collectorcraig
Member
It is fairly well established that the first Altair built was lost in transit to Les Solomon back in October of 1974. Which raises the question of where did Altair #2 go? I always assumed that Ed Roberts built the second one and shipped it off to Les Solomon to replace the lost one. However, "Leiy" made a comment a few weeks back about the Altair shown in "Triumph of the Nerds" that got me wondering.
In that documentary film, the narrator (Robert Cringley/Mark Stephens) pulls an Altair off the shelf in his garage and announces that it was the second Altair built and has serial #2. The front panel appears to be an Altair 8800 but the back does not. The power cord is in the far left corner and it has a removable fuse. As "leiy" commented, it looks like the back of an Altair 8800b. Also, switches on the front have colored plastic covers. So, is this really Altair #2? I would be interested to hear what other Altair experts think about Cringley's claim.
Here is a link to a You Tube video showing this segment at about the 18:25 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuBXbvl1Sg4
In that documentary film, the narrator (Robert Cringley/Mark Stephens) pulls an Altair off the shelf in his garage and announces that it was the second Altair built and has serial #2. The front panel appears to be an Altair 8800 but the back does not. The power cord is in the far left corner and it has a removable fuse. As "leiy" commented, it looks like the back of an Altair 8800b. Also, switches on the front have colored plastic covers. So, is this really Altair #2? I would be interested to hear what other Altair experts think about Cringley's claim.
Here is a link to a You Tube video showing this segment at about the 18:25 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuBXbvl1Sg4