Altair History  

Computer History Before the Altair

Computer History from MITS Seminar on Computer Concepts

For information about the Microcomputer Revolution see:

History Of The Microcomputer Revolution

by Frank Delaney.

Table of Contents

Segment   0 Cover Page, Dedication, and Foreward 
Segment   1 The Historic Background 
Segment   2 The Revolution Begins 
Segment   3 The Washington State Connection 

The following segments relate directly to Altair history:

Segment   4 High School Kid's Computer Company
Segment   5 The World's First Commercially Available PC
Segment   6 What good is a computer without Software?
Segment   7 Send in the Clones
Segment   8 The First Operating System Standard

After the Altair

Segment   9 Home Brewing and Computers Named Apple 
Segment 10 The Killer Application 
Segment 11 IBM's Secret 
Segment 12 The Deal of The Century 
Segment 13 A Walk in the PARC 
Segment 14 Send in the Clones again - Freud would have said GUI-Envy 
Segment 15 The PC Industry at Age 11 in 1986 
Segment 16 Will the Circle Be Unbroken? 
                   Bibliography 

All segments on one page

Complete"History Of The Microcomputer Revolution" Series 

Ed Roberts Interview with Historically Brewed magazine

Ed Roberts is the Father of the Personal Computer. Now, you can argue the point, but it is generally accepted that the MITS Altair, circa 1975, was the first mass produced, commercially successful personal computer, and Ed Roberts, with some help, masterminded its creation and success. Here is a short version of that great American success story, as it was printed in our very first issue - .....

Bill Gates Interview

NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF AMERICAN HISTORY

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member

By Bob Lash

PC History, Pre-IBM PC Computers

THE ALTAIR 8800 Microcomputer

By Stan Veit www.pc-history.org/

Triumph of the Nerds

PBS Online is proud to present the companion Web site for the PBS television special "Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires ." On television and the Internet, you can learn in vivid detail how youthful amateurs, hippies and self-proclaimed "nerds" accidentally changed the world.

The World's First Minicomputer Kit

to Rival Commercial Models...

Some people credit the Altair as being the first microcomputer or first microcomputer kit.

The original ad is more accurate:

• The Altair was the World's First Minicomputer Kit. Note: Minicomputer not Microcomputer) There were microcomputers and kits prior to the Altair that did not match the power of a Minicomputer. Minicomputers cost more than the Altair and IBM Mainframe computers and Super Computers were very expensive.

• The Altair was the first "affordable" computer to Rival Commercial Models... Minicomputers cost more than the Altair and IBM Mainframe computers and Super Computers were very expensive. Large manufacturers also made Small Business Computers that were several times the cost of Altairs.

• The Home Computer is Here!

Altair Historical Notes

• The Altair was called a "Hobbyist Computer" because few users could afford enough parts and peripherals to built a "complete" computer system. Early owners were people that built radio kits or model trains.

• The Altair was not called a Personal Computer. It started the trend toward personal computers. Before the Altair, few people could actually touch a computer and few individuals could own a computer

• Computer retail stores did not exist prior to the Altair.

• Prior to the Altair, few manufacturers made circuit boards for use in another manufacturer's computer. Many companies started as the result of the Altair's S100 Bus.

• The Altair helped make floppy diskettes popular, however diskettes were already in use in minicomputers and small business computers. These early diskettes were 8-inch.

• Altair eventually got a hard disk, however it was big, heavy, and expensive.

• Altairs were powered by a 2MHz Intel 8080A. The competition and third-part upgrade boards introduced the Intel 8085 and Zilog Z80. These CPUs ran 4-6MHz or faster. By the time the 8088 made it to the S100 bus, users were moving to the PC with an Intel 8086. By then, MITS and Altairs were already history.

• Many Altairs had less than 64K memory. Static memory was expensive and dynamic memory didn't work well with the 8080 CPU. When I met Paul Allen in 1974, he told me the average Altair user had 4K of memory. MITS Business Systems have a full 64K of memory.

• The Altair had an operating system named DOS. Most people use BASIC without an operating system. MITS/Microsoft sold a Fortran Compiler that ran under DOS. Some people used CP/M. MITS DOS is not the same as IBM 360 DOS, IBM PC DOS, or MSDOS.

• The Altair also ran a multi-terminal timesharing version of Microsoft BASIC.

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