Altair 8800 Dead
Altair 8800
KindMachine
Introduced1975
Discontinued1977
StatusDead
ManufacturerMITS
ClassHome computer
PlatformIntel 8080, front panel
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗
The January 1975 Popular Electronics cover that started the microcomputer industry — a $439 kit you programmed by flipping switches. Gates and Allen wrote its BASIC; Microsoft exists because of it.
1960198020002020
Created by MITS
Ed Roberts's MITS shipped the Altair 8800 as a $439 kit on the January 1975 Popular Electronics cover — Intel 8080, 256 bytes of RAM, programmed by front-panel switches, output via blinking lights.
It sold thousands in months, spawned the S-100 bus ecosystem and the Homebrew Computer Club, and prompted Gates and Allen to write Altair BASIC — Microsoft's founding product. The personal computer industry dates from this cover.