It Happened in Albuquerque
“MITS [was] in kind of a funky warehouse-like building in Albuquerque . . . kind of a lower-end operation, but . . . we were so excited we were over the moon. ”
— Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft

In the early ‘70s, a winning combination of parts, players, and know-how came together right here in Albuquerque. It happened at an obscure electronics company known as MITS—for Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. The payoff was the world’s first successful personal computer—the Altair. MITS president Ed Roberts led the design team, which built the Altair around Intel’s powerful new 8080 chip. Bill Gates and Paul Allen created a version of BASIC software that worked on the Altair. The result of their collaboration was a computer that people could actually assemble and put to use. Thousands of Altairs were sold, and the computer revolution began, changing the way we live, work, and play.

MITS Life

MITS Life

Life at MITS between 1975 and 1977 was hectic and exciting.
learn more »
1975-1978
1940
TODAY
STARTUP Gallery Map, click to view full map
This is the It Happened in Albuquerque section of the STARTUP Gallery. Click on the map to explore this and other sections of the gallery.
The Stories Behind It Happened in Albuquerque
MITS Life
Life at MITS between 1975 and 1977 was hectic and exciting.
read more

A Little Company Called Microsoft
Microsoft wasn’t always huge. In the early days it was a small group of friends living together and working all hours.
read more

“We have a BASIC”
Inspired by the cover of Popular Electronics, Paul Allen and Bill Gates wrote Altair BASIC, the first software for a home computer.
read more

MITS vs. Microsoft
The battle over BASIC.
read more

1   2