This is my Altair 8800a computer. It is in perfect working
condition, despite its age. This is the original S-100
bus computer sold by MITS, and it can easily be argued that
this is the computer that started the home computer
revolution. There is also an 8800b, but that came a little later
than the unit I have. As far as I know, there were only the A and B
versions of the 8800 computer.
It appeared in ads in Popular electronics as a kit, and soon this machine was the very thing to have if you were a wild-eyed visionary. Soon, there was a network of wild-eyed types. Within a couple of months, another computer appeared, also a kit, and I saw it and thought "that's for me!". The new one was a little smarter than the Altair, having a 6800 monitor program in ROM that was smart enough to load a program using a tape interface. The Altair had no software in it all in any form initially, and so you had to load the programs in using the switches you see in the picture here. It took a long time to do. The newer machine, the SWTPC 6800, used a different microprocessor and was generally a little further advanced in some other areas as well.
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The grey computer at the left with the GMX logo is the hot
machine, as far as I am concerned. 2 Mhz 6809, lots of drives... the
assembly programmer's dream machine. I still have mine, and it still
works.
Oh, and when people tell you that Apple started the microcomputer or home computer revolution, they're confused. They weren't even paying attention when it all started. Altair did that, using an Intel microprocessor. Apple was a "me-too" company. No more, no less. |
I've created a complete emulation of a 6809-based computer running the FLEX operating system, which has (to my complete surprise) developed a following of several hundred people. It's freeware. You can learn more about it if you click right here.
