I still have my Altair - complete with all its manuals, custom wire wrap I/O board, ThinkerToys 1.2 MB 8 inch floppy drive, and upgraded to a Z80 processor - and the SOL terminal computer I built for it's I/O device. Also still have my original paper tape copy of Microsoft's first commercial product - Altair 4k Basic! All amazing stuff back then!

I like how you showed a picture with Steve Wozniak when you said Apple instead of Steve Jobs.

Gates wrote the 8080 machine language code for the BASIC language interpreter. Allen wrote an 8080 simulator on a DEC computer so they could test the BASIC source code before running it on the Altair. Both were critical contributions.

Let's take a look at what is considered by many to be the first TRUE PC (i.e, not counting "desktop" calculators, unreleased or non-microprocessor machines) the Altair 8800. It's the computer that started a revolution and spawned both Apple and Microsoft.

It's truly amazing how far we've come in technology in just a matter of a few decades.

they had room sized pcs, and they were amazed by the results, now we have pcs in our pockets faster than the old room sized ones, and we fucking want more

When Coldfusion uploads a video... it's a good day!

Does this bring back a lot of memories!!! My very first computer was a "Digi-Comp I" that my Grandmother bought me when I was 10 at the Museum of Science and Industry's gift shop. I think it was 5 or 10 dollars...a lot of money for a "toy souvenir" back then, but since I had begged her to take me to the museum to see the Univac Display in the first place, she gave in. She knew I could put it together as I could build complex plastic models before I could even read. ...and she knew all I talked about were computers! When my dad saw it, he said, "what are you going to do with that piece of junk?" I told him build a computer!!! He would fix TVs (vacuum tube TVs) in our basement for people. I told him we should somehow connect a TV to a typewriter and make our own computer. We should somehow make it so you could type on a TV Screen and get the thing to do logic and math. I told him then that someday everyone would have a computer (this was 1964). He laughed at me!!! ...then called me an idiot!!! He said computers were only going to get bigger and bigger!!! ...that they would take up whole buildings and more power than an entire neighborhood block!!! ...and they would cost millions of dollars!!! I said, "No! They will get smaller and smaller and someday they will fit in your pocket or be wearable on your wrist like a 'Dick Tracy' video, wrist, radio!" Again he laughed and told me what an idiot I was! He said, "You're ignorant!!!" ...which to him was the worst thing you could call someone without being vulgar or using bad language! At age 10, I gave him the idea of a lifetime and was labelled ignorant. I wished he had lived long enough to see my first iPhone! He developed a brain tumor when I was in 8th grade and they finally did surgery on him when I was a Freshman, but he was never the same. He never got to play with any of my computers. Then I remember using a slide rule in math classes in high school! My senior year (1972), I was the first person (and the only person) in the school to have a TI SR-10 Calculator! I was forbidden to use it over the slide rule for tests in math and physics and was told it was a "passing fancy!" Mostly, I think the instructors were jealous! It was faster and more accurate than a slide rule!!! I would bring it to school every day to check the instructor's "work" compared to the slide rule. It became routine for the instructor to ask..."what did you get?" LOL I built an Altair 8800 for a friend in 1976! I got the job having built my very first computer on a bread board using a 4004 chip and he was impressed. I later upgraded my bread board computer to the power of an 8008!!! I was also working with PDP11s and PDP16s at work (I hated bootstrapping them! I eventually had to have management keep women from wearing "Nylons" to work as they would create electrostatic fields that would "wipe" the memory of a PDP 11 or a PDP16 when they would walk by and I'd have to reprogram it from scratch). In 1977, Processor Technology came out with the very first "everything" in one box microcomputer called the Sol 20. I bought one to build in 1978. The most amazing thing about the Sol 20 was the personality module which allowed the computer to self bootstrap (YAY!!!). Turn it on and it was ready to install Basic (via a cassette tape) and then load your programs! I still have that computer. While I was an advocate at work for the 8080 and the Z80 Chip, my supervisor and an engineer in our Production Test Equipment Lab at work were building a SWTP (SouthWest Technical Products) 6800/2. We argued about which system would better serve the range of Production Test Equipment that we were going to build for the company's high volume production (50,000 units per week). I lost out to the Engineer and my supervisor since I was only a technician and had only built and debugged 4 microprocessors before they had started even one! It did force me to learn machine code for the 6802 and later the 6502. In those days, there was a lot of competition of ideas and hardware. The 8080 and Z80 were using a fairly standard (for the time) S100 bus. Very little was organized in the 6800 and the 6500 processor market until the "Big 4" came along...Apple, Atari, Commodore, and Radio Shack (with an honorable mention to Sinclair). In 1980 I graduated to an Apple II Plus (which I also still have) with dual 5 1/4" floppies. At the time, I had considered "Apple I" & "Apple II" toys and I had to do a lot of reading to convince myself that an Apple II Plus was the "best" (at the time) investment for a usable "Home Computer. It was also one of the most expensive! I had to get a job teaching Night School at the junior college in electronics to make enough to buy one. The wife wouldn't hear of it otherwise!!! LOL That computer had to last me until about 1991 when I could finally afford a Zeos 486-50. ( I was busy starting both a family and a business! ...cash was tight.) That unit lasted several mother board, memory, and hard drive upgrades until I bought a WinBook Si (which was stolen) and then a WinBook Si2 (still have and use). Finally, in 2008, I bought a MacBook Pro that has served me very well for 8 years. At the time, I bought the fastest and most powerful processor they had knowing it might be awhile before I could buy another computer (kids, college, weddings, etc...you know how life can get in the way of having a good time! LOL) Memory and Hard Drive upgrades as well as the advent of "Parallels" for the Mac to allow Windows to operate on my Mac has been a real "boon." I'm not a huge fan of Windows, but sometimes business requires its use to "get along." Thus has been my life in the field of computers and Microprocessors! Many of you probably have very colorful histories as well when it comes to computers!!! It has been a very interesting half century!!! I'd love to hear your stories!!! :)

This comment took me 16,472,801 switches.

:D I am glad that Xerox was mentioned in the description, they were truly ahead of their time, and Apple wouldn't have been where they are today without snapping up the talent. Heck they even eperimented with tech we are only started using in the mid 00's.

Man this brings back fond memories. I never owned an altair 8080, but I eventually did own an Imsai one of their competitors (with cooler switches). :) It was an exciting time to grow up in.

*Longer version (history of all computing):* kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d5inepOkvcixmKs.html

I thought I heard 100 switches for 100 instructions, I think it would have been more than 900 switches, 8 for each instructions + 100 loads+ starting address + run + .... I actually used a similar machine (back then all computers had switch and light consoles for debugging and loading boot strap programs, really fun to see how far we have come in such a relatively short time.

this and "in a nutshell" are my two favourite educational channels

II remember that issue of popular mechanics well. I was already breadboarding with a 6800 and knew I had to have this machine. I picked mine up at the Computer Shack in Albuquerque. I went back to visit a few times as well. They contacted me when Bill’s OS came out and asked if I wanted a copy. I of course did. That made all the difference. Those were the days. Thank you MITS, thank you Bill and thank you Steve and Steve. It took my life in a whole new direction. 👍

I think I just got some tears in my eyes. This is so impressive to watch and indeed it makes you thankful that now we can do the things we do on our PC's! Keep up the impressive work, always looking forward to your videos.

This channel is so awesome! So glad I just found it.

I still have my original Altair, and the SOL personal computer I used as its terminal device. I eventually upgraded mine to have a Z80 processor, 56K of memory, and a 1.2MB (8 inch) floppy disk. Originally 4k of memory cost $264 - big bucks in the mid-70's! I also still have my original paper tape copy of Bill Gate's "Altair 4k BASIC" interpreter too. As its name implies, it would run as the operating system in 4K of memory - and still allow you 750 bytes for your BASIC program. We've come such a long way, most people nowadays just have no idea!

this is actually my favorite you tube channel and has been for a long time, i never miss an episode, you guys are awesome, congrats on the ted thing. keep it up

Thanks a lot for making these videos. I really appreciate all the efforts you exert.

7:37 Man i just love your videos and music that u pick ^^ Keep up the good work :)

Coldfusion thanks for everything.

Damn, barely out of high school and those two changed the world forever.

Dagogo, your works are an inpiration! Those stylish intellectual videos combined with the music you put up on Bandcamp - what a talent! Keep it up!

Loved how he shows "Steve Wozniac" instead of "Steve Jobs" when he calls out Apple !

All for a small loan of 1 million switches.

I hope you never stop making those unique awesome videos. thanks a lot for all the efforts.

Hands down my favorite channel ever. Keep up the good work man!

I find this amazing, those youngsters from teens react to need to learn these before they make any nasty comments about old electronics

Fascinating story and not very well-known. Thanks for this bit (no pun intended) of history :)

As allways, you prove why your're the best content creator on KZfaq Dagogo! Glad to see your subscriber base has really grown :) Remember when you only had like 20k subs, and thinking "why the heck isn't this channel more popular?!". Keep up the good work, and I'm looking forward to all your future videos!

Dude you deserve like 10 times more views, you put so much effort and design and thought into this stuff, I only see it in you youtubers with millions of subscribers and years and years of experience, you've got a good path ahead of you man.

I believe this to be incorrect... The World's first computer is Antikythera - Around 200 B.C. Search for Antikythera.

Where are you getting all this old videos from?

Great clip. This is now one of my favorite channels. Keep it up.

Amazing work as always! Thanks for the content!!

Can you upload videos maybe 3-4x a week?Im so bored watching vlogs and gaming videos,i like facts like yours...Yes there are other videos that upload facts,i also watch them sadly some of them cant pronounce some words clearly..That's why i want more videos from you🙇

Please do one on Linux/Unix! :)

I truly love all your videos!! Keep up the good work !

KUDOS FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS!

Why did the video get uploaded. Set private, and then unprivate again?

Before I watch a ColdFusion video, I give it a like, his content never disappoints.

Fun to watch how the computer came to be. And the music you use is amazing! :)

You forgot to mention Robert Albrecht, the man who proved to IBM and Control Data that BASIC was a programmable language by teaching high school students how to program with it. Wosniak was in second grade when Albrecht was writing the 30+ books to teach regular joes how to use BASIC and the Altair at his People's Computer Company - probably the first 'computer cafe' for public use. He was a co-founder/mentor of the Homebrew Computer Club and is the "obbs" in Dr. Dobbs Journal of Computer Calisthenics. He was an inspiration and mentor to Jobs and Wos when they were boys. It was Albrecht who said in 1958, "someday we will all have computers the size of a typewriter" and “Computers are mostly used against people instead of for people, used to control people instead of to free them; time to change all that - we need a … People’s Computer Company!” You might want to broaden your research because Bob Albrecht and Irving Hoffman started the PC revolution when IBM and the other big shots pooh poohed BASIC. Not Gates, or Wosniak or Jobs. And it began in the high schools of Colorado and Minnesota, not California.

FOR THE LOVE OF FLYING FANTA DRINKING PANDAS ON MARS PLEASE TO A HOW BIG IS SONY

LOL you ignored what Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did totally!

Another great video! I love the early photos of Stephen Wozniak, B. Gates, and others. Very informative and nostalgic! Thanks for doing these.

First computer I ever used! We had a model B in our secondary school in Kent UK from 77/78 and I later became a programmer and analyst. Very nostalgic ❤ That actual computer now lives at Bletchley Park in the National Computer Museum

I'm so proud, that Polish blood flows in Apple, thanks Woźniak! :)

2:43 Why would an East German movie have actors cast entirely by Indians/South East Asians?

I've only just found your channel. Great stuff! Computing history is such a fascinating topic! Subbed.

I used these Altair systems where I worked, and it was the biggest PITA computer I've ever used. They were replaced with a couple of TRS-80s from Radio Shack with dual floppies, and life was wonderful.

But can it run minecraft?

Nothing with Microsoft has changed since then. They still say that they have software that does not yet exist. Once written, they release it without fully testing it. Their speciality is code that is 'good enough' but not truly 'good'.

I must confess that I owned one of these machines and designed S100 boards. How terribly strange to be 70.

As always moving and inspiring. Thank you.

I wonder if Bill Gates has ever made a comment on you tube?....

Thanx for making this !

VERY excellent little documentary. Great job

December 1974 - I was eight years old and living in Tennessee. 1978/79 - I was twelve and thirteen years old and living in Arizona. I tried various ways to obtain a computer, including building my own. I checked out a book from the Mesa Public Library titled, "Build your own 16-bit computer and save a bundle." Somehow, at a time when we didn't have money for food, gas or rent, I managed to talk my mom into buying most of the components needed for the power supply. I also checked out a computer science book and learned the Hollerith Code. I used to spend hours in my bed, fantasizing over a Radio Shack catalog and daydreaming of what I could do with a TRS-80 Model III. January 1981 - I was fourteen years old and had just arrived in Albuquerque, just missing Microsoft by about six years. June 1981 - I came up with the idea of optical computers, using light instead of electricity. 1983 - I was seventeen years old when I got my first chance to use a computer. I wrote some simple BASIC programs on my Gifted and Talented teacher's Commodore 64 when I could get access to it. I went to a U.N.I.T.E. camp and spent a week programming graphics using Logo. I tried to make the graphics animated, but discovered that the turtle was just too slow. 1984 - My high school science fair project was on Optical Computers. I didn't have much to show, but my presentation was good enough to win a few awards at the State level. 1985 - I was nineteen and working in the Navy. I signed up for NRI's Microcomputer Repair course by mail. It would include an actual computer near the end of the course. I wondered how I was going to store it in my locker aboard ship, but I was discharged before I got my computer. 1988 - I finally received and assembled my first computer, a Packard-Bell XT clone. I spent a lot of hours typing documents on it. I still have it, and it still boots.

Your videos are so interesting. Keep them coming! :)

Love your videos! keep it bro!

Thanks for another awesome video!

Always full of knowledge. Awesome and thank you! :)

I really enjoy your content and always look forward to your next videos. More than any other channel I subscribe to!

great video as always!

Amazing video like always!

i always get amazed when i get notification and watch video.u rocks dogogo....

As always great video! keep up the great work!

You are awasome as always.

@Dagogo, I just love your production of each and every video. You are too good at it and also your voice :) Thanks a lot for all the education you are giving on various technologies and histories. I wanted to know if you edit all your videos on your own ? How do you add that animation in the middle of the videos ? That is very very good :)

greetings and salutations? Dagogo, cant tell enough how much i appretiate ur work!! 😃👍

Thanks for the excellent content.

Awesome production quality!

Man you are amazing...Great contents and good presentation . ...Keep it up.

this is exactly what type of video i was looking for thanks alot mate you earned a sub :)

Brilliant vid as always!

Thanks for the info, learned a lot, keep it up :D

sooo cool bro :-D I really check your channel from day to day to see If u have uploaded any of your interesting things.good luck. when I first saw tour channel I really thought that it had few subscribers in comparison with its interesting content. :-)

Another awesome video. Don't know why I didn't subscribed earlier. You deserve much more attention.

Excellent video! Thank you!

I don't know why you don't have more subscribers. The way you present any material is really well taught.

this channel definetly deserve that million viewers

Thank you! really informative

Great work Coldfusion!

Once again a truly fascinating video Dagogo! You always make interesting videos. Keep up the good work and have a nice day. :)

Nice work brother!

I really enjoy your excellent presentations. Keep it up....

Subbed, amazing evidence and footage

It really is amazing to see how the industry has remained so different, and yet so much the same.

Crikey, I am soooo old that I still remember the Altair 8800 personal computer. It sure is amazing how computers have advanced in the intervening years :) .

Another great video.You are great buddy

a channel full of knowledge 😍

There was another PC system available in the mid 70's. It was the IMSAI 8080 and it competed with the Altair. The Altair was cheaper but the IMSAI had better quality parts. I know this because my father (an electrical engineer) bought a IMSAI 8080 kit in 1975 and over the next year we built it. The IMSAI had switches on the front as well and yes that was how the boot strap was loaded , one sequence at a time. Most of this info was in a magazine called BYTE. Good video - thanks.

Definitely in my top 5 favourite ColdfusionTV videos!

i love your choice of music

thanks to computer scei./discovering different translatives past and futures.Every best!

Amazing Video as usual

Most of the footage in this video is lifted wholesale from an early-90s PBS documentary called "The Machine That Changed The World," as well as Bob Cringely's similar "Triumph of the Nerds." Both are highly recommended for anyone who want to know the story of the computer industry's first 50 years.

I remember that era and had hobbyist electronic magazines that featured those early micro computer kits.I had a friend whom also had an Altair 8800.Both he and I had Hewlett Packard programmable calculators at the time.He had the earlier HP-65 and I had the 1976 HP-67. The Altair 8800 was very interesting,costly especially with the needed peripherals,clunky if it worked and impractical whereas the programmable calculators were mass produced very practical portable computing devices with software libraries that spanned dozens of fields especially engineering,scientific and mathematics and even had hundreds of gaming titles too. There were probably 5,000 software titles developed for the HP-65/67 many of them by users in the user group.Also the later HP-41 could use many of these same programs too. The programmable calculators also spawned the microcomputer age that is when they became practical and had useful software for them. The first practical microcomputer that was mass produced in my opinion was the Apple 2 though the TRS-80 and Commodore PET came out shortly.The Apple 2 was the best and most practical for a few years.