A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 1
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 2
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 3
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 4
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 5
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER - photo 6

A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER

Lot 7
10.09.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 56 700
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1279124
Lot 7 | A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
A MITS ALTAIR 8800 MICROCOMPUTER
MITS, 1976
Serial number 2250 55K
Comprising a MITS Altair 8800 microcomputer, installed in the computer a MITS CPU board, Rev. 0, a MITS 8800 1K Static memory board attached to a MITS modem board with a seven channel digital/analog converter, together with a Heathkit H-19 terminal.

The first commercially successful personal computer, which catalysed the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. The MITS Altair 8800 pioneered the integration of the Intel 8080 processor, which is an 8-bit microprocessor (scaling the computer down to a size that could fit on a desk, when prior computers had all been at least refrigerator-size). But the 8800 was developed without any software. So when the MITS Altair 8800 was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, Bill Gates and Paul Allen (then 20 and 22 years old respectively) immediately understood that they could build software for a computer powerful enough to process complex data, at a price point which would engage hobbyists at home. Ed Roberts, the founder of MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, Inc.), received a letter from the two young software engineers claiming that they had been working on a BASIC Interpreter for the Altair 8800. Without an Altair, Gates and Allen built an intel 8080 simulator on the PDP-10 at Harvard to develop a BASIC interpreter for MITS. Only a few weeks later, Allen flew to MITS’s headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico and successfully demonstrated the new software for the first time. Allen won the contract from MITS to distribute Altair BASIC, and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with him in New Mexico. Allen named their partnership ‘Micro-Soft’.
17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm.) high, 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide, 7 in. (17.8 cm.) deep




Provenance

Anonymous sale, Auction Team Breker, 29 November 2003, lot 49.
Acquired at the above sale by the late owner.



Further details

This lot is subject to additional disclaimers. Please carefully review Section E(2), subsection (m) “Vintage Computers and Machines”.
Auction house category:All other types of objects, Instruments
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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10.09.2024 – 10.09.2024
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