 Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch floppy disk system | |
| Developer | MITS |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | MITS |
| Release date | January 1975 |
| Introductory price | Kit: US $439 ($2500 in 2023) Assembled: US $621 ($3500 in 2023) |
| Units sold | 25,000[1] |
| CPU | Intel 8080 @ 2 MHz |
The Altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by MITS and based on the Intel 8080 CPU.[2] Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics[3] and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in Radio-Electronics, and in other hobbyist magazines.[4][5] According to Harry Garland, the Altair 8800 was the product that catalyzed the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s.[6] It was the first commercially successful personal computer.[7] The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a de facto standard in the form of the S-100 bus, and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC.[8][9]
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 VT100-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.
- ^ Reimer, Jeremy (2005-12-15). "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- Jeremy Reimer (2012-12-07). "Total Share: Personal Computer Market Share 1975-2010". Jeremy Reimer.
- ^ Rojas, Raúl (2001). Encyclopedia of computers and computer history. Chicago [u.a.]: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 1-57958-235-4.
- ^ Copyright catalogs at the Library of Congress. January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics was published on November 29, 1974. File:Copyright_Popular_Electronics_1975.jpg
- ^ Newscientist Sept 21 gallery: March of the outdated machines
- ^ Young, Jeffrey S. (1998). "Chapter 6: 'Mechanics: Kits & Microcomputers'". Forbes Greatest Technology Stories: Inspiring Tales of the Entrepreneurs. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-24374-4.
- ^ Garland, Harry (March 1977). "Design Innovations in Personal Computers". Computer. 10 (3). IEEE Computer Society: 24. doi:10.1109/c-m.1977.217669. S2CID 32243439.
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.
- ^ Dorf, Richard C., ed. The engineering handbook. CRC Press, 2004.
- ^ Ceruzzi, Paul E. (2003). A History of Modern Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. p. 226. ISBN 0-262-53203-4. "This announcement [Altair 8800] ranks with IBM's announcement of the System/360 a decade earlier as one of the most significant in the history of computing."
- ^ Freiberger, Paul; Swaine, Michael (2000). Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-135892-7.
