Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century - Computers

The machine depicted on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine sounded impressive—"World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models"—and at a price of $397 for the parts, it seemed like quite a bargain. In truth, the Altair 8800 was not a minicomputer, a term normally reserved for machines many times as powerful. Nor was it easy to use. Programming had to be done by adjusting toggle switches, the memory held a meager 256 bytes of data, and output took the form of patterns of flashing lights.