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Lot 1082
ALTAIR 8800 8-bit microcomputer by MITS, c.1974, metal case with removable top, face panel with 36 LEDs, 25 switches, additional power supply and interface cables at back,
25 October 2022, 14:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$6,375 inc. premium
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ALTAIR 8800
8-bit microcomputer by MITS, c.1974, metal case with removable top, face panel with 36 LEDs, 25 switches, additional power supply and interface cables at back, serial number 220230A, together with 2 manuals, and OP-80-A paper tape reader, with manual.
Provenance: From the estate of Serge Roubé.
THE COMPUTER THAT INSPIRED GATES AND ALLEN TO FORM MICROSOFT. The MITS ALTAIR 8800 holds the distinction of being the first microcomputer to catch on with the hobbyist market. It was originally offered in kit form for $439 or assembled for $621. Bill Gates (then in his sophomore year at Harvard) and Paul Allen came across the December 1974 issue of Popular Electronics which featured the Altair on the cover and decided to join the computer revolution by writing a BASIC interpreter that would run on Altair's Intel 8080 microprocessor. "It would become the first commercial native high-level programming language for a microprocessor. And it would launch the personal computer software industry" (Isaacson p 332). Isaacson. The Innovators. NY: [2014].
Provenance: From the estate of Serge Roubé.
THE COMPUTER THAT INSPIRED GATES AND ALLEN TO FORM MICROSOFT. The MITS ALTAIR 8800 holds the distinction of being the first microcomputer to catch on with the hobbyist market. It was originally offered in kit form for $439 or assembled for $621. Bill Gates (then in his sophomore year at Harvard) and Paul Allen came across the December 1974 issue of Popular Electronics which featured the Altair on the cover and decided to join the computer revolution by writing a BASIC interpreter that would run on Altair's Intel 8080 microprocessor. "It would become the first commercial native high-level programming language for a microprocessor. And it would launch the personal computer software industry" (Isaacson p 332). Isaacson. The Innovators. NY: [2014].

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