Collage of the Altair 8800 taken from the Age of Altair Catalog, 1975
Fifty years ago this month in 1975, the Altair 8800, one of the first commercially available personal computers, was released in kit form. With 256 bytes of memory and a sticker price of $439.00, it graced the front page of Popular Electronics magazine and even had a full standalone catalog advertisement (of which you can peruse an electronic copy on Archive.org). Many early computer companies rose and fell, and as the current chip wars show, there’s no letting up on the computer evolution. You can dig into past PC developments and skirmishes in the titles below—or ask a librarian for a recommendation!
Recommended Reading
Open: How Compaq Ended IBM's PC Domination and Helped Invent Modern Computing
Software Rights: How Patent Law Transformed Software Development in America
Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World's First Modern Computer
