Build Your Own Altair 8800 Personal Computer - IEEE Spectrum
▻https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/build-your-own-altair-8800-personal-computer
The MITS Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer. Created by Ed Roberts in 1974, it was purchased by the thousands via mail order, proving there was a huge demand for computers outside universities and large corporations. Its influence was immense: For example, after seeing the Altair featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft (then Micro-Soft) in order to write a Basic interpreter for the new machine.
The Altair sold for US $439 in kit form. Original machines are now collectors’ items that trade for thousands of dollars. Fortunately, there are some cheaper alternatives for people who want to get a direct understanding of the Altair computing experience. Modern kits that replicate the Altair hardware as faithfully as possible are available, as are purely virtual online simulators. Falling somewhere between a replica and a simulation is the $149 Altairduino kit from Chris Davis. The Altairduino duplicates the front panel of the Altair in all its LED- and switch-festooned glory while emulating the internal hardware (including some once fantastically expensive peripherals), using an Arduino Due.
