# How did the front switches operate on early Altair and similar computers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-front-switches-operate-on-early-altair-and-similar-computers/964163 "2022-05-09T00:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 23
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-front-switches-operate-on-early-altair-and-similar-computers/964163/23 "2022-05-09T14:39:05Z")
All this talk about lights and switches and computer history reminds me that I started a thread some time ago about an enterprising geek who makes working replica consoles of the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11/70 minicomputers: > [@A great dose of nostalgia for DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 fans](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-great-dose-of-nostalgia-for-dec-pdp-8-and-pdp-11-fans/945136): > > This won’t mean much to most of you, but for us geeky old farts who grew up with the DEC PDP-8 and PDP-11 minicomputers, this could bring back memories of our joyous formative years! There’s this ingenious nut in Switzerland named Oscar Vermeulen (I use the term “nut” affectionately, to mean a devoted super-geek) who has been building kits that let you assemble the physical console of either a PDP-8/I or PDP-11/70. The PDP-8/I was circa 1969 and was one of the most popular models of the low-en… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-front-switches-operate-on-early-altair-and-similar-computers/964163)._