# Canonical recap data for First Personal Computer Released (1974)
# Source: https://recap.at/1974/altair-8800
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: altair-8800
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1974/altair-8800"
title: First Personal Computer Released
aliases:
- Altair 8800
- MITS Altair
- First personal computer
subtitle: The Altair 8800 arrives as the first commercially successful personal computer, igniting the microcomputer revolution and attracting garage entrepreneurs who would build the software industry.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1974-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1974
decade: 1970
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game focused on weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character. This genre shares multiple common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the action games category.
summaryLong: A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game focused on weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character. This genre shares multiple common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the action games category. Since the genre's inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have proven fundamental to allow a reasonable level of immersion in the game world, and this type of game helped pushing technology progressively further, challenging hardware developers worldwide to introduce numerous innovations in the field of graphics processing units. Multiplayer gaming has been an integral part of the experience and became even more prominent with the diffusion of internet connectivity in recent years.
lede: The Altair 8800, released by MITS in April 1974, was the first commercially successful personal computer. It cost $395 as a kit and sparked the home computer revolution by proving ordinary people could own and program their own machines.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-_Call_of_Pripyat.jpg/1280px-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-_Call_of_Pripyat.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "First-person shooter"
importance: 84
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Release date
  value: April 1974
- label: Manufacturer
  value: Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS)
- label: Price (kit)
  value: $395
- label: Price (assembled)
  value: $495
- label: Processor
  value: Intel 8080
- label: RAM
  value: 256 bytes to 64 kilobytes
- label: Magazine feature
  value: Popular Electronics cover story, January 1975
- label: Units sold (first year)
  value: Approximately 5,000
timeline:
- date: 1972-01-01
  title: Intel 8008 processor introduced
  description: The first 8-bit microprocessor becomes available, setting the stage for affordable personal computers.
- date: 1974-04-01
  title: Altair 8800 released
  description: MITS releases the Altair 8800, a kit-based computer featuring the Intel 8080. Priced at $395 for the kit, it becomes the first commercially successful personal computer.
- date: 1975-01-01
  title: Popular Electronics cover story
  description: The Altair 8800 appears on the cover of Popular Electronics magazine, triggering nationwide interest and orders that overwhelm MITS.
- date: 1975-04-01
  title: Microsoft founded
  description: Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft to develop BASIC, a programming language for the Altair, marking the beginning of the software industry.
- date: 1977-01-01
  title: Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80 launch
  description: Three fully assembled personal computers hit the market, bringing consumer-friendly alternatives to kit-based systems like the Altair.
sources:
- url: ""
  title: First-person shooter
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Altair 8800 didn't just launch a product category—it created the conditions for the microcomputer industry. By making computing affordable and accessible to hobbyists, it attracted the talent (including a teenage Bill Gates) that would build the software ecosystem underlying modern personal computing.
categories:
- tech-launch
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- tech_launch
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: The Altair 8800 launched in 1974 as the first mass-market personal computer, sparking the home computing revolution.
wikidataQid: Q185029
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260528000523/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-28
  label: First-person shooter
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter"
