Editing An Open Letter to Hobbyists (section)

==1975 Homebrew Computer Club and subsequent copying of Altair BASIC==
The [[Homebrew Computer Club]] was an early computer hobbyist club in Palo Alto, California. At the first meeting in March 1975, Steve Dompier gave an account of his visit to the MITS factory in Albuquerque, where he had attempted to pick up his order for one of everything.<ref>Freiberger (2000), 52–53.</ref> He left with a computer kit with 256 bytes of memory. At the April 16, 1975 club meeting, Dompier keyed in a small program that played the song "[[The Fool on the Hill]]" on a nearby AM radio, through the use of [[radio frequency interference]] or static controlled by the timing loops in the program.<ref name = "DDJ Feb 1976">{{cite journal | last = Dompier | first = Steve| title = Music of a sort | journal = Dr. Dobb's Journal | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages =6–7 | publisher = People's Computer Company | location = Menlo Park CA | date = February 1976}}</ref> Gates, who could not figure out how the computer could broadcast to the radio, described this in the July 1975 edition of ''Computer Notes'' as "the best demo program I've seen for the Altair".<ref name="Computer Notes July 1975">{{cite journal|last=Gates |first=Bill |title=Software Contest Winners Announced |journal=Computer Notes |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=1 |publisher=MITS |location=Albuquerque NM |date=July 1975 |url=http://startup.nmnaturalhistory.org/gallery/notesViewer.php?ii=75_7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323162008/http://startup.nmnaturalhistory.org/gallery/notesViewer.php?ii=75_7 |archive-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref>

The June 1975 ''Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter'' carried this item written by [[Fred Moore (activist)|Fred Moore]], Editor:

<blockquote>The MITS MOBILE came to Rickey's Hyatt House in Palo Alto June 5th & 6th. The room was packed (150+) with amateurs and experimenters eager to find out about this new electronic toy.<ref name = "Homebrew June 1975">{{cite journal | last = Moore | first = Fred | title = It's a Hobby | journal = Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | page =1 | date = June 7, 1975 | url = http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V1_04/index.html}}</ref> </blockquote>

[[File:Altair BASIC Paper Tape.jpg|thumb|left|alt=An aged roll of paper tape perhaps {{convert|1|-|2|in|cm}} wide; on the outside is written "BASIC 8K without cassette" and "July 2" in blue biro pen.|Altair 8K BASIC on paper tape. This was a popular storage medium before the invention of the low-cost floppy disk.]]
At the same June seminar, a [[punched tape|paper tape]] containing a pre-release version of Altair BASIC disappeared. The tape was given to Dompier, who passed it on to Dan Sokol, who had access to a high speed tape punch. At the next Homebrew Computer Club meeting, 50 copies of Altair BASIC on paper tape appeared in a cardboard box.<ref>Manes (1994), 81.</ref>

MITS offered a complete Altair system with two MITS 4K Dynamic RAM boards, a serial interface board and Altair BASIC for $995.<ref name = "MITS Aug 1975 Ad">{{cite magazine| author = MITS | title = Worlds Most Inexpensive BASIC language system |magazine= Radio-Electronics | volume = 46 | issue = 8 | page =1 | date = August 1975}} MITS advertisement [[:File:Altair Computer Ad August 1975.jpg]]</ref> However, the $264 MITS RAM boards were unreliable, due to several component and design problems. An enterprising Homebrew Computer Club member, Robert Marsh, designed a 4K static memory that was plug-in compatible with the Altair 8800, and sold it for $255.<ref name = "Homebrew July 1975">{{cite journal | title = Hardware | journal = Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter | volume = 1 | issue = 5 |pages=2, 5 | date = July 5, 1975 | url = http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V1_05/index.html}}</ref> His company, [[Processor Technology]], became one of the most successful Altair compatible board suppliers. As a result of Dompier's copying of Altair BASIC and Marsh's third-party 4K static memory plug-in, many Altair 8800 computer owners came to skip purchasing the bundled package from MITS directly, instead purchasing their memory boards from a third-party supplier and using a "borrowed" copy of Altair BASIC.

Ed Roberts acknowledged the 4K Dynamic RAM board problems in the October 1975 ''Computer Notes''. The price was reduced from $264 to $195, and existing purchasers got a $50 rebate; the full price for 8K Altair BASIC was reduced to $200, though Roberts declined a customer's request that MITS give BASIC to customers for free, noting that MITS had made a "$180,000 royalty commitment to Micro Soft". Roberts also wrote that "Anyone who is using a stolen copy of MITS BASIC should identify himself for what he is, a thief", and described third-party hardware suppliers as "parasite companies".<ref name="Computer Notes - DRAM">{{cite journal|title=Letter from the President |journal=Computer Notes |last=Roberts |first=H. Edward |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=3–4 |publisher=MITS |location=Albuquerque NM. |date=October 1975 |url=http://startup.nmnaturalhistory.org/gallery/notesViewer.php?ii=75_10&p=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323162008/http://startup.nmnaturalhistory.org/gallery/notesViewer.php?ii=75_10&p=3 |archive-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref> The newly released<!--Note: I am assuming it was newly-released here based on the surrounding text; please correct if not.--> Processor Technology static RAM board drew more current than the MITS dynamic RAM board, with the addition of two or three boards taxing the Altair 8800's power supply. As a consequence, Howard Fullmer began selling a power supply upgrade for the Altair, naming his company [[Parasitic Engineering]] as a nod to Roberts' comments.<ref>Freiberger (2000), 145–146.</ref>{{efn|David Ahl describes the assembly of an Altair 8800 system and the various problems that were encountered. The Processor Technology 8K Static RAM (page 94) and the Parasitic Engineering power supply (page 97) are used to replace the MITS components in his system.<ref name = "Ahl 1980">{{cite book | last = Ahl | first = David H. | author-link = David H. Ahl |author2=Burchenal Green | title = The Best of Creative Computing, Volume 3 | chapter = Saga of a System (Building an Altair 8800/Cromemco TV Dazzler system) | pages = 90–97 | publisher = Creative Computing | location = Morristown NJ | date = April 1980 | url = http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=97 | isbn = 0-916688-12-7}}</ref>}} Fullmer would later help define the industry standard for Altair compatible boards, the [[S-100 bus]] standard.<ref name = "S100 Bus">{{cite journal | last = Morrow | first = George | author-link = George Morrow (computers) |author2=Howard Fullmer | title = Microsystems Proposed Standard for the S-100 Bus Preliminary Specification, IEEE Task 696.1/D2 | journal = Computer | volume = 11 | issue = 5 | pages = 84–90 | publisher = IEEE | date = May 1978 | doi = 10.1109/C-M.1978.218190| s2cid = 2023052 }}</ref> The next year, 1976, would see many Altair bus computer clones such as the [[IMSAI 8080]] and the Processor Technology [[Sol-20]].