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institution1969–1977

MITS

Disciplines:
electronics
computer science/personal computing
satire/altair
computer science/pc history

Summary

American electronics company (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) founded by Ed Roberts in 1969 — which created the Altair 8800 in 1975 — and which was the first company to sell a commercially viable personal computer kit.

Core Contribution

Launched the personal computing industry with the Altair 8800 — demonstrating that there was mass consumer demand for personal computers years before Apple, Commodore, or Tandy proved it — and inadvertently created the opportunity that launched Microsoft.

Historical Influences

Ed Roberts Intel 8080 chip

Intellectual Lineage

Ed Roberts VisionAlbuquerque New Mexico ElectronicsPopular Electronics Magazine

Contemporaries & Peers

Apple CommodoreTandy Radio Shack

Minds Influenced

Personal computing industryMicrosoft foundingPC hobbyist culture

Intellectual Posterity

Altair 8800 Microsoft originMITS

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