The MITS Altair 8800 was a hugely influential computer: one of the first “personal computers”, and the spark that ignited Microsoft. The museum had a dedicated Altair section, where demonstrators would toggle in “Kill the bit”, and video screens displayed interviews with Ed Roberts, Forrest Mims III and Paul Allen. Around the corner was the Traf-o-Data machine which Gates and Allen developed prior to discovering the Altair on the cover of a magazine. The Storeroom had piles of Altairs, both the 8800 and the less successful 680.
The Dead Computer Museum 