Erroneously assembled 1974 Altair 8800 computer gets fixed and enjoys first run in 2026 — Intel 8080 powered machine ran its first program 52 years later

A computer historian has documented the moment a 1974 kit computer successfully ran its first program – in 2016. The ancient Altair 8800 computer is thought to have been “partially assembled with some errors” by its original owner, but it has now been fixed, with the aid of a new PSU, after 52 years of neglect. SDF, from the Interim Computer Museum (ICM), shared the momentous moment on their X profile.

You may know about the Altair 8800 computer, as it has a special place in computer history. It was introduced back in 1974, and according to places like Wikipedia it “was the first commercially successful personal computer.” Some other distinguishing characteristics of this configurable and expandable machine were its supply to the public in kit form, it introduced the S-100 bus standard, and its use of the Intel 8080 CPU (at 2.0 MHz).

The Altair 8800 also came without any screen or video output, as standard, and that’s how you see it in the embedded Tweet – brought to life for the first time in 52 years.

SDF demonstrates the Altair 8800 being programmed, screen-less and keyboard-less using the front panel switches, each which has its own LED. We’ve managed to clip the video to show that the computer historian input the Kill the Bit game, by Dean McDaniel (written May 1975) into the Altair. It is a rather rudimentary game, but perhaps back in 1975 it had greater entertainment value.

Sources indicate the Altair 8800 computer you see demonstrated by the ICM in the video was sold in kit form for $439. That’s over $2,500 in today’s money. The original owner of this particular sample might have been better served buying the pre-assembled model at $621 (over $3,500 in today’s money). Then, at least they could have used it once or twice in the past 52 years.

Remembering the Intel 8080 and Am9080

We’ve reported on the Intel 8080 multiple times previously. Some attribute it as the first commercially viable general‑purpose microprocessor. Whatever the case, it was one of Intel’s most significant early advances, designed by Federico Faggin – an engineer who was also behind legendary chips like the Intel 4004, and Zilog Z80.

Recently we also highlighted AMD’s first steps into computing were done off the back of this same chip. It entered the CPU market with a reverse-engineered 8080 clone (the Am9080), and enjoyed incredible profit margins thanks to the military customers it serviced.

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