Intel 80808085 editorassembler altair 8800 imsai machine l 1977 dbug. The 2k4k eprom board used in both of my altair systems came from the. The altair 8800a was a slight upgrade to the 8800 that was introduced alongside the altair 8800b. It was the first computer with the s100 bus and the first in masses produced personal computer. They needed to sell additional memory boards, io boards, and other options to make a profit. He informed them that he, along with others are working on a basic interpreter. Micro instrumentation and telemetry systems wikipedia. When i first saw it, immediately, my curiosity and imagination began to ponder what kind of service did this machine provide. It was designed by ed roberts at mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systemsa small albuquerque, new mexico. Original mits altair documentation altair 8800 operators manual 5. Oct 25, 2010 mits altair 8800 by peter ha monday, oct.
Erik klein, vintage computer collector and webmaster of, takes you inside the. This web page will discuss the 680, provide some resources, and show discussion from some current owners of their systems. A history of the information machine by martin campbellkelly, william aspray, nathan l. Dec 20, 2019 if not the first home computer, ed roberts altair 8800 was definitely the first successful one. Out of the box, the altair 8800a looked pretty good. Vintage computer mits altair 8800 restored by josh bensadon. Of these computers the apple ii was by far the most successful. It didnt offer much, but it was the small start of a big trend toward small things. Dec 16, 2012 this pin was discovered by bill latchford. The april 1975 issue of the mits newsletter computer notes had a pagelong price list that offered over 15 optional boards.
The altair 8800 computer see the lower image was very profitable and the expansion bus allowed mits to sell additional memory and interface boards. The only options were to build your own system from plans and designs published or sold in. The story of the first true personal computer has many versions. The mits altair 8800 prom board is actually a solid state music card. Later versions supported the 8k altair and the 16k diskettebased altair demonstrating that, even in the 1970s, microsoft was committed to software bloat. The designers hoped to sell a few hundred buildityourself kits to hobbyists, and were surprised when they sold thousands in the. So, what was the historical role of the mits altair. Altair 8800 the mits altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 based on the intel 8080 cpu.
I stan veit was the first and last computer editor of popular electronics magazine, and i. I wanted to make as faithful a reproduction of this hallowed machine as im able, especially one which has a fully 3d faceplate. The mits altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975, based on the intel 8080 cpu and sold as a mail order kit through advertisements in popular electronics, radio electronics and other hobbyist magazines. At this point in time, there were no computer or electronic stores to buy your own computer. It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and shortly after the release of the altair, mits was flattered by the first personal computer clone, the imsai 8080. Altair 8800 serial io card 102646051 computer history. You can buy a vintage mits altair 8800, one of the worlds first successful desktop computers, on ebay, but a good one will. In 1976 the industry agreed that the standard bus for computers sharing the altair template was to be the s100 bus. From the collectio n, a scannedin computerrelated document. There was some case damage, but the front panel was nearly perfect.
The comprehensive, userlovable menu of computer lore. S100 bus card power transistor and heat sink in upper left, mc6850 asynchronous communications interface adapter, 1mhz in 24pin dip package gold topped chip in upper middle of the card. It is over 20 years since the debut of the altair 8800 computer in the pages of popular electronics magazine, but everyone connected with it tells a completely different story. Sim8800 an altair emulator for apple ii internet archive. Geeks endlessly argue about which was the first real computer and which was the first home computer. Very brief pc history school of computing and information. The bus used by the altair 8800 was widely cloned by various other startup companies inspired by the success of mits. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the january 1975 issue published in december 1974 of popular electronics, and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in radioelectronics, and in other hobbyist magazines. A small new mexico company with the big name of micro instrumentation and telemetry systems and the small name of mits manufactured the altair. The altair 8800 is a computer kit based on the intel 8080 cpu, designed by micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits, which was headed by h. The mits altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on the intel 8080 cpu and sold by mail order through advertisements in popular electronics, radioelectronics and other hobbyist magazines. Altair 8800b turnkey module s100 altair 8800 system pcvery rare find with just a couple tiny scratches on a couple fingers.
Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american. Thus, it became altair 8800, and thats the name stenciled on the front panel. The altair 8800 along with a few books from our old blacksburg and bugbook series created a crowd of folks at our booth. The mits altair is perhaps the most famous early computer. In march 1976 the first and only world altair computer convention offsite link, took place. Altair 8800 computer for sale computer museum, hobbyist. The altair duino is based on an altair 8800 emulator project published on hackster. The virtual altair museum contains information about the altair 8800, altair 8800a, altair 8800b, altair 8800b turnkey, icom attache, altair 680b, altair 680b turnkey, icom cp6800, altair8800bsm, altair 8800bdm, mits, pertec, icom microperipherals, mits 30025 business system, mits 30055 business system. It appeared on the cover of the january 1975 popular electronics magazine with an article probably by leslie solomon. Given the interest in smaller computers, coupled with the introduction of microprocessors, the creation of a. This machine belonged to my father, who knew les soloman, and was able to purchase the 2nd and 3rd machines made.
The mits altair, the first personal computer to get wide notice. The cover story proclaiming the launch of the altair 8800 finally. This machine belonged to my father, who knew les soloman, and was able. Demonstrates booting and initializing the monitor, editor and assembler from cassette tape. Intel 8080 interpretive debugger altair 8800 imsai machine. It represents a significant milestone, but it tends to be overhyped, and its historical significance is often overplayed. They even moved to mits in albuquerque to expand their role. Jan 05, 2014 introduction to the mits programming system ii for the altair 8800. The main change was an upgraded power supply although the new 18 slot motherboard was also significant. The altair 8800 was far from the first personal computer but it was the first truly successful one. The key role of the altair was that it attracted paul allen and bill gates to develop altair basic. Popular electronics featured the mits altair 8800 microcomputer kit in january 1975. Altair basic was the start of the microsoft basic product range. The altair is generally credited with launching the pc revolution in earnest.
From the collection, a scannedin computerrelated document. Jan 08, 2015 during the months following the altair 8800 article in the january 1975 popular electronics, mits sold thousands of assembled and kit altairs, even though the early models had only 256 bytes of ram and no keyboard or monitor beyond their front panel switches and leds. Altair 8800 project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Win has been a vintage computer collector for years and has restored many old computers including an original digital equipment pdp8 minicomputer pdp8 work is still in progress. Apr 07, 2010 mits, the company founded by roberts and forrest mims in 1969 that produced the altair 8800 kit, only existed as an independent entity for eight years before it was bought by pertec computers and.
The april 1975 issue of the mits newsletter, computer notes, had a pagelong price list that offered over 15 optional boards. The designers intended to sell only a few hundred to hobbyists, and were surprised when they sold thousands in the first month. Mits altair 8800 computer memory board bus 16k 16 mcd 1970s vtg 1978 pc 1979 tea. The insides of this machine, much like the 8800, were dirty and rusty, but operable. They needed to sell additional memory boards, io boards and other options to make a profit. The altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by mits and based on the intel 8080 cpu. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the january 1975 issues and was sold by mail order through advertisements there in radioelectronics, and in other hobbyist magazines. O mits altair 8800 e um computador pessoal projetado em 1975, baseado na cpu intel 8080. Mits altair 8800 worlds first personal computer youtube. The altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution as the first commercially successful personal computer. The altair is arguably the first hobbyist personal. Mits 1977 altair 8800 computer memory board bus 16 mcs. The 2k4k eprom board used in both of my altair systems came from the solid state music company. This computer has been restored to working order by win heagy.
Mits altair 8800 computer steves computer collection. Inside the altair 8800 vintage computer techrepublic. The mits altair 8800 is considered to be the first successful personal computer. Bill gates and paul allen wrote the altair basic interpreter for the. Today the altair is widely recognized as the spark. The altair 8800 the first machine to run the microsoft software. Microsoft was founded to make software basic for the altair. Up until this point, mits was known for selling calculators and model rocket components telemetry. I have the good fortune of owning an original 1975 altair 8800 my machine is the first release not one of the later a or b models. Not long after intel introduced its 8080 microprocessor, a small firm in albuquerque, new mexico, named mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systems announced a computer kit called the altair, which met the social as well as technical requirements for a small personal computer. The altair 8800, from micro instrumentation telemetry systems mits of albuquerque, nm, was first featured in the january 1975 edition of popular electronics. The mits altair blinkenlights archaeological institute. For details and photos refer to the system 1 detail page. They even moved to mits in albuquerque to expand their roleand cofound microsoft.
Altair 8800 complete history of the mits altair 8800. Sim 8800 emulates a mits altair 8800 on an apple ii. It was microsofts first product as microsoft, distributed by mits under a contract. The mits altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975, based on the intel 8080 cpu and sold as a mailorder kit through advertisements in popular electronics, radioelectronics and other hobbyist magazines.
Univac ibm 701 650 apple 1, ii apple lisa dec pdp8 altair 8800 computer history. In 1975 after reading an article about altair 8800, bill gates contacted mits. Given the interest in smaller computers, coupled with the introduction of microprocessors, the creation of a successful personal. Altair front view of front and top in strong light. It was designed by ed roberts at mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systemsa small albuquerque, new mexicobased company that started out producing. Jul, 2008 shows how to load a bootloader, run the bootloader, boot mits 8k basic, load a craps game and run it on a mits altair 8800 microcomputer.
The mits altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 based on the intel 8080 cpu. The user must toggle the switches to positions corresponding to an 8080 microprocessor instruction or opcode in binary, then to use the enter switch to load the code into the machines memory, and then to repeat this step until all the opcodes of a presumably complete and correct. The computer has 78 machine language instructions and is capable of performing several important operations not normally available with conventional mini computers. Leslie solomon was an editor at popular electronics who had a knack for spotting kits that would interest people and. Altairduino the lowcost altair 8800 machina speculatrix.
Air force officer who headed mits, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the intel 8080. The altairduino is based on an altair 8800 emulator project published on hackster. Mits altair 8800 i saw this machine on ebay and just had to own it. The altaira doityourself computer kit based on the intel 8080 microprocessor was featured on the cover popular electronics in january 1975 with the. Mits claimed to have delivered 2500 altair 8800s by the end of may. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the january 1975 issue published in late november 1974 of popular electronics, and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in radioelectronics, and in other hobbyist magazines. While the original altair 8800 lacked a keyboard and crt monitor, users were happy to run simple machine language programs. Altair front panel just the front panel, in dim light so you can see the lights.
It is over 20 years since the debut of the altair 8800 computer in the pages of popular. The altair 8800, was first featured in the january and february 1975 editions of popular electronics magazine, although this early design bore little resemblance to the finalized version released just a few months later. The altair 8800 is in nice condition and displays very nicely. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. The altair 8800 developed by micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits in 1975 was the first personal home computer. It has 78 basic machine instructions with variances up to 200 instructions. How ed roberts altair 8800 revolutionised home computing. Initially the programming the altair was an extremely tedious process, as a keyboard wasnt provided. Altair 8800 article about altair 8800 by the free dictionary. Mits altair 8800 computer notes bill gates magazine complete set 197576. To this day nobody knows how many computer kits were sold through the magazine, but les solomon told me he estimated over 2,000. This system contains 12 s100 bus cards including a z16 memory board, 2 mits 16k static ram boards, disk controllers, serial io board, video board, and others. The colors are wrong, but you can see the actual logo better.
Shortly thereafter the apple i, apple ii, commodore pet, and trs80 were released. It became the firstever commercially successful personal computer, especially compared to the first microprocessorbased personal computer micral. Ed roberts added the numbers 8800 to the name because he intended to make later models. Mits altair 8800 article about mits altair 8800 by the free. Vintage computer the mits altair 8800 at frostfest. Inside the altair 8800 vintage computer page 3 techrepublic. I documented the mits altair 8800a i received in a similar manner to the mits altair 8800.
The advantage of the altairduino is that it includes all the components and a custom printed circuit board. After reading this manual, even a novice will be able to load a program into the altair 8800. Altair 8800 computer an intel 8080based machine made by mits. The altaira doityourself computer kit based on the intel 8080 microprocessorwas featured on the cover popular electronics in january 1975 with the. Mits succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the. There is a piece of masking tape in the middle of the board which reads good 111881 w. Altair basic is a discontinued interpreter for the basic programming language that ran on the mits altair 8800 and subsequent s100 bus computers. Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american history. Whats clear, though, is that the mark 8 has become nothing more than a footnote in computing history while the altair 8800, based on the more powerful 8080 processor, began a revolution. I discussed the altair 680 product line in sept 2011 with a former pertec employee. The designered roberts intended to sell only a few hundred to hobbyists, but he was surprised when he sold thousands in the first month. In 1975, the first commercially successful home computer, the mits altair 8800 the same computer that microsoft was founded to provide programming for, was released. Owning a piece of computer history can be expensive and not much fun. Thats enough to program all the traffic lights in a major city.
The altair 8800 was one of the first computers available for personal use. Mits had under 20 employees in january, but had grown to 90 by october 1975. Altair 8800 computer computer history, tech history, old. Heres solomons version, from his digital deli book, which was also. The altair was the first popular microcomputer kit. It is considered by many to be the first mass produced personal computer, although they were called microcomputers in those days. The altair articles ran for several issues of popular electronics, and as a result mits was deluged with orders.
I went to the 2014 hamfest frostfest in richmond va to sell some of my ham radio equipment an a vintage mits altair 8800 microcomputer. The designers hoped to sell a few hundred buildityourself kits. Altair basic was ported to the motorola 6800 for the altair 680 machine, and to other 8080based microcomputers produced by mits competitors. Check that altair 8800 web page for a company and product history of mits. The original ibm pc 5150 the story of the worlds most influential computer duration. The intel 8080 emulator code is based on apple80 by dann mccreary. The advantage of the altair duino is that it includes all the components and a custom printed circuit board. The altair 8800 from micro instrumentation telemetry systems mits of albuquerque, nm, is considered by many to be the first personal computer a computer that is easily affordable and obtainable. Altair 8800 chm revolution computer history museum.