A short news release announcing the upcoming publication of an article in
the November, 1971 edition of Popular Electronics
magazine, introducing the MITS 816 electronic calculator. This paradigm-busting calculator was based
on a new Electronic Arrays S-80 six-chip MOS large-scale integration (LSI)
calculator chip-set. The S-80 chip-set contained a minor change to the microcode of Electronic Arrays' original
S-100 chip-set that provided a different method for setting the decimal point position.
The Production MITS 816 Electronic Calculator
The MITS 816 has definite historical significance, as it was the
first-ever electronic calculator to be offered as a kit. The kit was such
that anyone with a modicum of electronics skills and a decent soldering iron could put together
themselves. The 816 was the first of a series of desktop (and later handheld) electronic calculators offered
by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) that could be
purchased as a kit or fully assembled (at a higher cost).
In time, MITS' calculator business became the victim of a number of single-chip calculator ICs developed by Texas
Instruments, MOSTEK, General Instrument, and others, that reduced the price of producing a fully-assembled, similarly-featured
calculator to those that were being offered by MITS at a price that MITS simply could not compete with, even in
kit form. Ed Roberts, the President of MITS and essentially the founder of MITS, knew something had to change, or
MITS would fail. Roberts had wanted to make a small computer system that MITS could offer as a kit or fully assembled,
just like the calculators. With the advent of capable single-chip microprocessors, which as the Intel 8080, the
and the Motorola 6800, Roberts realized that these microprocessor chips would make it possible to create a small
computer that he'd envisioned. He focused the efforts of MITS toward the goal of making this "personal" computer
system a reality, which, in January, 1975 was introduced as the now-famous
Altair 8800.
MITS later became historically noted for creating the first truly practical mass-market home computer that could
be purchased completely built, or as a kit, just like MITS' calculators were offered.
The Altair 8800 marked the beginning of what became the "Personal Computer" revolution.
The Altair 8800 was a runaway hit, with initial orders for the computers vastly exceeding MITS' capacity to make
the kits and perform full assembly when so-ordered. MITS had to drastically
increase its production capabilities quickly in order to be able to fulfill its order obligations.
While MITS was successful
in the calculator and budding microcomputer business, the development of all of the infrastructure necessary to
design, prototype, produce and support the development of these products, along with having to drastically increase
production capacity to meet demand, the company needed to take out some sizable loans to support the operation.
The amazing success of the Altair 8800 and a number of follow-on computers and systems led to the electronc calculator
arm of MITS being halted sometime in 1976, sustaining only advertising to sell off remaining inventory.
MITS, for a short time, offered OEM versions of some of their handheld calculators that other companies could
purchase, slap their name badge and serial number tag on it, and sell it under thier own brand, even though it was
really a MITS calculator. This move helped to sell down the remaining inventory of calculator parts.
Even with the success of the new computer business, MITS' debt was significant, as profits
were being used to fund new developments and continue to support increased production capacity.
In the summer of 1977, MITS was sold to Pertec Computer Systems. The debt was paid off by Pertec as part of the deal.
For a relatively short time, Pertec continued to sell and support some of the later computers and systems that MITS had
marketed, as well as some peripheral systems for the computers (mostly storage systems), but in time phased most of MITS'
computer business out, which marked the end of MITS as a force in the rapidly growing personal computer marketplace.
Ed Roberts, the remaining founder of MITS, received enough from the sale to purchase a small ranch and resume his
practice as a small-town family doctor, a job he had trained for and lovingly practiced before MITS came to be.
Roberts passed away on April 1, 2010 at the age of 68. His passing was noted in the general news media, but sadly
a large portion of the population had no concept of Roberts' impact on the early history of personal computing.
