MITS Altair 8800
MITS
Specifications
- CPU
- Intel 8080 @ 2 MHz
- Memory
- 256 bytes (expandable via S-100 cards)
- Storage
- None — programs entered via front panel switches
- Display
- 16 red LEDs on the front panel
- OS
- None at launch; later: BASIC from Microsoft, CP/M
- Intro price
- $439 kit, $621 assembled
The machine
A blue-and-grey metal box covered in toggle switches and red LEDs. You programmed it by flipping switches one byte at a time. The Altair shipped as a mail-order kit from a small calculator company in Albuquerque and unexpectedly sold thousands of units after a January 1975 cover story in Popular Electronics.
Why it matters
Kicked off the entire personal computer industry. Bill Gates and Paul Allen wrote Altair BASIC for it — Microsoft's first product. The S-100 bus it introduced became the dominant hobbyist architecture for years.