This computer has been restored to working order by win heagy. Altair, also called alpha aquilae, the brighest star in the northern constellation aquila and the 12th brightest star in the sky. The altair 8800, from micro instrumentation telemetry systems mits of albuquerque, nm, was first featured in the january 1975 edition of popular electronics. It is considered by many to be the first mass produced personal computer, although they were called microcomputers in those days. I stan veit was the first and last computer editor of popular electronics magazine, and i. Mits succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the personal. The comprehensive, userlovable menu of computer lore. It was designed by ed roberts at mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systemsa small albuquerque, new mexicobased company that started out. Mits altair 8800 article about mits altair 8800 by the. Altair front panel just the front panel, in dim light so you can see the lights. I discussed the altair 680 product line in sept 2011 with a former pertec employee. Owning a piece of computer history can be expensive and not much fun. The altair 8800 was originally designed to be a doityourself kit computer that would be sold to to a few hobbyists and computer enthusiasts.
In the early 70s computing had reached a point in its development where a large number of people had been exposed to its power and potential, but they had also been dismayed. The altair was the first popular microcomputer kit. 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. 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. Even though mits developed additional and more advanced models, and shipped thousands of altair computer systems a month, the company was sold to pertec in 1976. The mits altair was built in 1974 by ed roberts and became instantly famous by being featured on the cover of popular electronics magazine in january 1975. See more ideas about old computers, computer hardware and computer love. 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 story of the first true personal computer has many versions. Altair and our resellers need the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. The altair was one of the first affordable personal computers when it was introduced in 1975. It is over 20 years since the debut of the altair 8800 computer in the pages of popular.
History of computer science also, a history of computing e. The altair was the computer that brought computing into homes and small businesses. Micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits was an american electronics company founded in albuquerque, new mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975. It appeared on the cover of the january 1975 popular electronics magazine with an article probably by leslie solomon. Altair basic was ported to the motorola 6800 for the altair 680 machine, and to other 8080based microcomputers produced by mits competitors. Crime and vice are rife on a world running out of resources. Erik, i would like to have permission to use a print of the altair 8800 from your site in my soon to be published book, seeing david in the stone. Will something as revolutionary as the altair 8800 someday emerge from the pages of make. The coverage begins with the mits altair 8800 from 1975 and goes till the next cube in 1988.
Sep 23, 20 the mits altair 8800 is considered to be the first successful personal computer. Out of the box, the altair 8800a looked pretty good. You can buy a vintage mits altair 8800, one of the worlds first successful desktop computers, on ebay, but a good one will. The mits altair is perhaps the most famous early computer.
Ed roberts and forrest mims founded mits in december 1969 to produce miniaturized telemetry modules for model rockets such as a roll. The advantage of the altairduino is that it includes all the components and a custom printed circuit board. Gates created a version of the programming language basic for the first microcomputer called the mits altair. Not long after intel introduced its 8080 chip, 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.
After making the leap to local space travel, humans discover a mechanism for fasterthanlight travel a search begins for planets in other star systems that can be terraformed to. It is considered by many to be the first mass produced personal computer, although they. 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. It represents a significant milestone, but it tends to be overhyped, and its historical significance is often overplayed. In 825, a persian mathematician, alkwarizmi wrote on the calculation with hindu numerals. So, what was the historical role of the mits altair. Geeks endlessly argue about which was the first real computer and which was the first home computer.
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. Altair 8800 not only grabbed peoples attention, but it also proved to be. Mitsaltair cpu modification 11 bydarreivanbuer demonstration program 14. Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american. The altair 8800 along with a few books from our old blacksburg and bugbook series created a crowd of folks at our booth.
You can buy a vintage mits altair 8800, one of the worlds first successful desktop computers, on ebay, but a. Air force officer who headed mits, decided to design a small, affordable computer around the intel 8080. Altair rotates at the fast speed of more than 200 km 120 miles per second. Very brief pc history school of computing and information. 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. Other sites have more history about ed roberts, mits and the altair product line. Altair front view of front and top in strong light. 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. Over time, most books on the subject have tended to focus on the chosen few who have become household names especially jobs and gates, but at the time when this book was first written, it was not yet obvious who would be canonized in the long run. It was designed by ed roberts at mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systemsa small albuquerque, new mexico. Youve come to the right place, but not at the right time. History of algorithms algorithms are in etymology are derived from algebra, which was developed in the seventh century by an indian mathematician, brahmagupta. Find great deals on ebay for mits altair and imsai.
This material was in my collection of altair notes as a text file. A history of the information machine by martin campbellkelly, william. And i constantly read electronics books since early high school right through the 60s and into the 70s and 80s. 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. Mits altair 8800 article about mits altair 8800 by the free. The mits story and its popular electronics connection comes to mind every time i browse the latest edition of make. This is it folks, the original mits altair 8800 approx serial number 3000. I didnt write it, and i dont know who did, however ill be happy to assign credit if anyone can identify the source.
Mits altair 8800 the first personal computer from 1975. I stan veit was the first and last computer editor of popular electronics. Suddenly mits was flooded with inquiries and orders for its new. The companys president and chief engineer was the late ed roberts, a nononsense visionary who had dreamed of building his own computer since high school. Edward roberts and william yates popular electronics, january 1975, the altair story. The colors are wrong, but you can see the actual logo better. The article inspires paul allen and bill gates to develop a basic interpreter for the altair. Later versions supported the 8k altair and the 16k diskettebased altair demonstrating that, even in the 1970s, microsoft was committed to software bloat. Mits altair 8800 computer steves computer collection. Mits altair cpu modification 11 bydarreivanbuer demonstration program 14 bykenknecht. It has been released in early 1975 and its creator ed roberts set a milestone. Mits made a number of electronic instruments before offering the altair. This web page will discuss the 680, provide some resources, and show discussion from some current owners of their systems. Altair 8800 project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks.
Mits, and another computer product company called icom, were bought by disk drive manufacturer pertec, inc. The lost story of the texans who invented the personal. The mits altair was first personal computer based on the intel 8080 generalpurpose microprocessor, and the first. The mits altair, the first personal computer to get wide notice. Fire in the valley is one of the seminal books on the history of personal computing and still has value. Micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits was an american electronics company founded in albuquerque, new mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975 ed roberts and forrest mims founded mits in december 1969 to produce miniaturized telemetry modules for model rockets such as a roll rate sensor.
Bill gates and paul allen complete basic and license it to their first customer, mits of albuquerque, n. The altair 8800 is in nice condition and displays very nicely. In most tellings, salsberg read the story and said that kills the trainer. Mits altair 8800, 1974 the altair was the first personal computer in the world to be offered in large quantities and is widely considered to be the first pc. He introduced zero as a place holder and decimal digits. The altairduino is based on an altair 8800 emulator project published on hackster. Gordon laing this book tells the story of the classic home computers that paved the way for the pcs we use today from 1977s pioneering mits altair to the latest swivel screen designs of the imac and the tablet. Micro instrumentation and telemetry systems wikipedia. The altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by mits and based on the intel 8080 cpu. The main change was an upgraded power supply although the new 18 slot motherboard was also significant. Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american history.
The mits altair 8800 is considered to be the first successful personal computer. From the collection, a scannedin computerrelated document. Mits altair article about mits altair by the free dictionary. The manufacturer of the altair, albuquerquebased mits, distributed the. The altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution as the first. In the earliest days i think it was popular electronics and radio electronics that i purchased regularly. A later upgrade, the 8080 formed the heart of the altair and imsi in the midseventies.
Altair 8800 complete history of the mits altair 8800. Altair 8800 computer for sale computer museum, hobbyist. It was the first pc, the forerunner of the apple, the ibm pc and all that would follow. Jan 08, 2015 the altair was developed by micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits, a nearly bankrupt company in albuquerque, new mexico.
The winds of altair portrays a future where the earth teems with 17 billion mainly poor inhabitants. The mits altair 8800 appears on the cover of popular electronics. Here are some of the original brochures and price lists click on each image for larger versions. The designers intended to sell only a few hundred to hobbyists, and were surprised when they sold thousands in the first month. The altaira doityourself computer kit based on the intel 8080 microprocessor was featured on the cover popular electronics in january 1975 with the. With the bright stars deneb and vega, altair arabic for flying eagle forms the prominent asterism of the summer triangle. I documented the mits altair 8800a i received in a similar manner to the mits altair 8800. Check that altair 8800 web page for a company and product history of mits. Pertec continued producing altairs, but did a very poor job of it, and within a few year, the altair line of computers disappeared into history. Vintage computer the mits altair 8800 at frostfest. May 09, 2000 the mits altair 8800 appears on the cover of popular electronics.
Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. Datapoint and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. 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. A very nice picture book with many beautiful photos of old personal computers from the past along with a couple of retro consolesthe original nes from 1985 and the sega master system.
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. Edward roberts and william yates popular electronics, january 1975, the. Leslie solomon was an editor at popular electronics who had a knack for spotting kits that would interest people and. However, both the kit version and assembled version sold very well and mits went on to make more complex versions of the original altair 8800. Initially the programming the altair was an extremely tedious process, as a keyboard wasnt provided. Altair 8800 computer an intel 8080based machine made by mits.
Dec 19, 2014 for more information, see altair minicomputer, part i by h. For more information, see altair minicomputer, part i by h. 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. Mits altair computers the altair was one of the first affordable personal computers when it was introduced in 1975. The mits altair blinkenlights archaeological institute. The insides of this machine, much like the 8800, were dirty and rusty, but operable. It was assembled from the original 1975 chassis and reva cpu board and upgraded later to include monitor board, extra memory, printer board and some others. Micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits model. There was some case damage, but the front panel was nearly perfect. 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. The mits altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 based on the intel 8080 cpu. The altair 8800a was a slight upgrade to the 8800 that was introduced alongside the altair 8800b. Altairduino the lowcost altair 8800 machina speculatrix. Since mits has now earned an important place in microcomputer history, i hope this account.