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. Mits altair 8800 exhibit at s virtual computer museum. The main change was an upgraded power supply although the new 18 slot motherboard was also significant. In contrast with the first microprocessor based personal computermicral, the mits altair 8800 was extremely successful market product. I might change this in the future, but the ease of prototyping won this time. The altair 8800 computer the start of the personal computer revolution stephen a. 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. This machine belonged to my father, who knew les soloman, and was able. Created by ed roberts in 1974, it was purchased by the thousands via mail order, proving there was a huge demand for. After removing the cards and then removing the chassis from the case. Shipping via freight is possible, but may be quite. Interior view of the altair 8800 computer 102652209. Roberts was able to acquire the new and powerful intel.
The a3 led isnt working, but everything else seems to flash appropriately. Podcast for kids nfb radio 101 sermon podcast pauping off all steak no sizzle podcast church of the oranges daily chapel spring 2012. Altair 8800 part 25 a look at an original mits 88 siob. 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. In the earliest days i think it was popular electronics and radio electronics that i purchased regularly. Not long after intel introduced its 8080 chip, a small firm in albuquerque, new mexico, named mits micro instrumentation and telemetry systems announced a. Altair notes volume two full of firsts mits and other manufacturers s100 boards for the 8800 series. I missed the opportunity to build an altair all those years ago, but now ive finally done it, and ive finally scratched that little itch thats been bothering me all this time. The altair 8800c shown below is an example of just one way such an altair 8800 could be built. This material was in my collection of altair notes as a text file. The mits altair was first personal computer based on the intel 8080 generalpurpose microprocessor, and the first.
To make it useful beyond computation where you manually walked through memory and wrote down the answers and believe me, that got old fast you had to add io cards and peripheral devic. Oct 25, 2010 originally designed to launch multiple model rockets in sequence, it was programmable and had to be ordered through the mail and built upon receipt. I will be glad to provide requested pictures, specifications, or a description of your area of interest. 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. Mits altair 8800 oli varhainen intel 8080suorittimeen perustuva mikrotietokone, jota myytiin rakennussarjana elektroniikkaharrastajille popular electronicslehden kautta vuodesta 1975 alkaen. The mits altair 8800 this image appears on the cover of the january 1975 popular electronics magazine. The mits altair 8800 was released in january 1975 and is the first commercially successful personal computer despite its difficulty to use.
The system pictured is a nonfunctional model, because at the time of publication nov 1974 no actual altair 8800 was available to photograph. 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. Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american history. Early 8800a models had the short round switches like the 8800, some later models seem to have had the 8800b flat switches instead. But what could you actually do with an altair 8800. Choice of processor 8080 cpu, z80 cpu or 8086 cpu optional banked memory 16 banks with 64. This is a side view of the computer showing the fan and power supply are on the left side and several boards mounted inside.
Update firmware this operation updates the altair 8800 clone firmware. This is a color image of an altair 8800, without a case cover, revealing the interior. Geeks endlessly argue about which was the first real computer and which was the first home computer. The mits altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 based on the intel 8080 cpu. The designers hoped to sell a few hundred buildityourself kits to hobbyists, and were surprised when they sold thousands in the. The january 1975 issue of popular electronics magazine is probably the most important publication in the history of the microcomputer. What functions was the altair 8800 able to perform. The altair 8800 was, to its creators, a surprise hit. Sep 10, 2014 the altair, out of the box, was just a frontpanel computer. Ed roberts minicomputer kit was a vital catalyst to todays technology, inspiring bill gates and paul allen to found microsoft in order to write a basic interpreter for it. Up until this point, mits was known for selling calculators and model rocket components telemetry. Interest grew after it was featured on the cover of the january 1975 issues and was sold by mail order through advertisements there in radioelectronics, in other hobbyist magazines.
The original altair 8800 has additional features on the front panel which i considered unnecessary for my clone protectunprotect memory etc. Introduction to front panel operation of the altair 8800 including power on, reset, examining and modifying memory. It has been released in early 1975 and its creator ed roberts set a milestone. For those who are not familiar with the name altair, the altair 8800 is considered to be the first personal computer although this title has been the subject of some debate and controversy several other small and functional computers did exist prior to the altair, i.
It became the firstever commercially successful personal computer, especially compared to the first microprocessorbased personal computer micral. Stephenson in order to publish the semiannual speculative fiction magazine altair. The altair 8800 came with 32k of ram on 4 seals electronics 8k static ram cards. It seems to run properly with these, but i cant imagine that the power supply supported this much draw. A history of the information machine by martin campbellkelly, william aspray, nathan l. We are simulating a fairly loaded altair 8800 from about 1977, with the following configuration. Thus, it became altair 8800, and thats the name stenciled on the front panel. Mits altair 8800 worlds first personal computer youtube. This altair kit is functionally and in most ways physically identical to the original altair 8800 computer.
The altair 8800, bill gates and paul allen a computer. 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. 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. The key role of the altair was that it attracted paul allen and bill gates to develop altair basic.
Erik klein, vintage computer collector and webmaster of, takes you inside the. Henry edward roberts, personal computing pioneer, loses. While it was not strictly a clone of the altair, this machine adopted the bus structure. A meter that indicated voltage and resistance was often all that was. Nov 02, 2010 the mits altair 8800 is considered to be the first successful personal computer. From the collection, a scannedin computerrelated document. After removing the cards and then removing the chassis from the case you can get a good feel for how these altair s were built. Hisashi ouchi, the victim of beyond fatal radiation kept alive for 83 days against his will 441. He was the founder of mits in 1969, and the designer of mits altair 8800 computer in 1975 which included the altair bus, the 100 pin connectored backplane which became known as the s100 bus within a few years. Ed roberts gave me this altair in return for my writing the first operators manual. The altair 8800 simulator is part of the simh family of simulators currently at version 3. The chances are that i will still buy an original altair 8800 when i find the right one, but when i do, i suspect i will value the altairkit more than the antique. Despite looking nothing like what we would today consider to be a computer, it sold thousands of units almost immediately upon its launch, way.
The designers hoped to sell a few hundred buildityourself kits. Written by harry fairhead sunday, 18 march 2018 without the altair 8800 where would we be today. The altair 8800 computer the start of the personal. This desk is from a mits 30025 turnkey system and would make a great accompaniment for the other altair systems. The virtual altair museum the webs most comprehensive site on all thinga altair. The mits altair 8800 was a microcomputer design from 1975 based on. The altair 8800 the first machine to run the microsoft software. It didnt offer much, but it was the small start of a big trend toward small things. Roberts founded micro instrumentation and telemetry systems mits in. I discussed the altair 680 product line in sept 2011 with a former pertec employee. Altairduino the lowcost altair 8800 machina speculatrix. This web page will discuss the 680, provide some resources, and show discussion from some current owners of their systems. During the same year as altairs release, two students, bill gates and paul allen, founded microsoft and released a basic compiler for the altair 8800, giving it its first programming language.
You can play a game of kill the bit, or pong, or perform some rudimentary binary calculations, but thats not what the altair 8800 was designed for. While the system shown here uses only new boards, any mix of new and vintage altair and other s100 boards could be used just the same as with an original altair 8800. While some builders of the kit version had problems, sophisticated test equipment was not necessarily required. The altaira doityourself computer kit based on the intel 8080 microprocessorwas featured on the cover popular electronics in january 1975 with the. 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. To this day nobody knows how many computer kits were sold through the magazine, but les solomon told me he estimated over 2,000. While the original altair 8800 lacked a keyboard and crt monitor, users were happy to run simple machine language programs. 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. The mcu running the emulator is currently an atmega328 arduino uno. Inside the altair 8800 vintage computer page 3 techrepublic. Data had to be input one bit at a time through switches on the front panel, and the output was displayed as a pattern of blinking lights. The altair 8800 was a very early microcomputer sold in 1974 as a diy kit sold by mail order through hobbyist magazines, such as radioelectronics. Unlike a real altair 8800 it features several enhancements. Arduino fires up the altair 8800 electronics weekly.
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. The mits altair 8800 is widely known as the first real personal computer. Apr 02, 2010 sad news out of georgia this morning, dr. The altair has no rom, and has no storage by default. Due to the saintlevel kindness of don miller, the museum now physically contains an altair 8800. At this point in time, there were no computer or electronic stores to buy your own computer.
Altair 8800 project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Altair 8800 microcomputer national museum of american. Altair front panel just the front panel, in dim light so you can see the lights. The altair also appealed to individuals and businesses who just wanted a.
Update firmware the update firmware menu option is used to install a firmware update into the altair 8800 clone. This machine belonged to my father, who knew les soloman, and was able to purchase the 2nd and 3rd machines made. Converting my altair 8800 emulator into an s100 based system by replacing the front panel electronics and installing an s100 back plane and reproduction altair 8800 cpu. I stan veit was the first and last computer editor of popular electronics magazine, and i. If you combine the altair 8800 with a standard ascii video terminal and keyboard, and add a disk drive, it became a very powerful and useful computer system especially for 1975. The altair 8800a was a slight upgrade to the 8800 that was introduced alongside the altair 8800b.
Originally designed to launch multiple model rockets in sequence, it was programmable and had to be ordered through the mail and built upon receipt. Mits succeeded where other, more established firms had failed, and it was their machine that inaugurated the. A fully functional altair 8800 built from all new boards and equipment available in 2018. Check that altair 8800 web page for a company and product history of mits. You can read more about the ancient history of the altair 8800, from the early 1970s, on wikipedia. Browse around ebay for an original altair 8800 and you quickly find that the price range is in the thousands of.
You might not know it, but the deepest roots of microsoft are in the altair 8800 and the altair basic language that was written to run it. Altair 8800 complete history of the mits altair 8800. Dec 30, 2016 a pictorial history of mountainair, new mexico boyle, dixie on. Altair 8800 computer, altair 32 emulator, altair front panel. Stephenson closed down altair magazine in 2000 in order to concentrate on his writing. Here are some more detailed photos of the altair 8800. Altair publishing was founded in 1998 by writereditor robert n. The only options were to build your own system from plans and designs published or sold in. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. After reading this manual, even a novice will be able to load a program into the altair 8800. They even moved to mits in albuquerque to expand their roleand cofound microsoft. Cpu altair 8800 with intel 8080 cpu board 62kb of ram, 2k of eprom with start boot rom.
National museum of american history bill gates interview. Mits altair 8800 computer steves computer collection. The story of the first true personal computer has many versions. Prn kill the bit game by dean mcdaniel, may 15, 1975 object.
Altair 8800 simulator is part of the simh family of simulators with a few additional enhancements. 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. This package is my attempt to preserve a detailed record of my altair 8800 computer. A small new mexico company with the big name of micro instrumentation and telemetry systems and the small name of mits. 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. Click a thumbnail to see a larger version of the picture. Only perform this step if you have been instructed to perform the update.
Jun 23, 2011 the mits altair 8800 is considered to be the first successful personal computer. Ed roberts, pioneer of personal computing, has died of pneumonia at the age of 68. Mits altair 8800, 1974 may 25, 20 auction team breker. Although its abilities were somewhat limited, it proved to be a powerful indicator for what simple home computers could do and helped spark a personal computer revolution. The altair 8800 was the first commercially successful microcomputer.
Altair 8800 at the computer history museum, cropped. The mits altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer. Altair computer, altair 32, 8800, altair 8800,computer,old, history,real programmers,front panel,personal,microcomputer,microcomputers, history,emulator,emulation,classic. The altair 8800 clone is a modern, inexpensive, functional reproduction of the historic altair 8800 computer that uses 21st century technology to recreate a bit of computer history for hobbyists. And i constantly read electronics books since early high school right through the 60s and into the 70s and 80s. Due to their size and age, the best way to get these is by picking them up from portland, oregon. The altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by mits and based on the intel 8080 cpu. Jul 19, 2006 if not the first home computer, ed roberts altair 8800 was definitely the first successful one. The media has been overhyping its place in history, there were other microcomputers already being made, and digital computers were already in use for many years, the media has been backpedalling the altar for years in order toileting re. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the january 1975 issues 2 and was sold by mail order through advertisements there in radioelectronics, and in other hobbyist magazines.
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. Altair 8800 computer for sale computer museum, hobbyist. This computer has been restored to working order by win heagy. The altair 8800 computer the start of the personal computer. 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. Henry edward roberts, designer of the altair 8800 personal computer that inspired bill gates and paul allen to enter the software business, has died.
The designered roberts intended to sell only a few hundred to hobbyists, but he was surprised when he sold thousands in the first month. I didnt write it, and i dont know who did, however ill be happy to assign credit if anyone can identify the source. In the editorial of this issue the altair is announced as a home computer. 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 altair 8800 in your collection was one of the first five assembled units. The altair articles ran for several issues of popular electronics, and as a result mits was deluged with orders. Fully functional altair 8800 built from new equipment in.