IMSAI 8080
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| Manufacturer | IMS Associates, Inc., later IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation |
|---|---|
| Type | Hobbyist computer, aluminum casing, 22-slot motherboard, S-100 bus |
| Release date | December 1975[1] |
| Discontinued | 1978 |
| Operating system | First commercial supplier of Digital Research's CP/M, later followed by derived IMDOS BASIC, FORTRAN |
| CPU | Intel 8080/8085A @ 2 MHz/3 MHz |
| Memory | 256/4K bytes on a 4K board (static), 16K, 32K, 64K DRAM |
| Storage | Optional cassette or 51⁄4" and 8" floppy drives, hard drives (CDC Hawk— 5 MB fixed, 5 MB removable)[2] |
| Website | www |
The IMSAI 8080 was an early microcomputer released in late 1975, based on the Intel 8080 and later 8085 and S-100 bus.[1] It was a clone of its main competitor, the earlier MITS Altair 8800. The IMSAI is largely regarded as the first "clone" microcomputer. The IMSAI machine ran a highly modified version of the CP/M operating system called IMDOS. It was developed, manufactured and sold by IMS Associates, Inc. (later renamed IMSAI Manufacturing Corp). In total, between 17,000 and 20,000 units were produced from 1975 to 1978.
Contents
History
In May 1972, William Millard started businesses individually as IMS Associates (IMS) in the areas of computer consulting and engineering, using his home as an office. By 1973, Millard founded IMS Associates, Inc. Millard soon found capital for his business, and received several contracts, all for software.
In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a "workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors new-car dealership. IMS planned a system including a terminal, small computer, printer, and special software. Five of these work stations were to have common access to a hard disk drive, which would be controlled by a small computer. Eventually product development was stopped.
Millard and his chief engineer Joe Killian turned to the microprocessor. Intel had announced the 8080 chip, and compared to the 4004 to which IMS Associates had been first introduced, the 8080 looked like a "real computer". Full scale development of the IMSAI 8080 was put into action (using the existing Altair 8800's S-100 bus), and by October 1975 an ad was placed in Popular Electronics, receiving positive reactions.[3]
IMS shipped the first IMSAI 8080 kits on 16 December 1975, before turning to fully assembled units.[4] In 1976, IMS was renamed to IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation because by then, they were a manufacturing company, not a consulting firm.
In 1977, IMSAI marketing director Seymour I. Rubinstein paid Gary Kildall $25,000 for the right to run CP/M version 1.3, which eventually evolved into an operating system called IMDOS, on IMSAI 8080 computers.[5][6] Other manufacturers followed and CP/M eventually became the de facto standard 8-bit operating system.
By October 1979, the IMSAI corporation was bankrupt. The 'IMSAI' trademark was acquired by Thomas "Todd" Fischer and Nancy Freitas (former early employees of IMS Associates), who continued manufacturing the computers under the IMSAI name as a division of Fischer-Freitas Co. Support for early IMSAI systems continues to this day.[7]
IMSAI Series Two
The IMSAI Series Two is a personal computer which combines modern hardware with the original IMSAI 8080 hardware and case, with the original front panel LEDs and switches. The Series Two supports USB and Ethernet and is a co-operative development from Howard Harte (Harte Technologies LLC.) and Thomas Fischer (Fischer-Freitas Company). It has no relation to the original IMS Associates, Inc. (later known as IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation).
Several options are available for the IMSAI Series Two, such as a Mini Drive enclosure for external drives.
IMSAI in popular culture
An IMSAI 8080 and an acoustic coupler type modem were among the hacking tools used by the main character in the 1983 movie WarGames [1].
An IMSAI 8080 can also be spotted being used as a prop in an office scene approximately 13 minutes into Sidney Lumet's 2007 crime-drama-thriller film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
See also
Further reading
- THE HISTORY OF IMSAI: The Path to Excellence, produced 1978
- Jonathan Littman, Once Upon a Time in Computerland: The amazing Billion Dollar tale of Bill Millard's Computerland empire, 1987, ISBN 0-671-70218-1
- Paul Freiberger & Michael Swaine, Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 1984, 288p.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 THE HISTORY OF IMSAI- The Path to Excellence, IMSAI of Fischer-Freitas Company (original text 1978)
- ↑ Press Release: IMSAI Announces Hard Disk
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Advertisement: IMSAI 8080 computer with 1K of RAM. $439 kit, $621 assembled.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. "Later that day, December 16 [1975], United Parcel Service picked up the first shipment of 50 IMS computer kits for delivery to customers."
- ↑ Wallace & Erickson, 1992. Hard Drive, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-56886-4.
- ↑ Kildall, Gary. The History of CP/M, THE EVOLUTION OF AN INDUSTRY: ONE PERSON'S VIEWPOINT, Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, January 1980.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMSAI 8080. |
- Distributor of IMSAI parts, docs and the Series Two model www.imsai.net
- Short description of the IMSAI 8080 with photos oldcomputers.net
- The History of the IMSAI 8080 www.pc-history.org
- IMSAI 8080 www.old-computers.com
- IMSAI 8080 oldcomputermuseum.com
- Marcus Bennett's IMSAI
