IMSAI 8080

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IMSAI 8080
IMSAI 8080
Manufacturer Information Management Science Associates, Incorporated
Type Computer kit
publication December 16, 1975 (sales start)
End of production October 1979
Factory price $  439.00 (kit, start)
$ 621.00 (complete, 1976)
$ 599.00 / $ 931.00 (kit / complete, 1977)
processor Intel 8080 A or Intel 8085 in later revisions
random access memory 256 bytes

expandable with 4K, 16K, 32K, 64K plug-in cards

graphic no
Sound none
Disk none.
Cartridges, floppy disks and hard drives as options.
operating system IMDOS , a clone of CP / M

The IMSAI 8080 microcomputer was an early personal computer with an Intel 8080 microprocessor and S-100 bus , manufactured by the US company IMSAI, an acronym for Information Management Science Associates, Incorporated, since 1975.

Floppy disk unit

Since the IMSAI was fully compatible with its strongest competitor, MITS Altair 8800 , the technical details are identical. The IMSAI just had a different design with large red and blue switches and a stronger power supply . As the operating system he used a heavily modified CP / M version called IMDOS.

The price of the kit was initially 439  US dollars , but was increased due to popular demand to 499 dollars. Between 1975 and 1979 around 17,000 to 20,000 units were produced.

Company history

In May 1972, William Millard started business from his private apartment. In 1973 he founded IMS Associates and signed several software contracts. In 1974 there was an important contract with General Motors , who ordered several workstations with peripherals, some with hard drives. At that time the new Intel 8080 was announced, before that there was the very simple Intel 4004 processor . On December 16, 1975, the first IMSAI 8080 kits were delivered.

In October 1979 IMSAI filed for bankruptcy. The brand name IMSAI was sold to the Fischer-Freitas company.

Trivia

The main character David L. Lightman in the feature film WarGames from 1983 used an IMSAI 8080. This copy was able to run until at least 2015 and was then for sale.

literature

  • Jonathan Littman: Once Upon a Time in Computerland: The amazing Billion Dollar tale of Bill Millard's Computerland empire . 1987, ISBN 978-0-671-70218-2
  • Paul Freiberger, Michael Swaine: Fire in the Valley - The Making of the Personal Computer . ISBN 978-0-07-135892-7

Web links

Commons : IMSAI 8080  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. OLD-COMPUTERS.COM: The Museum. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  2. ^ Computer History Museum: Artifact Details. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Fischer-Freitas Company History. Retrieved June 18, 2018 .
  4. The "Wargames IMSAI" ( Memento from April 14, 2019 in the Internet Archive )