIT NEXT" switch to load that instruction into the next address of the machine's memory. This step was repeated until all the opcodes of a presumably complete and correct program were in place. The only output from the programs was the patterns of lights on the panel.
768:
clock generator with the Intel 8224. The IMSAI also had a larger power supply to handle the increasing number of expansion boards used in typical systems. The IMSAI advantage was short lived because MITS had recognized these shortcomings and developed the Altair 8800B, which was introduced in June
481:
Another explanation is that the Altair was originally going to be named the PE-8 (Popular
Electronics 8-bit), but Les Solomon thought this name to be rather dull, so Les, Alexander Burawa (associate editor), and John McVeigh (technical editor) decided that: "It's a stellar event, so let's name it
409:
One of the editors, Les
Solomon, knew MITS was working on an Intel 8080 based computer project and thought Roberts could provide the project for the always popular January issue. The TV Typewriter and the Mark-8 computer projects were just a detailed set of plans and a set of bare printed circuit
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The Altair 8800 computer was a break-even sale for MITS. They needed to sell additional memory boards, I/O boards and other options to make a profit. The system came with a "1024 word" (1024 byte) memory board populated with 256 bytes. The BASIC language was announced in July 1975 and required a
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introduced computer power to the general public. Electronics hobbyists were moving on to digital projects such as digital voltmeters and frequency counters. The Altair had enough power to be actually useful, and was designed as an expandable system that opened it up to all sorts of applications.
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In addition to calculators, MITS made a line of test equipment kits. These included an IC tester, a waveform generator, a digital voltmeter, and several other instruments. To keep up with the demand, MITS moved into a larger building at 6328 Linn NE in
Albuquerque in 1973. They installed a
764:). The IMSAI required only two soldered connections between the front panel and power supply. The MITS motherboard consisted of 4 slot segments that had to be connected together with 100 wires. The IMSAI motherboard implemented 22 slots on a single segment. The IMSAI replaced the Altair's
1883:"There was a subsequent article in February's Popular Electronics and the MITS people knew the Altair was here to stay. During that month alone, over 1,000 mainframes were sold. Datamation, March 1975." "By the end of May, MITS had shipped over 2,500 Altair 8800's"
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MITS had no competition in the US for the first half of 1975. Their 4K memory board used dynamic RAM and it had several design problems. The delay in shipping optional boards and the problems with the 4K memory board created an opportunity for outside suppliers.
530:. At that time, Intel's main business was selling memory chips by the thousands to computer companies. They had no experience in selling small quantities of microprocessors. When the 8080 was introduced in April 1974, Intel set the single unit price at
862:, when the normal practice was for a single bidirectional bus (this oddity did, however, allow a later expansion of the S-100 standard to 16 bits bidirectional by using both 8-bit buses in parallel). A deal on power supplies led to the use of +8
304:
developed its own calculator chip and started selling complete calculators at less than half the price of other commercial models. MITS and many other companies were devastated by this, and
Roberts struggled to reduce his quarter-million-dollar debt.
534:($ 2220 in 2023). "That figure had a nice ring to it," recalled Intel's Dave House in 1984. "Besides, it was a computer, and they usually cost thousands of dollars, so we felt it was a reasonable price." Ed Roberts had experience in buying
553:. It was functionally similar to the Altair 8800 but it was a commercial grade system with a wide selection of peripherals and development software. Customers would ask Intel why their Intellec-8 was so expensive when that Altair was only
1508:"Les Solomon entertained a curious audience with anecdotes about how it all began for MITS, The name for MITS' computer, for example, was inspired by his 12-year-old daughter. She said why don't you call it Altair -- that's where the
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languages. This meant there was a sizable customer base who knew about computers. In 1970, electronic calculators were not seen outside of a laboratory, but by 1974 they were a common household item. Calculators and video games like
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The Altair shipped in a two-piece case. The backplane and power supply were mounted on a base plate, along with the front and rear of the box. The "lid" was shaped like a C, forming the top, left, and right sides of the box. The
1942:"We had less than 20 employees when we introduced the Altair and now we have grown to 90 as a result of our Altair customers." Roberts also discussed the problems with the 4K dynamic RAM boards. Customers got a $ 50 refund.
1903:
In August 1975 Wayne Green visited several personal computer manufacturers. A photo caption in his trip report says; "Meanwhile, at MITS, over 5,000 Altair 8800's have been shipped. Here is a view of part of the production
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Programming the Altair via the front panel could be a tedious and time-consuming process. Programming required the toggling of the switches to positions corresponding to the desired 8080 microprocessor instruction or
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Intel letter to its sales force. "We wish to clarify any misconception that may exist in your minds regarding the MITS ALTAIR system. This product is designed around the Intel
Standard Data Sheet 8080 family."
185:-compatible terminal) to have any output. To connect it to a terminal a serial interface card had to be installed. Alternatively to using a terminal Altair could be programmed using its front-panel switches.
1706:"Intel Corporation has announced that an interactive display console and highspeed line printer are now available for the Intellec MDS microcomputer development system. … The display console costs
600:
Ed
Roberts optimistically told his banker that he could sell 800 computers, while in reality they needed to sell 200 over the next year just to break even. When readers got the January issue of
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in quantities of 1 to 9. Delivery is in 30 days. Price of the basic
Intellec MDS with 16K bytes of RAM memory, including interfaces and resident software for operating the peripherals, is
986:. They figured that they had 30 days before someone else beat them to the punch, and once they had a version working on the simulator, Allen flew to Albuquerque to deliver the program,
278:, or $ 275 assembled. Forrest Mims wrote the assembly manual for this kit and many others over the next several years. As payment for each manual he often accepted a copy of the kit.
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promised interface and PROM boards in addition to the 4K memory board. They would later develop a popular video display board that would plug directly into the Altair.
748:, wanted to purchase several Altair computers, but the long delivery time convinced them that they should build their own computers. In the October 1975 issue of
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area, and they had no BASIC yet to offer. When they called
Roberts to follow up on the letter he expressed his interest, and the two started work on their BASIC
1224:
There is little question that the current enthusiasm in personal computing was catalyzed by the introduction of the MITS Altair computer kit in January 1975.
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An enterprising Altair owner, Robert Marsh, designed a 4K static memory that was plug-in compatible with the Altair 8800 and sold for $ 255. His company was
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for the machine. He called the company and reached a private home, where no one had heard of anything like BASIC. In fact the letter had been sent by
267:
2313:
1430:"The breakthrough in low-cost microprocessors occurred just before Christmas 1974, when the January issue of Popular Electronics reached readers … "
2413:
1269:"This announcement ranks with IBM's announcement of the System/360 a decade earlier as one of the most significant in the history of computing."
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light beam. As Mims and Cagle were losing interest in the kit business, Roberts bought his partners out, then began developing a calculator kit.
1645:
in single quantities, few people could afford it. Ed Roberts bought the chips in large quantities and was able to get a substantial discount…"
994:. The first time it was run, it displayed "READY", then Allen typed "PRINT 2+2", and it immediately printed the correct answer: "4". The game
494:
Ed Roberts had designed and manufactured programmable calculators and was familiar with the microprocessors available in 1974. He thought the
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The calculator was successful and was followed by several improved models. The MITS 1440 calculator was featured in the July 1973 issues of
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The model rocket kits were a modest success and MITS wanted to try a kit that would appeal to more hobbyists. The November 1970 issue of
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Wayne Green visited MITS in August 1975 and interviewed Ed Roberts. The article has several paragraphs on the design of the Altair 8800.
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2017:"Later that day, December 16 , United Parcel Service picked up the first shipment of 50 IMS computer kits for delivery to customers."
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For a decade, colleges had required science and engineering majors to take a course in computer programming, typically using the
297:. MITS later developed a programmer unit that would connect to the 816 or 1440 calculator and allow programs of up to 256 steps.
1779:"Ed Roberts was able to get around this problem by obtaining a supply of cosmetic reject chips for about 1/3 the retail price."
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were not powerful enough (in fact several microcomputers based on Intel chips were already on the market: the Canadian company
410:
boards. The hobbyist faced the daunting task of acquiring all of the integrated circuits and other components. The editors of
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Copyright catalogs at the Library of Congress. January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics was published on November 29, 1974.
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The Altair 8800 had no built-in screen or video output, so it would have to be connected to a serial terminal (such as a
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on one and memory on another. He then looked for a cheap source of connectors and came across a supply of 100-pin
151:, and in other hobbyist magazines. According to Harry Garland, the Altair 8800 was the product that catalyzed the
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purchased MITS and began to market the computer, without changes (except for branding), as the PCC 8800 in 1978.
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run out onto the backplane. No particular level of thought went into the design, which led to disasters such as
352:. The change in editorial staff upset many of their authors, and they started writing for a competing magazine,
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737:, one of the most successful Altair compatible board suppliers. Their advertisement in the July 1975 issue of
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Nevertheless, many were sold in this form. Development was already underway on additional cards, including a
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1968:
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serial interface board and at least one or two 4096 word memory boards, depending on the language variant.
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Kellahin, James R. (July 1973). "The 1440: A calculator with memory, square root and other new features".
263:
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In the first design of the Altair, the parts needed to make a complete machine would not fit on a single
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1617:"Roberts was sure he could get the chip price much cheaper, and he did. Intel knocked the price down to
518:
marketed in 1974 by the Canadian company Micro Computer Machines); the National Semiconductor IMP-8 and
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Brillinger, P. C.; D. D. Cowan (November 1970). "A complete package for introducing computer science".
503:
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8K BASIC language (when purchased with Altair, two 4096-word memory boards and interface board): $ 75
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and his head engineer, Bill Yates, finished the first prototype in October 1974 and shipped it to
152:
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Digital Deli: The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy
456:". Ed Roberts was busy finishing the design and left the naming of the computer to the editors of
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being located next to each other. Another oddity was that the system included two unidirectional
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4K BASIC language (when purchased with Altair, 4096 words of memory and interface board): $ 60
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367:. It was Salsberg's goal to reclaim the lead in electronics projects. He was impressed with
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398:. The computer trainer was put on hold and the editors looked for a real computer system. (
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This "Tracking Light for Model Rockets" project appeared in the September 1969 issue of
139:. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of
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in April 1974. They were evaluating a computer trainer project by Jerry Ogden when the
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hobbyists. In 1969, Roberts and Mims, along with Stan Cagle and Robert Zaller, founded
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was eventually acknowledged by the professional computer community and adopted as the
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The cover story is for the MITS 1700 waveform generator. An ad for the MITS 1200, a
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2320:. Vol. 7, no. 1. New York, NY: Ziff Davis. pp. 33–38. Archived from
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have taken forever if we would have had to re-decide where every switch had to go."
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2001:
Once Upon a Time in ComputerLand: The Amazing, Billion-Dollar Tale of Bill Millard
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Describes the introductory computer science courses at the University of Waterloo.
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Young, Jeffrey S. (1998). "Chapter 6: 'Mechanics: Kits & Microcomputers'".
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calculator kit used the chipset and was featured on the November 1971 cover of
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H. Edward Roberts; William Yates (January 1975). "Altair 8800 minicomputer".
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asking whether he would be interested in buying what would eventually be the
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was entered in, and this worked as well. Gates soon joined Allen and formed
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Microprocessor Development System that typically sold for a very profitable
193:
2107:
Solomon, Les (September 1984). "Solomon's Memory". In Ditlea, Steve (ed.).
1318:, Richard H. Umstattd, "MOS Desk Calculator", issued 1974-03-26
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Mims, Forrest (January 1985). "The Tenth Anniversary of the Altair 8800".
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Mims, Forrest (January 1985). "The Tenth Anniversary of the Altair 8800".
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Forbes Greatest Technology Stories: Inspiring Tales of the Entrepreneurs
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Ed Roberts (November 1971). "Electronic desk calculator you can build".
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Forbes Greatest Technology Stories: Inspiring Tales of the Entrepreneurs
800:
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MITS Altair 8800 exhibit at old-computers.com's virtual computer museum
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506:'s CPS-1 built-in 1972 used a MIL MF7114 chip modeled on the 4004, the
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356:. In 1972 and 1973, some of the best construction projects appeared in
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Maker of a hardware emulation of the 8800 running on an Atmel AVR 8515
223:
decided to use their electronics background to produce small kits for
2259:
Green, Wayne (October 1975). "From the Publisher .. Are they real?".
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MITS (August 1975). "Worlds Most Inexpensive BASIC language system".
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Green, Wayne (October 1975). "From the Publisher .. Are they real?".
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394:-based computer by Jonathan Titus appeared on the July 1974 cover of
171:
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266:(LSI) circuit chips that would make a four-function calculator. The
254:
featured the Opticom, a kit from MITS that would send voice over an
1530:. Vol. 6, no. 46. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. p. 7.
833:
2346:. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Archived from
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data directly into the memory of the machine, and a number of red
866:
and ±18 V, which had to be locally regulated on the cards to
569:
A May 1975 advertisement for the Altair 8800 Computer appeared in
155:. It was the first commercially successful personal computer. The
1069:"Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures"
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Dorf, Richard C., ed. The engineering handbook. CRC Press, 2004.
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quantities of calculator chips and he was able to negotiate a
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with the Altair 8800 computer. Published on November 29, 1974.
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Green, Wayne (February 1976). "Believe Me - I'm No Expert!".
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856:
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Michalopoulos, Demetrios A. (October 1976). "New Products".
1428:. Vol. 7, no. 6. New York: Ziff-Davis. p. 69.
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Announced in late 1975, it started shipping in August 1977.
145:
and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in
1767:. Alexander, North Carolina: WorldComm Press. p. 283.
1021:
863:
820:. The basic machine consisted of five cards, including the
592:
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wanted a complete kit in a professional-looking enclosure.
379:, September 1973) article and wanted computer projects for
2372:
Altair 8800 images and information at vintage-computer.com
2086:"NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY Bill Gates interview"
1907:
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to nothing more than an interconnect between the cards, a
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Salsberg states that the Altair was named by John McVeigh
542:
price ($ 460 in 2023) for the 8080 microprocessor chips.
255:
170:, and the first programming language for the machine was
112:
2237:"Ed Roberts Interview with Historically Brewed magazine"
2054:"Ed Roberts Interview with Historically Brewed magazine"
2141:
Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer
1597:
Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer
1566:
Intel Corporation (1984). Glynnis Thompson Kaye (ed.).
1338:. Vol. 35, no. 5. Ziff Davis. pp. 27–32.
1290:
Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer
1095:"Total Share: Personal Computer Market Share 1975-2010"
1721:
1554:. No. 184. Peterborough, NH: 73, Inc. p. 89.
1495:(11). Altair Users Group, MITS Inc.: 7. Archived from
1472:. Vol. 7, no. 1. Ziff Davis. pp. 33–38.
448:
The typical MITS product had a generic name like the "
1929:(5). Altair Users Group, MITS Inc.: 3. Archived from
1788:
1740:(3). Altair Users Group, MITS Inc.: 2. Archived from
1681:
1575:. Intel Corporation. p. 14. Order number:231295.
1569:
A Revolution in Progress - A History to Date of Intel
1440:
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Siliconnections: Coming of Age in the Electronic Era
2028:"MITS - ALTAIR COMPANY IS SOLD TO PERTEC (MAY 1977)"
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battery operated handheld calculator, is on page 15.
31:
Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch floppy disk system
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442:Model 33 ASR (Automatic Send and Receive) Teletype
440:A kit-built Altair 8800 computer with the popular
318:machine and an assembly line at the new location.
1956:. Vol. 8, no. 2. Ziff Davis. p. 1.
1818:
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1399:
1397:
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744:A consulting company in San Leandro, California,
478:which takes the Enterprise crew to Altair (Six).
2405:
2243:(9). Historical Computer Society. Archived from
2224:Chapter 6 "Mechanics: Kits & Microcomputers"
2060:(9). Historical Computer Society. Archived from
1585:
1419:
1417:
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526:was still in development. So he chose the 8-bit
1945:
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510:marketed in January 1973 by the French company
2399:True-to-life MITS Altair 8800 online simulator
2377:Marcus Bennett's Altair Documentation resource
2005:. Los Angeles: Price Stern Sloan. p. 18.
1485:"Computer Power of the Future - The Hobbyists"
1476:
1394:
1116:Encyclopedia of computers and computer history
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1515:
1414:
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756:computer. The ad noted that all boards were "
2186:Stan Veit's history of the personal computer
2077:
1990:
1765:Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer
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262:had just announced the EAS100, a set of six
1543:
1461:
1424:Ogdin, Jerry (June 1975). "Computer Bits".
1140:File:Copyright_Popular_Electronics_1975.jpg
229:Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
1648:
1333:
1196:"Design Innovations in Personal Computers"
486:", the twelfth brightest star in the sky.
383:. Don Lancaster did an ASCII keyboard for
25:
2280:. Vol. 10, no. 11. p. 17.
1756:
1453:. Vol. 10, no. 11. p. 17.
1405:"Popular Electronics; January 1975 issue"
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886:minicomputer, included a large number of
285:. It had a 14-digit display, memory, and
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1024:emulates Altair 8800 with both 8080 and
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159:designed for the Altair was to become a
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363:In 1974, Art Salsberg became editor of
2414:Computer-related introductions in 1974
2406:
2274:"The Altair story; early days at MITS"
2045:
1522:Salsberg, Arther (November 12, 1984).
1447:"The Altair story; early days at MITS"
1066:
1049:Online photorealistic Altair simulator
874:(±12 V) standard voltage levels.
851:from various power lines of differing
752:, a small advertisement announced the
321:
1966:
1960:
1892:
1874:from the original on 10 December 2007
1833:. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp.
1663:. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp.
1601:. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p.
1549:
1423:
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153:microcomputer revolution of the 1970s
1951:
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1380:. Howard W. Sams. pp. 128–143.
1253:. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. p.
796:Altair 8800b front panel (2nd model)
2212:. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
1917:Roberts, H. Edward (October 1975).
1173:. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
804:Inside the Altair 8800b (2nd model)
788:Altair 8800 front panel (1st model)
242:and instruments for model rockets.
203:and was the first kit sold by MITS.
13:
2272:Mims, Forrest M. (November 1984).
2267:(2). Green Publishing: 61, 81, 87.
2095:
1901:(2). Green Publishing: 61, 81, 87.
1457:from the original on 8 April 2007.
1445:Mims, Forrest M. (November 1984).
1357:(7). Gernsback Publication: 55–57.
482:after a star." McVeigh suggested "
14:
2435:
2336:
2284:from the original on 8 April 2007
2083:
1973:Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter
919:interface to connect to a proper
687:Serial Interface Board (Teletype)
308:
2312:; William Yates (January 1975).
1206:(3). IEEE Computer Society: 24.
522:required external hardware; the
474:", as this is the only one from
2020:
1886:
1641:"But because the 8080 sold for
1624:
1579:
1559:
1483:Milford, Annette (April 1976).
1376:(1974). Forrest M. Mims (ed.).
1081:from the original on 2012-06-07
934:
911:reader for storage, additional
898:to read those values back out.
676:Serial Interface Board (RS-232)
274:. This calculator kit sold for
2304:(1). Ziff Davis: 58–62, 81–82.
1728:Bunnell, David (August 1975).
1639:(1). Ziff Davis: 58–62, 81–82.
1229:
1187:
1153:March of the outdated machines
1150:Newscientist Sept 21 gallery:
1144:
1132:
1118:. Chicago : Fitzroy Dearborn.
1107:
1060:
779:
698:Audio Cassette Interface Board
293:and the assembled version was
245:
16:Microcomputer designed in 1974
1:
2189:. Asheville, N.C: WorldComm.
2145:. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
1829:A History of Modern Computing
1659:A History of Modern Computing
1249:A History of Modern Computing
1194:Garland, Harry (March 1977).
1067:Reimer, Jeremy (2005-12-15).
1054:
1007:
1004:, then spelled "Micro-Soft".
560:
489:
231:(MITS) in Roberts' garage in
2228:
1093:Jeremy Reimer (2012-12-07).
882:, which was inspired by the
843:consists of the pins of the
454:Model 1600 Digital Voltmeter
7:
2298:Computers & Electronics
1919:"Letter from the President"
1633:Computers & Electronics
1015:
929:
774:Pertec Computer Corporation
711:
700:
689:
678:
667:
659:
656:
648:
645:
637:
634:
431:
402:gave Jerry Ogden a column,
289:function. The kit sold for
60:; 49 years ago
10:
2440:
2314:"Altair 8800 minicomputer"
2204:Young, Jeffrey S. (1998).
1997:Littman, Jonathan (1987).
1730:"Across the Editor's Desk"
990:(aka MITS 4K BASIC), on a
938:
504:Microsystems International
406:, starting in June 1975.)
188:
2168:. New York: McGraw-Hill.
1967:Moore, Fred (July 1976).
1825:Ceruzzi, Paul E. (2003).
1655:Ceruzzi, Paul E. (2003).
1314:
1294:. New York: McGraw-Hill.
1245:Ceruzzi, Paul E. (2003).
102:
94:
72:
54:
46:
36:
24:
2235:Greelish, David (1996).
2160:Mims, Forrest M (1986).
2100:
2052:Greelish, David (1996).
665:Parallel Interface Board
1702:10.1109/C-M.1976.218414
1212:10.1109/c-m.1977.217669
948:received a letter from
836:computer bus standard.
233:Albuquerque, New Mexico
213:Kirtland Air Force Base
2183:Veit, Stanley (1993).
2115:. Workman Publishing.
1870:(6). CMP Information.
1378:Electronic Calculators
805:
797:
789:
654:4096-word Memory Board
643:1024-word Memory Board
578:
577:, and other magazines.
445:
426:Railway Express Agency
337:
264:large scale integrated
235:, and started selling
211:Weapons Laboratory at
204:
2367:Virtual Altair Museum
1803:10.1145/873641.873659
1316:US patent 3800129
803:
795:
787:
709:Teletype Model 33 ASR
568:
470:episode is probably "
450:Model 1440 Calculator
439:
331:
207:While serving at the
196:
174:'s founding product,
1860:"MITS advertisement"
1114:Rojas, Raúl (2001).
957:programming language
746:IMS Associates, Inc.
735:Processor Technology
632:Altair 8800 Computer
424:in New York via the
344:merged with another
128:designed in 1974 by
2318:Popular Electronics
2241:Historically Brewed
2058:Historically Brewed
1954:Popular Electronics
1797:(3). ACM: 118–126.
1763:Veit, Stan (1993).
1696:(10). IEEE: 59–64.
1470:Popular Electronics
1426:Popular Electronics
1336:Popular Electronics
750:Popular Electronics
739:Popular Electronics
613:Popular Electronics
602:Popular Electronics
571:Popular Electronics
476:The Original Series
458:Popular Electronics
422:Popular Electronics
412:Popular Electronics
400:Popular Electronics
385:Popular Electronics
381:Popular Electronics
365:Popular Electronics
342:Popular Electronics
334:Popular Electronics
323:Popular Electronics
272:Popular Electronics
252:Popular Electronics
221:Forrest M. Mims III
166:in the form of the
142:Popular Electronics
21:
2387:2020-09-18 at the
2310:Roberts, H. Edward
2278:Creative Computing
1858:MITS (June 1975).
1512:is going tonight."
1451:Creative Computing
1374:Roberts, H. Edward
984:mainframe computer
979:for the 8080 on a
975:using a self-made
806:
798:
790:
579:
446:
338:
205:
73:Introductory price
19:
2394:Altair 8800 Clone
2350:on March 23, 2012
2196:978-1-56664-030-5
2175:978-0-07-042411-1
1933:on March 23, 2012
1744:on March 23, 2012
1499:on March 23, 2012
1351:Radio-Electronics
884:Data General Nova
719:
718:
611:MITS Price List,
575:Radio-Electronics
396:Radio-Electronics
377:Radio Electronics
358:Radio-Electronics
354:Radio-Electronics
350:Electronics World
340:In January 1972,
302:Texas Instruments
283:Radio-Electronics
260:Electronic Arrays
148:Radio-Electronics
132:and based on the
118:
117:
58:January 1975
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2131:Freiberger, Paul
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20:MITS Altair 8800
18:
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2135:Swaine, Michael
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2096:Further reading
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870:(+5 V) or
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782:
758:plug compatible
615:, August 1975.
563:
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545:Intel made the
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1734:Computer Notes
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1524:"Jaded Memory"
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2344:"Altair 8800"
2341:
2340:
2324:on 2008-08-21
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2084:Gates, Bill.
2080:
2064:on 2007-10-11
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1074:Ars Technica
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997:Lunar Lander
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988:Altair BASIC
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55:Release date
47:Manufacturer
2037:October 14,
1552:73 Magazine
1040: [
973:interpreter
950:Traf-O-Data
880:front panel
814:motherboard
810:motherboard
780:Description
621:Description
444:as terminal
287:square root
246:Calculators
122:Altair 8800
84:Assembled:
2408:Categories
2354:2007-12-18
2328:2008-04-26
2288:2007-03-17
2251:2007-11-22
2068:2007-11-22
1983:2007-12-30
1969:"Hardware"
1937:2008-07-12
1878:2008-01-01
1748:2007-12-26
1510:Enterprise
1503:2007-12-01
1085:2021-11-27
1055:References
1037:Legacy8080
1032:IMSAI 8080
1008:Altair DOS
992:paper tape
965:Paul Allen
961:Bill Gates
946:Ed Roberts
909:paper tape
860:data buses
845:Intel 8080
841:Altair bus
754:IMSAI 8080
627:Assembled
561:The launch
547:Intellec-8
528:Intel 8080
500:Intel 8008
496:Intel 4004
490:Intel 8080
452:" or the "
418:Ed Roberts
348:magazine,
346:Ziff-Davis
217:Ed Roberts
134:Intel 8080
109:Intel 8080
95:Units sold
2229:Magazines
1979:(5): 2, 5
1536:0199-6649
1528:InfoWorld
1002:Microsoft
977:simulator
967:from the
830:S-100 bus
818:backplane
772:In 1977,
762:backplane
624:Kit price
472:Amok Time
467:Star Trek
300:In 1972,
209:Air Force
172:Microsoft
168:S-100 bus
111:@ 2
37:Developer
2385:Archived
2282:Archived
2137:(2000).
1872:Archived
1811:16270182
1690:Computer
1593:(2000).
1455:Archived
1286:(2000).
1220:32243439
1200:Computer
1079:Archived
1016:See also
930:Software
924:terminal
921:teletype
890:to feed
853:voltages
849:shorting
834:IEEE-696
766:one-shot
715:$ 1,500
551:$ 10,000
514:and the
432:The name
268:MITS 816
164:standard
162:de facto
86:US $ 621
78:US $ 439
1835:201–206
1716:$ 3,950
1712:$ 3,200
1708:$ 2,240
1665:222–224
583:FORTRAN
189:History
65:1975-01
63: (
2216:
2193:
2172:
2149:
2119:
2009:
1904:line."
1841:
1809:
1771:
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1384:
1322:
1298:
1261:
1218:
1177:
1122:
981:PDP-10
969:Boston
917:RS-232
904:opcode
892:binary
872:RS-232
828:. The
769:1976.
704:$ 174
693:$ 146
682:$ 138
671:$ 114
660:$ 338
649:$ 209
638:$ 621
520:IMP-16
516:MCM/70
508:Micral
484:Altair
389:Mark-8
98:25,000
2101:Books
1807:S2CID
1643:$ 360
1573:(PDF)
1408:(PDF)
1216:S2CID
1044:]
954:BASIC
857:8-bit
701:$ 128
690:$ 124
679:$ 119
657:$ 264
646:$ 176
635:$ 439
587:BASIC
555:$ 400
532:$ 360
295:$ 250
291:$ 200
276:$ 175
237:radio
183:VT100
124:is a
76:Kit:
2261:BYTE
2214:ISBN
2191:ISBN
2170:ISBN
2147:ISBN
2117:ISBN
2039:2015
2007:ISBN
1895:BYTE
1839:ISBN
1769:ISBN
1669:ISBN
1619:$ 75
1607:ISBN
1532:ISSN
1382:ISBN
1361:$ 99
1296:ISBN
1259:ISBN
1175:ISBN
1120:ISBN
1022:SIMH
963:and
896:LEDs
839:The
668:$ 92
593:Pong
540:$ 75
498:and
392:8008
219:and
130:MITS
120:The
50:MITS
41:MITS
1799:doi
1698:doi
1255:226
1208:doi
1026:Z80
913:RAM
868:TTL
822:CPU
712:N/A
585:or
536:OEM
512:R2E
371:'s
256:LED
137:CPU
113:MHz
104:CPU
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2302:23
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