Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an American electronics company founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975.
Transistorized tracking light for model rockets. The product that launched MITS
Sales had reached $100,000 per month when this advertisement ran in March 1973.
Altair 8800 Computer with 8 circuit boards installed. The Altair floppy disk system below has a Pertec 8-inch drive.
Many companies made boards that could plug into the Altair / S-100 bus.
Ed Roberts (computer engineer)
Henry Edward Roberts was an American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor who invented the first commercially successful personal computer in 1974. He is most often known as "the father of the personal computer." He founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) in 1970 to sell electronics kits to model rocketry hobbyists, but the first successful product was an electronic calculator kit that was featured on the cover of the November 1971 issue of Popular Electronics. The calculators were very successful and sales topped one million dollars in 1973.
A brutal calculator price war left the company deeply in debt by 1974. Roberts then developed the Altair 8800 personal computer that used the new Intel 8080 microprocessor. This was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and hobbyists flooded MITS with orders for this $397 computer kit.
Roberts in 2002
June 1972 advertisement for MITS Model 1440 Calculator
May 1975 advertisement for the Altair 8800 computer kit
Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch floppy disk system