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MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) Altair 8800 Rev. 0 computer, serial no. 222146K (the 'K' signifying that it was originally in kit form), with associated collection consisting of an Altair 8800 Rev. 0 board with Intel 8080 CPU, multiple Altair memory boards—including 1K and 4K Rev. 0 static memory boards—a PolyMorphic video card, Tarbell cassette and floppy disk interfaces, an OAE OP-80A optical paper tape reader with vintage Singer punched paper tapes, including an Altair BASIC bootstrap tape, dual 8-inch floppy disk drives with power supply, a P3P+S input/output circuit board, Altair BASIC on cassette, a vintage modem and keyboard, and a substantial archive of original owner's manuals, Altair BASIC manuals, expansion documentation, and program printouts. Several boards retain their original socketed integrated circuits, ribbon cabling, and edge connectors. Untested and in vintage, used condition, with expected wear from age and storage.
Often credited with igniting the microcomputer revolution, the Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer. Interest in the machine surged after it appeared on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and it was offered by mail order both as a hobbyist kit and as a fully assembled system. The Altair also provided the foundation for Microsoft: after reading the Popular Electronics article, Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed Altair BASIC, the first product sold by their newly formed company, then known as "Micro-Soft." This comprehensive collection documents the Rev. 0 generation of the Altair ecosystem, bringing together many of the original memory, video, storage, and interface components that transformed the pioneering machine into a fully expandable personal computer.
