Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
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Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an American electronics company founded in
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
that began manufacturing electronic
calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...
s in 1971 and personal
computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...
in 1975. Ed Roberts and
Forrest Mims Forrest M. Mims III is an American amateur scientist,'Country Scientist' starting co ...
founded MITS in December 1969 to produce miniaturized
telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...
modules for model rockets such as a roll rate sensor.The editor describes the first MITS modules with photo of the units. In 1971, Roberts redirected the company into the electronic calculator market and the MITS 816 desktop calculator kit was featured on the November 1971 cover of ''
Popular Electronics ''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soo ...
''. The calculators were very successful and sales topped one million dollars in 1973. A brutal calculator price war left the company deeply in debt by 1974. Roberts then developed the first commercially successful microcomputer, the Altair 8800, which was featured on the January 1975 cover of ''Popular Electronics''. Hobbyists flooded MITS with orders for the $397 computer kit.
Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...
and
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
saw the
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and began writing
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
for the Altair, later called
Altair BASIC Altair BASIC is a discontinued interpreter for the BASIC programming language that ran on the MITS Altair 8800 and subsequent S-100 bus computers. It was Microsoft's first product (as Micro-Soft), distributed by MITS under a contract. Altair BASI ...
. They moved to Albuquerque to work for MITS and in July 1975 started
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
. MITS's annual sales had reached $6 million by 1977 when they were acquired by
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. The operations were soon merged into the larger company and the MITS brand disappeared. Roberts retired to
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where he studied medicine and became a small town medical doctor.


Origin


Founders

Henry Edward Roberts studied Electrical Engineering at the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
before enlisting in the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
in 1962. He soon became an electronics instructor at the
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Equipment Maintenance School at
Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of S ...
in
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,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. To augment his meager enlisted man's pay, Roberts worked on several off-duty projects and even set up a one-man company, Reliance Engineering. The most notable job was to create the electronics that animated the Christmas characters in the window display of
Joske's Joske's, founded by German immigrant Julius Joske in 1867, was a department store chain originally based in San Antonio, Texas. In December 1928, Hahn Department Stores acquired the company along with the Titche-Goettinger department store of Dal ...
department store in San Antonio. In 1965, he was selected for an Air Force program to complete his college degree, and became a commissioned officer. Roberts earned an Electrical Engineering degree from
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
in 1968 and was assigned to the Weapons Laboratory at
Kirtland AFB Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Ro ...
in
Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
. Forrest Mims was interested in science and electronics as a youth and even built an
analog computer An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuous variation aspect of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities (''analog signals'') to model the problem being solved. In c ...
while in high school.Mims describes the analog computer he built in high school. The article has a photograph and schematics of the computer. Mims graduated from
Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
in 1966 (major in government with minors in English and history) then became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. While serving in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
as an intelligence officer, Mims continued his model rocket hobby. At Texas A&M, Mims developed an infrared obstacle-sensing device and he experimented with it at the Saigon School for Blind Boys and Girls. Launching model rockets in an area accustomed to rocket attacks and working with blind children resulted in a story in the military newspaper, ''Stars and Stripes''. This caught the attention of an Air Force Colonel, who arranged for Mims to be assigned to the Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB even though Mims lacked an engineering degree. Roberts and Mims were both assigned to the Lab's Laser Group in 1968. Roberts had reactivated Reliance Engineering and built an infrared intrusion alarm for his uncle's fish farm in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Later, Roberts and Stan Cagle, a civilian worker who also went to Oklahoma State, started building a power supply they hoped to sell. Mims became an advisor to the Albuquerque Model Rocket Club and met the publisher of ''Model Rocketry'' magazine in July 1969. Mims told him about a transistorized tracking light that he had used on night launches of rockets in Vietnam. This led to an article in the September 1969 issue of ''Model Rocketry''; "Transistorized Tracking Light for Night Launched Model Rockets" by Captain Forrest Mims. Mims became a regular contributor to ''Model Rocketry''.


Model rocket kits

Manned space flight and the race to the moon in the 1960s made model rocketry a popular hobby. Roberts, Mims, Cagle and another Air Force officer from the Lab, Bob Zaller, decided they could design and sell electronics kits to model rocket hobbyists. Summary: Feature story on Albuquerque Model Rocketry Club. The club was organized by Air Force Captain Forrest Mims. Mims and three other Albuquerque engineers, Ed Roberts, Dan Cagle and Robert Zaller, have formed a new company, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. Roberts wanted to call the new company Reliance Engineering, Mims wanted to form an acronym similar to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MIT. Cagle came up with Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, MITS. The December 1969 issue of ''Model Rocketry'' (circulation 15,000) carried a press release that began:
Reliance Engineering in Albuquerque, New Mexico has announced the formation of a subsidiary company for the manufacture of miniaturized electronic and telemetry systems designed for model rockets. The company is called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Reliance Engineering president Henry Roberts announced that "MITS is presently conducting an intensive research program involving high quality miniature telemetry systems."
The first commercially available model rocket telemetry transmitter is among the first items to be offered by MITS. Accessory modules including a tone beacon, temperature sensor, and a roll rate sensor, as well as tracking lights, ground systems for data reduction, and light weight, water activated batteries will soon be available.
They designed and built the telemetry modules in their homes and garages but they were only able to sell a few hundred units. Mims had sold a feature article about the new solid-state device, light-emitting diodes, to ''
Popular Electronics ''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soo ...
'' (circulation 400,000) that May. With the hope of selling kits to the larger readership; Roberts and Mims designed a device that would transmit voice over a beam of light, the Opticom. The editors accepted the project story and both articles were featured on the cover of the November 1970 issue. The payment for the articles was $400 but meeting Les Solomon, ''
Popular Electronics ''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soo ...
'' technical editor, proved to be significant to both Mims and Roberts future success. In August 1970, Les Solomon, his wife and daughter were on vacation in the southwest and arranged to visit Mims, Roberts and their families. At that time, Dan Meyer and
Don Lancaster Donald E. Lancaster is an American author, inventor, and microcomputer pioneer. Background Lancaster is a writer and engineer, who authored multiple articles for computer and electronics magazines of the 1970s, including ''Popular Electronics' ...
were among the most prolific authors in ''Popular Electronics''. Meyer had built a million dollar a year business that sold kits of parts to build the project that he and Lancaster wrote about. Mims and Roberts wanted to do the same and quizzed Solomon on the kit business. Solomon gave them some statistics but said there was no way of knowing how many kits an article would sell, maybe a hundred, maybe a thousand. MITS had purchased components to build 200 Opticoms but only sold around 100 units. Roberts wanted to design a new electronic calculator kit but his partners wanted out. Bob Zaller had already left MITS and Forrest Mims was out of the Air Force and wanted to become a full-time writer. Roberts bought his 3 partners out for $600 in cash and $350 in equipment. (Roberts' four-year commitment to the Air Force ended in mid-1972.) Mims and Roberts remained friends and collaborated on books, magazines and instruction manuals.


Calculators

Ed Roberts' interest in computers began in high school when he built a simple digital computer from relays. His first real experience with computers came while at
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
where engineering students had free access to an
IBM 1620 The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive scientific computer. After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970. Modified versions of the 1620 were used as ...
computer. Roberts' office at Weapons Laboratory had the state of the art Hewlett-Packard 9100A programmable calculator in 1968. In July 1970, a semiconductor company,
Electronic Arrays Electronic Arrays, Inc. was a United States integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer of the 1960s and 70s. The company originated when Jim McMullen and other employees of General Microelectronics left to form McMullen Associates, which was later ren ...
, announced a set of six LSI ICs that would make a four-function calculator. The Electronic Arrays, Inc. calculator chip set that was used in the MITS 816 calculator. Roberts was determined to design a calculator kit. To fund the new project, Roberts sold 15% of MITS to fellow Air Force officer, Lieutenant William Yates. He also got an investment from another Weapons Laboratory officer, Major Ed Laughlin. Several other officers and scientist at the lab were interested in this state of the art calculator kit and helped with the design. Forrest Mims wrote the assembly manual in return for a calculator kit. The MITS 816 was known as a "four-function" calculator; it could add, subtract, multiply and divide. The display was only 8-digits but the calculations were done to 16-digits of accuracy. The custom molded case gave the kit a professional appearance; the kit was $179 and an assembled unit was $275. The MITS 816 was featured on the November 1971 cover of ''
Popular Electronics ''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soo ...
''. Thousands of calculator orders came in each month, in contrast to poor results for previous kits that MITS had offered. The steady flow of calculator sales allowed MITS to run full page advertisements in ''Radio-Electronics'', ''Popular Electronics'' and ''Scientific American''. In the June 1972 ''Radio-Electronics'', MITS announced a 14 digit calculator (Model 1440) with memory and square root function for $199.95 kit and $249.95 assembled. The original 816 kit was reduced from $179 to $149.95. Both calculators could be controlled by upcoming programming unit. Full page advertisement of the Model 1440 calculator. The monthly sales reached $100,000 in March 1973 and MITS moved to larger building with 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) of space. Summary: MITS to move to the Cal-Lin Building, 6328 Linn NE in May. Now at 5404 Coal SE. Employment is expected to rise from 62 to 180 or 200. Company will have 10,000 square feet on one floor. Calculator sales reached $100,000 in March. To meet the demand for assembled calculators, an automated wave solder machine was installed. In 1973 MITS was selling every calculator they could make, 110 employees worked in two shifts assembling calculators. The functionality of calculator ICs increased at a rapid pace and Roberts was designing and producing new models. The MITS 7400 scientific and engineering calculator was introduced in December 1972. It featured trigonometric functions, polar to rectangular conversion, two memories, and up to a seven-level stack. A kit with a three-level stack was $299.95 and an assembled unit with a seven-level stack was $419.95. Full page advertisement of the Model 7400 scientific calculator. The next month the Series 1200 four-function pocket calculators were announced. The six-digit model was $59.95 and the twelve-digit model was $99.95. The Programmer accessory had been mentioned in the earliest advertisement but it was not featured until March 1974. This was the same size as a desktop calculator and could hold 256 programming steps. (It could be expanded to 512 steps.) It was limited to emulating calculator key presses and simple sequence branching. The programming was done by entering
hexadecimal In mathematics and computing, the hexadecimal (also base-16 or simply hex) numeral system is a positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of 16. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexa ...
key codes. The combination of the MITS 7440 calculator and the programmer was not nearly as sophisticated as the HP 9830 calculator but $400 for both kits was a fraction of the HP price.


MITS calculators

The feature and price information is from advertisements in ''Radio-Electronics'' magazine (issue date shown). The 816 price is from the original article in ''Popular Electronics''.


Price wars

Bowmar Instrument Corporation introduced the "Bowmar Brain", a four-function pocket calculator, in September 1971 and the $179 calculator sold over 500,000 copies in the first year. Bowmar then developed the "901B" calculator that was priced at $120. In September 1972,
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...
(TI) introduced the TI-2500 portable four-function calculator that also sold for $120. The calculator was previewed in June 1972 and formally released on September 21, 1972 The 901B and the TI-2500 both used the TI TMS0100 family of "calculator-on-a-chip" integrated circuit. TI was now directly competing with their IC customers. Other semiconductor companies such as National Semiconductor and Rockwell began selling calculators.
Commodore Business Machines Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Mach ...
and other office equipment companies also got into the market. A frenzied price war started. By early 1974, Ed Roberts found he could purchase a calculator in a retail store for less than his cost of materials. The larger companies could sell below cost to win market share. Bowmar lost $20 million in 1974 and filed for bankruptcy. Commodore acquired their IC supplier,
MOS Technology MOS Technology, Inc. ("MOS" being short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor), later known as CSG (Commodore Semiconductor Group) and GMT Microelectronics, was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Audubon, Pennsylvania. It is mos ...
. Texas Instruments won the price war but their calculator division lost $16 million in 1975. To compete in this market, Roberts needed more capital. He took MITS public in November 1973 with a stock offering of 500,000 shares at $1 each. The
1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
caused a stock market downturn and MITS was only able to sell 250,000 shares. This allowed MITS to pay off the existing debt, but did not allow for any expansion. Roberts had developed several test equipment products such as a Waveform Generator and a Digital Voltmeter so he attempted to appeal to kit builders again by featuring the test equipment and digital clocks in the advertisements, instead of calculators. MITS was losing money, and by July 1974, the full page prominent ads were replaced with quarter-page ads in the back of the magazine. A quarter-page advertisement for the MITS DC100 clock/timer. Kit $79.95, assembled $99.95 MITS was now $300,000 in debt and Roberts was looking for a new hit product. He decided to return to the kit market with a low cost computer. The target customer would think that "some assembly required" was a desirable feature. Roberts had looked at the
Intel 4004 The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) released by Intel Corporation in 1971. Sold for US$60, it was the first commercially produced microprocessor, and the first in a long line of Intel CPUs. The 4004 was the first signific ...
for calculators and thought the
Intel 8008 The Intel 8008 ("''eight-thousand-eight''" or "''eighty-oh-eight''") is an early byte-oriented microprocessor designed by Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC), implemented and manufactured by Intel, and introduced in April 1972. It is an 8-bit CP ...
was limited and difficult to work with, so he chose the most recent
8080 The Intel 8080 (''"eighty-eighty"'') is the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel. It first appeared in April 1974 and is an extended and enhanced variant of the earlier 8008 design, although without binary compatibil ...
as the basis for his machine. The target price of this complete computer kit had to be under $400. To meet this price, Roberts agreed to order 1000 microprocessors from Intel for $75 each. Roberts and his head engineer, Bill Yates, began designing the computer. The company was down to 20 employees and a bank loan for $60,000 financed the design and initial production of the new computer.


''Popular Electronics'' and ''Radio-Electronics''

In January 1972, ''Popular Electronics'' changed its editorial focus in an attempt to attract more advertising revenues. Reviews of stereo equipment and
citizens band radio Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
were featured; experimenter and constructions projects were gone. Dan Meyer, Don Lancaster, Forrest Mims, John Simonton and many other authors immediately started contributing to the competing ''
Radio-Electronics ''Radio-Electronics'' was an American electronics magazine that was published under various titles from 1929 to 2003. Hugo Gernsback, sometimes called the father of science fiction, started it as ''Radio-Craft'' in July 1929. The title was changed ...
'' magazine. The June 1972 cover story was "Experimenting with a $32 Solid State Laser" by Forrest Mims. Another article in that issue was "Experiments with Op-Amps" by B.R. Rogen; this was a
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
of ''Popular Electronics'' technical editor, Les Solomon. Solomon wrote articles for ''Radio-Electronics'' while working for ''Popular Electronics''. Lou Garner, the longtime solid-state editor, moved to ''Radio-Electronics'' for a year. Describes the expanded TMS0100 family of "calculator-on-a-chip" MOS/LSI integrated circuits. The article includes an illustration of a chip layout. Several MITS kit projects were featured in ''Radio-Electronics'' including the ITC 1800 Integrated Circuit Tester (May 1972), the Model 1700 Function Generator (July 1973), the Model 1440 Calculator (July 1973) and the 88 VLCT Computer Terminal (November 1974). ''Radio-Electronics'' had a smaller circulation than ''Popular Electronics'' but led the way with innovative construction projects between 1972 and 1975. John Simonton's first modular electronic music synthesizer was featured on the cover of the May 1973 issue. It sold for a fraction of commercial synthesizers and his
PAiA Electronics PAiA Electronics, Inc. is an American synthesizer kit company that was started by John Simonton in 1967. It sells various musical electronics kits including analog synthesizers, theremins, mixers and various music production units designed by fo ...
produced them for decades. Don Lancaster's
TV Typewriter The TV Typewriter is a video terminal that could display two pages of 16 lines of 32 upper case characters on a standard television set. The design, by Don Lancaster, appeared on the cover of '' Radio-Electronics'' magazine in September 1973. Th ...
in September 1973 and Jon Titus's
Mark-8 The Mark-8 is a microcomputer design from 1974, based on the Intel 8008 CPU (which was the world's first 8-bit microprocessor). The Mark-8 was designed by Jonathan Titus, a Virginia Tech graduate student in Chemistry. After building the machine ...
computer in July 1974 were the catalyst of the home computer revolution. Art Salsberg became the editor of ''Popular Electronics'' in 1974 with a goal of reclaiming the lead in projects. He wanted to publish a computer project that was more functional and elegant than the Mark-8. Les Solomon knew MITS was working on an Intel 8080 based computer project and thought Roberts could provide the project for the always popular January issue. Ed Roberts and Bill Yates finished the first prototype in October 1974 and shipped it to ''Popular Electronics'' in New York via the
Railway Express Agency Railway Express Agency (REA), founded as the American Railway Express Agency and later renamed the American Railway Express Inc., was a national package delivery service that operated in the United States from 1918 to 1975. REA arranged trans ...
. However, it never arrived due to a strike by the shipping company. Solomon already had a number of pictures of the machine and the article was based on them. Roberts got to work on building a replacement. The computer on the magazine cover is an empty box with just switches and LEDs on the front panel. The finished Altair computer had a completely different circuit board layout than the prototype shown in the magazine.


Altair computer


Products

The Altair 8800 was modeled after early 1970s
minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ...
s such as the
Data General Nova The Data General Nova is a series of 16-bit minicomputers released by the American company Data General. The Nova family was very popular in the 1970s and ultimately sold tens of thousands of units. The first model, known simply as "Nova", was ...
. These machines contained a CPU board, memory boards, and I/O boards; the data storage and display terminal were external devices. The Teletype Model 33 ASR was a popular terminal because it provided printed output and data storage on punched paper tape. More advanced systems would have 8-inch floppy disks and a video terminal that would display 24 lines of 80 characters such as the
ADM-3A The ADM-3A was an influential early video display terminal, introduced in 1976. It was manufactured by Lear Siegler and had a 12-inch screen displaying 12 or 24 lines of 80 characters. It set a new industry low single unit price of $995. Its " ...
. (No graphics were available and lower-case letters were a $75 option.)ADM-3A Terminal cost $795 (kit) and $895 (assembled). Most of these computers had a front panel with toggle switches for entering data and lights for displaying it. These were normally used to boot the computer and to diagnose problems. The Altair 8800 kit came with a front panel, a CPU board with the Intel 8080 microprocessor, 256 bytes of RAM, a 4-slot backplane and an 8-amp power supply for $439. A 1k byte memory board was $176 and the 4k byte was $264. The serial interface board was $124 and the parallel interface was $119. The Teletype Model 33 ASR was $1500. There was a special price for an 8k byte system with
Altair BASIC Altair BASIC is a discontinued interpreter for the BASIC programming language that ran on the MITS Altair 8800 and subsequent S-100 bus computers. It was Microsoft's first product (as Micro-Soft), distributed by MITS under a contract. Altair BASI ...
(
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
first ever product) for $995.
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
, and
Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...
wrote
Altair BASIC Altair BASIC is a discontinued interpreter for the BASIC programming language that ran on the MITS Altair 8800 and subsequent S-100 bus computers. It was Microsoft's first product (as Micro-Soft), distributed by MITS under a contract. Altair BASI ...
with
Monte Davidoff Monte Davidoff (; born 1956) is an American computer programmer. Davidoff is from Glendale, Wisconsin. He graduated from Nicolet High School in 1974, and went on to Harvard College, where he majored in applied mathematics, the department at Harva ...
contributing the Floating-point arithmetic routines.
Altair BASIC Altair BASIC is a discontinued interpreter for the BASIC programming language that ran on the MITS Altair 8800 and subsequent S-100 bus computers. It was Microsoft's first product (as Micro-Soft), distributed by MITS under a contract. Altair BASI ...
initial developed from February 1975 to May 1975 and announced by MITS in July 1975, the 4k version on paper tape for $150, the 8k version with cassette support for $200 and the Extended 16k version with disk support (December 1975) for $350. To encourage selling more boards, Altair BASIC was discounted to $60, $75, $150 respectively, when bundled with 4k, 8k and I/O boards When the January 1975 issue of ''Popular Electronics'' reached readers in mid December 1974, MITS was flooded with orders. They had to hire extra people just to answer the phones. In February, MITS received 1,000 orders for the Altair 8800. The quoted delivery time was 60 days but it was many more months before the machines were shipped. By August 1975, they had shipped over 5,000 computers. In August 1975, Wayne Green visited several personal computer manufacturers. A photo caption in his trip report says; "Meanwhile, at MITS, over 5,000 Altair 8800's have been shipped. Here is a view of part of the production line." The Altair 8800 computer was a break-even sale for MITS. They needed to sell additional memory boards, I/O boards and other options to make a profit. The April 1975 issue of the MITS newsletter, ''Computer Notes'', had a page-long price list that offered over 15 optional boards.Larger version.
/ref> The delivery time given was 60 or 90 days, but many items were never produced and dropped from future price lists. Initially, Roberts decided to concentrate on production of the computers. Prompt delivery of optional boards did not occur until October 1975. The Intel 8080 did not have dedicated circuitry to support
dynamic random-access memory Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxide ...
(DRAM) because in 1975, this type of memory was still a new technology. MITS wanted to use DRAM because it consumed less power than static RAM. However, they had several design and component problems that led to a high failure rate with their 4K Dynamic RAM board. By July, new companies such as
Processor Technology Processor Technology Corporation was a personal computer company founded in April 1975 by Gary Ingram and Bob Marsh in Berkeley, California. Their first product was a 4K byte RAM board that was compatible with the MITS Altair 8800 computer but mo ...
were selling 4K Static RAM boards with the promise of reliable operation. MITS released its own 4K Static RAM board in January 1976. The only floppy disk drives that were readily available in 1975 were IBM compatible 8-inch drives. MITS selected the Pertec FD400 disk drive which could store over 300,000 bytes of data. The Altair disk controller occupied two boards and had over 60 ICs. The initial units were to be available in August, but were delayed until the end of 1975. The production version of Extended Disk BASIC was released in April 1976. The controller with one disk drive sold for $1,480 (kit) and $1,980 (assembled).


Marketing

The first full page advertisements for the Altair computer appeared in the February issues of ''Popular Electronics'' and ''Radio-Electronics'' magazines. Soon MITS was advertising in technical journals such as the IEEE ''Computer'', and general interest magazines such as ''Scientific American''. MITS was also the most prominent advertiser in the new hobbyist computer magazines such as '' Creative Computing'' and ''Byte''.
David Bunnell David Hugh Bunnell (July 25, 1947 – October 18, 2016) was a pioneer of the personal computing industry who founded some of the most successful computer magazines including ''PC Magazine'', ''PC World'', and ''Macworld''. In 1975, he was wo ...
joined MITS as a technical writer in the calculator heyday. In April 1975 he created a newsletter so the MITS staff could easily communicate with the customers. The newsletter, ''Computer Notes'', was available to customers and other interested readers. It was a large format newsletter; 11.25 by 15.5 inches (286 by 394 mm), and each issue had 8 to 24 pages. In January 1977, it switched to a smaller magazine format and the last issue was produced in January 1978. Bunnell started ''Personal Computer'' magazine in October 1976 and went on to a successful career as a magazine publisher. ''Computer Notes'' featured a wide variety of authors. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were regular contributors to the early issues. They wrote about Altair Basic and general software topics. Ed Roberts wrote a monthly "Letter from the President" column where he would answer customer questions and even review competing products. MITS engineers, such as Tom Durston and Steve Pollini, would give technical descriptions of new products. Altair owners would contribute software and hardware suggestions and occasionally a complete article. MITS purchased a camper van in April 1975 and outfitted it with an Altair system complete with floppy disk, a
Teletype Model 33 The Teletype Model 33 is an electromechanical teleprinter designed for light-duty office use. It is less rugged and cost less than earlier Teletype machines. The Teletype Corporation introduced the Model 33 as a commercial product in 1963 after ...
and every accessory MITS produced. The "MITS-MOBILE" was literally a showroom on wheels that would travel from city to city showcasing the MITS product line. They would hold seminars at hotel conference rooms that would draw crowds of over 200 people. The most notable seminar was at Rickey's Hyatt House in Palo Alto, California in early June 1975, where a member of the
Homebrew Computer Club The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club had an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that asp ...
left with an unreleased copy of Altair BASIC. After retail computer stores were established in most cities, the "MITS-MOBILE" was retired. The first (and only) World Altair Computer Convention was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in March 1976. The convention, organized by David Bunnell, was an overwhelming success; with 700 people from 46 states and seven countries attending. Many of the attendees would go on to become leaders of the personal computer revolution.


Clones

Owners of mainframe systems and minicomputers could purchase additional memory, interface boards and peripherals from third party suppliers; so it was predictable that owners of the Altair 8800 computer would do the same. MITS's delays in delivery of systems and accessories accelerated the formation of Altair compatible suppliers. The first ones started appearing in mid-1975 and by July 1976 complete computers systems were readily available. Numerous advertisers in the issue claim Altair compatibility. The technical manuals for the Altair 8800 provided electrical schematics of the 100 pin computer bus allowing others to design compatible boards. There was not a proper technical standard at the time and some "compatible" boards did not work with other "compatible" boards. Later, the industry developed the
S-100 bus The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE 696-1983 ''(withdrawn)'', is an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800. The bus was the first industry standard expansion bus for the microcomputer industry. computers, consisting of ...
standard.
Bill Godbout Bill Godbout (October 2, 1939 – November 8, 2018) was an early computer pioneer and entrepreneur known for manufacturing and selling computer equipment, parts, and electronic kits in Silicon Valley, during the 1970s and 1980s. He and his compan ...
Electronics in Oakland, CA was the parts supplier to many of the hobbyists and students from
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
. George Morrow approached Godbout with several Altair compatible designs that Godbout agreed to produce and sell. The October 1975 Byte magazine carried an advertisement headlining "Get your MITTS on a Godbout RAM kit." The 4K byte Altair compatible board was $131.07. Godbout also sold components to
Processor Technology Processor Technology Corporation was a personal computer company founded in April 1975 by Gary Ingram and Bob Marsh in Berkeley, California. Their first product was a 4K byte RAM board that was compatible with the MITS Altair 8800 computer but mo ...
for their 4K Static RAM board and serial / parallel interface board.
Lee Felsenstein Lee Felsenstein (born April 27, 1945) is an American computer engineer who played a central role in the development of the personal computer. He was one of the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club and the designer of the Osborne 1, the ...
designed an Altair compatible video board that provided 16 lines of 64 upper and lower case characters on a black and white television. This $160 board became very popular and led to the Processor Technology
Sol-20 The Sol-20 was the first fully assembled microcomputer with a built-in keyboard and television output, what would later be known as a home computer. The design was a combination of an Intel 8080-based motherboard, a VDM-1 graphics card, the 3P+S ...
Computer in 1976. Processor Technology Video Display advertisement. Features 16 lines, 64 characters, upper and lower case. $160 The
IMSAI 8080 The IMSAI 8080 was an early microcomputer released in late 1975, based on the Intel 8080 and later 8085 and S-100 bus. It was a clone of its main competitor, the earlier MITS Altair 8800. The IMSAI is largely regarded as the first "clone" mi ...
, the first "clone" of the Altair computer, was released in December 1975. "Later that day, December 16
975 Year 975 ( CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor John I raids Mesopotamia and invades Syria, using ...
United Parcel Service picked up the first shipment of 50 IMSAI computer kits for delivery to customers."
It corrected many shortcomings of the original Altair 8800 by providing a larger power supply, a 22 slot motherboard, and easier wiring of the front panel. Ed Roberts reviewed the IMSAI in his April 1976 column in ''Computer Notes'', and agreed that the IMSAI was in some ways better than the original Altair. Roberts also pointed out that the new Altair 8800B was superior to the IMSAI 8080 and the upgraded Altair 8800A fixed the same issues that the IMSAI did. Altair computers were only available from the 20 or so authorized Altair computer dealers, but the IMSAI 8080, Processor Technology Sol and many other clones were sold by hundreds of newly opening computer stores. The S-100 bus was used throughout the 1980s until it was overtaken by the IBM PC ISA bus. Seattle Computer Products (SCP) was a manufacturer of S-100 memory boards. The company's engineer,
Tim Paterson Tim Paterson (born 1 June 1956) is an American computer programmer, best known for creating 86-DOS, an operating system for the Intel 8086. This system emulated the application programming interface (API) of CP/M, which was created by Gary ...
, designed an
Intel 8086 The 8086 (also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and June 8, 1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released July 1, 1979, is a slightly modified chip with an external 8-bit data bus (allowi ...
CPU system on two S-100 boards in 1979.
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, then in nearby Bellevue, Washington, used the prototype machine to test their 8086 version of BASIC. Digital Research had promised to deliver an 8086 version of their
CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/ 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. Initial ...
operating system by December 1979 but missed that date. SCP needed a disk operating system to sell its 8086 products so Patterson wrote QDOS, a "Quick and Dirty Operating System" in three months. Microsoft would later purchase QDOS from SCP for $50,000 and use it as the basis for the
IBM PC DOS IBM PC DOS, an acronym for IBM Personal Computer Disk Operating System, is a discontinued disk operating system for IBM PC compatibles. It was manufactured and sold by IBM from the early 1980s into the 2000s. Developed by Microsoft, it was also ...
.


Altair BASIC

In December 1974 Bill Gates was a student at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and Paul Allen worked for
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
in Boston. They saw the Altair 8800 computer in the January 1975 issue of ''Popular Electronics'' and knew it was powerful enough to support a
BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
interpreter. They wanted to be the first to offer BASIC for the Altair computer, and the software development tools they had previously created for their
Intel 8008 The Intel 8008 ("''eight-thousand-eight''" or "''eighty-oh-eight''") is an early byte-oriented microprocessor designed by Computer Terminal Corporation (CTC), implemented and manufactured by Intel, and introduced in April 1972. It is an 8-bit CP ...
microprocessor based
Traf-O-Data Traf-O-Data was a business partnership between Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Paul Gilbert that existed in the 1970s. The objective was to read the raw data from roadway traffic counters and create reports for traffic engineers. The company had only ...
computer would give them a head start. While their friend, Paul Gilbert, was building the computer, Allen wrote a program that ran on a DEC
PDP-10 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, especi ...
time-sharing In computing, time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users at the same time by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking.DEC Timesharing (1965), by Peter Clark, The DEC Professional, Volume 1, Number 1 Its emergence a ...
computer that simulated the 8008 system. He also modified DEC's
macro assembler Macro (or MACRO) may refer to: Science and technology * Macroscopic, subjects visible to the eye * Macro photography, a type of close-up photography * Image macro, a picture with text superimposed * Monopole, Astrophysics and Cosmic Ray Observato ...
to produce the machine code for the 8008 microprocessor. The Traf-O-Data software could be written and debugged before the computer hardware was complete. Harvard had a DEC
PDP-10 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)'s PDP-10, later marketed as the DECsystem-10, is a mainframe computer family manufactured beginning in 1966 and discontinued in 1983. 1970s models and beyond were marketed under the DECsystem-10 name, especi ...
that was available for student use. They would use it to develop BASIC."When Harvard officials found out that he (Gates) and Allen had been making extensive use of the university's PDP-10 to develop a commercial product, they were not pleased." The computer was funded by the Department of Defense and was under the control of Professor Thomas Cheatham. "Although DARPA was funding the PDP-10 at Harvard, there was no written policy regarding its use." While Allen modified their development software for the new 8080 microprocessor, Gates began writing 8080 assembly language by hand on yellow legal pads. They enlisted another Harvard student,
Monte Davidoff Monte Davidoff (; born 1956) is an American computer programmer. Davidoff is from Glendale, Wisconsin. He graduated from Nicolet High School in 1974, and went on to Harvard College, where he majored in applied mathematics, the department at Harva ...
, to write the math routines. By early February the program coding switched from legal pads to the PDP-10 and a preliminary version was completed by March 1975. Gates and Allen had been in contact with Roberts and MITS and the older looking Paul Allen would travel to Albuquerque in March. MITS needed more time to get a computer with 7k bytes of memory working, and they needed more time to get the software finished. When Allen arrived at MITS it took a day to get the software running; Allen remembers this being caused by computer memory problems while Roberts remembers the delay was due to software problems. The April 1975 issue of the Altair Newsletter, Computer Notes, had a banner headline "Altair BASIC - Up and Running". The software was to begin shipping on June 23, 1975. The publication date was April 7, 1975 The software price was $500, but discounted to $75 with the purchase of an Altair computer with 8k bytes of memory and a serial I/O card. On July 22, 1975 MITS signed a contract for the Altair BASIC with Bill Gates and Paul Allen. They received $3000 at signing and a royalty for each copy of BASIC sold; $30 for the 4K version, $35 for the 8K version and $60 for the expanded version. The contract had a cap of $180,000. MITS received an exclusive worldwide license to the program for 10 years. They also had exclusive rights to sub-license the program to other companies and agreed to use its "best efforts" to license, promote and commercialize the program. MITS would supply the computer time necessary for development; a PDP-10 owned by the Albuquerque school district. Paul Allen left his job at Honeywell and became the Vice President and Director of Software at MITS with a salary of $30,000 per year. Bill Gates was still a student at Harvard and just a contractor with MITS. The October 1975 company newsletter gives his title as "Software Specialist". The price of Altair BASIC to customers who purchased additional memory and I/O boards from MITS was $75. Users may have gone along with that if the memory board were reliable. Customers bought the computer from MITS, and working memory from companies like Processor Technology. Rather than pay $500 for BASIC, they would acquire bootleg copies of the software. Only about ten percent of the early customers actually purchased BASIC. With a royalty due of $30 per copy, Gates felt that the computer hobbyist were stealing money from him. In February 1976 Bill Gates, "General Partner, Micro-Soft", wrote an "
Open Letter to Hobbyists Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' ( ...
" that was sent to every computer publication insinuating that the hobbyists were thieves. MITS had announced a new computer based on the
Motorola 6800 The 6800 ("''sixty-eight hundred''") is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the Motorola 6800 family, M6800 Microcomputer System (latter dubbed ''68xx' ...
microprocessor in November 1975, the . The machines were supposed to ship in January 1976, but hardware design problems delayed shipment until May. Paul Allen rewrote their 8080 simulator to support the 6800 microprocessor. Ric Weiland, a high school friend of Gates and Allen, converted the Altair BASIC's 8080 assembly language to 6800 assembly language. To eliminate the per copy royalty loss issue, the 6800 BASIC was licensed to MITS on a non-exclusive basis for a flat fee of $31,200. Weiland and Marc McDonald were impressed with the new
MOS Technology 6502 The MOS Technology 6502 (typically pronounced "sixty-five-oh-two" or "six-five-oh-two") William Mensch and the moderator both pronounce the 6502 microprocessor as ''"sixty-five-oh-two"''. is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small t ...
microprocessor that was a derivative of the 6800. They modified the 6800 development system to support the 6502 and "cranked out" a 6502 edition of BASIC. This version was later sold to Commodore and Apple. The January 1976 issue of MITS's newsletter, Computer Notes, carried an ad for 8080 BASIC. The last paragraph stated: "Licenses for source listing and rights to distribute the binaries are also available to OEM buyers. Write or call Mr. Paul Allen at the MITS plant in Albuquerque for more detailed information." Microsoft found several corporate customers for BASIC and proceeds were evenly split with MITS. Pertec acquired MITS in December 1976 and refused to allow any more OEM deals, even though the agreement required MITS to use their "best efforts" to license the software. The contract required MITS and Microsoft to use binding arbitration to settle disputes. In September 1977, the arbitrator ruled in favor of Microsoft, MITS could continue to use BASIC on their machines but lost the exclusive license. Microsoft could license the software to anyone and keep all of the royalties. There was no longer a business requirement to remain in Albuquerque so Microsoft wanted to relocate to a larger city that would be more attractive to new employees. The San Francisco bay area was considered but Allen and Gates decided to return home to Seattle. Microsoft moved to Bellevue, Washington in January 1979.


Sale to Pertec

In 1976, MITS had 230 employees and sales of $6 million. Interview with Ryal Poppa, president of Pertec Computer Corporation, about the acquisition of MITS. Roberts was tiring of his management responsibilities and was looking for a larger partner. MITS had always used
Pertec Computer Pertec Computer Corporation (PCC), formerly Peripheral Equipment Corporation (PEC), was a computer company based in Chatsworth, California which originally designed and manufactured peripherals such as floppy drives, tape drives, instrumentation c ...
Corporation disk drives and on December 3, 1976, Pertec signed a letter of intent to acquire MITS for $6 million in stock. The deal was completed in May 1977 just before the National Computer Conference in Dallas, Texas. Roberts got $2 million and the other 500 MITS shareholders (including the Altair co-designer, William Yates) split the rest. MITS had approximately 500 shareholders and annual sales of $6 million.Young (1998), 174. Pertec was eager to increase sales to small businesses through the 26 Altair Computer stores across the United States. The marketing toward hobby/home user was curtailed. The November 1977 issue of the MITS newsletter, Computer Notes, was the last produced by the Albuquerque staff. There was one more issue produced by the Pertec staff in
Chatsworth, California Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish b ...
. The back cover of the leading home computer magazine,
Byte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...
, always carried a full page Altair advertisement. This ended with the September 1977 issue. Roberts and Yates stayed on and worked on special projects. In August 1979, Pertec agreed to sell a 45% stake to North American Philips for $37 million. Before the deal was complete, Pertec agreed to be acquired by the West German computer company, Triumph-Adler, for $120 million. In 1978, Pertec had sales of $150 million and Triumph-Adler had sales of $466 million. The Altair products were merged into the Pertec line and the MITS facility was used to produce the PCC-2000 small-business computer. The Albuquerque plant was closed in December 1980 and the production was moved to Pertec plants in Irvine, California. By the end of 1977 Roberts left MITS and returned to Georgia to be a gentleman farmer. He studied medicine at
Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...
in Macon, Georgia and graduated with a
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...
in 1986. Roberts practiced medicine in
Cochran, Georgia Cochran is a city in Bleckley County, Georgia, Bleckley County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 5,026. The city is the county seat of Bleckley County. Co ...
, population 4500, until his death in 2010.


See also

* Altair 8800 * ''Model Rocketry''


Works cited

* * * * * Chapter 6 "Mechanics: Kits & Microcomputers"


Notes


Further reading

Magazine articles from the 1970s that show the general public's enthusiasm for science and new technology. * * * *


External links


STARTUP: ''Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution'' New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
* ttp://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/mits_150.html MITS 150 Handheld Calculator at Vintage Calculators Web Museumbr>TI-2500 at Datamath Calculator MuseumAltair 8800 Computer at Vintage-Computer Web SiteForrest Mims - Early Days At MITS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micro Instrumentation And Telemetry Systems Defunct computer companies of the United States Home computer hardware companies Manufacturing companies based in Albuquerque, New Mexico 1977 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1969 American companies disestablished in 1977 Computer companies established in 1969 Computer companies disestablished in 1977 Electronics companies established in 1969 Electronics companies disestablished in 1977 Defunct manufacturing companies based in New Mexico