The Altair 8800 arrived in 1975 as the first widely recognized home computer
The Altair 8800, released in January 1975 by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), is generally considered the first home computer. It cost $395 for the base model and came as a kit you had to assemble yourself. The machine had no keyboard, no monitor, and no permanent storage. You toggled switches on the front panel to enter data and read results from blinking lights. Despite these limitations, it sparked the personal computer revolution because it proved that a functional computer could be affordable enough for individuals to own.
The Altair's success was when ready. MITS received 4,000 orders in the first month. Two young programmers named Bill Gates and Paul Allen saw the Altair and wrote a version of the BASIC programming language for it, which became the foundation for their company, Microsoft. The machine's popularity created a market that didn't exist before—suddenly, hobbyists and small businesses realized they could own a computer without spending tens of thousands of dollars on a room-sized mainframe.
Key Takeaways
- The Altair 8800, released in January 1975, is recognized as the first home computer and cost around $395 as a kit.
- Earlier computers like the ENIAC (1946) and Apple I (1976) existed, but the Altair was the first to reach a mass hobbyist market at an affordable price.
- The Altair had no keyboard or monitor—you entered commands by flipping switches and read results from blinking lights on the front panel.
- The Altair's success attracted Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop BASIC for it, leading directly to the founding of Microsoft.
What came before the Altair: Earlier computing machines
Computers existed long before 1975, but they were massive, expensive, and operated only by trained technicians in universities and corporations. The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), completed in 1946, weighed 30 tons and filled an entire room. The IBM System/360, introduced in 1964, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and required a dedicated staff to operate and maintain.
In the early 1970s, the microprocessor—a single chip containing thousands of transistors—made small, affordable computers possible. The Intel 4004, released in 1971, was the first microprocessor. Companies began experimenting with small machines, but most remained either too expensive or too limited in function to appeal to ordinary people. The Altair changed that equation by offering genuine computing power at a price a dedicated hobbyist could afford.
The Apple I and Apple II: Making computers user-friendly
The Apple I, designed by Steve Wozniak and released in 1976, came a year after the Altair but took a different approach. It was a fully assembled circuit board that you could plug into your own keyboard and monitor—no soldering required. It cost $666.66, which was more than the Altair kit but less than a fully assembled Altair system. The Apple I found a modest audience among hobbyists but never became a mainstream product.
The Apple II, released in April 1977, was the machine that truly brought computing into homes. It came in a plastic case, had a built-in keyboard, and could display color graphics on a television set. It cost $1,298 fully assembled. The Apple II was powerful enough to run useful programs—spreadsheets, word processors, games—without requiring you to be a programmer. It became the best-selling computer of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and it established Apple as a major manufacturer.
The Commodore 64 and the home computer boom of the 1980s
By the early 1980s, the home computer market had expanded dramatically. The Commodore 64, released in 1982, became the best-selling single computer model of all time. It cost $595 and offered color graphics, sound, and a large library of games and productivity software. The Commodore 64 brought computing to families who had no interest in building kits or learning to program—they straightforward wanted a machine that worked out of the box.
Other manufacturers released competing models: the TRS-80 from Radio Shack, the Atari 800, the IBM Personal Computer (1981), and many others. By the mid-1980s, owning a home computer was no longer unusual. The machines had evolved from hobbyist kits to consumer products with monitors, printers, and software you could buy at retail stores. The Altair had opened the door; the machines that followed made home computing practical and affordable for millions of people.
Why the Altair mattered even though it was hard to use
The Altair 8800 was not user-friendly. It required assembly, programming knowledge, and patience. Yet it mattered because it proved the market existed. Before the Altair, computer manufacturers saw no reason to build small machines—the profit was in large systems sold to institutions. The Altair showed that thousands of people would spend their own money on a computer, even a difficult one, if the price was low enough and the machine was powerful enough to do something interesting.
The Altair also created an ecosystem. Hobbyists formed clubs to share software and knowledge. Companies began writing programs for it. Magazines dedicated to personal computing launched. This ecosystem attracted entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who saw an opportunity to build businesses around personal computers. Without the Altair's success, the personal computer industry might have developed differently or more slowly.
The difference between "first" and "most important"
The Altair 8800 is the first home computer in the sense that it was the first to reach a significant market of individual buyers. However, the Apple II was arguably more important to the history of computing because it made home computers practical for non-technical users. The IBM PC, released in 1981, became the standard that dominated business computing for decades.
When people ask "what was the first home computer," they usually mean the Altair. When they ask "what home computer changed everything," the answer depends on what you value: the Apple II for consumer appeal, the Commodore 64 for affordability and popularity, or the IBM PC for business adoption. All three were crucial to establishing personal computing as a permanent part of modern life.
How home computers evolved from the Altair to today
The Altair had 256 bytes of memory—not kilobytes, bytes. A modern smartphone has roughly 100 million times more storage. The Altair ran at 2 megahertz; a modern laptop runs at 2,000 to 4,000 megahertz. Yet the Altair was recognizably a computer: it had a processor, memory, input and output, and could run programs written in a programming language.
The trajectory from the Altair to modern computers followed predictable patterns. Processors became faster. Memory became cheaper and more abundant. Displays went from blinking lights to monochrome text to color graphics to high-resolution screens. Software evolved from programming languages you had to learn to graphical interfaces you could navigate with a mouse. Networking went from nonexistent to dial-up to broadband to wireless. Yet the fundamental architecture—a processor executing instructions stored in memory—remains unchanged from the Altair's design.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Apple I the first home computer?
No. The Altair 8800 arrived in January 1975, nine months before the Apple I in 1976. However, the Apple I was the first home computer sold fully assembled and ready to use. The Altair came as a kit that required soldering and assembly.
Did the Altair have a screen or keyboard?
No. The Altair had neither. You entered data by flipping switches on the front panel and read results from blinking lights. To use it with a keyboard and monitor, you had to buy those separately and connect them yourself, which most owners did not do initially.
How much did the first home computers cost?
The Altair 8800 kit cost $395 in 1975. The Apple I cost $666.66 in 1976. The Apple II cost $1,298 in 1977. The Commodore 64 cost $595 in 1982. Exact equivalents in current dollars vary depending on the inflation measure used.
What made the Altair different from earlier computers?
Earlier computers like the ENIAC were room-sized, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and required trained operators. The Altair was small, affordable, and could be owned by individuals. It proved that a functional computer could be built inexpensively, which created the market for personal computing.
Why did the Commodore 64 become so popular?
The Commodore 64 cost $595, came fully assembled, had color graphics and sound, and had a large library of games and practical software available at retail stores. It was powerful enough to be useful but affordable enough for families to buy, making it the best-selling single computer model ever.