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MITS Altair 8800 computer prototype/developer unit, with blank affixed MITS, Inc. 'Creative Electronics' label affixed to the rear panel, which would carry the computer's serial number on a production unit. The front of the unit is raw and unmarked, but features the standard array of 25 switches and 36 lighted indicators. The top of the case is also raw and unpainted, and the power supply unit inside has prototype markings. Untested and in very good to fine cosmetic condition.
Often credited with igniting the 'microcomputer revolution,' the Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer. Interest in it grew after it was featured on the cover of the 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and it was sold by mail order as both a hobbyist kit and as a fully assembled unit. When Bill Gates and Paul Allen read about the Altair in Popular Electronics, they saw the opportunity to start their own computer software company and developed Altair BASIC—the very first product created by 'Micro-Soft.'
