# The Altair 8800 is supposed to bethe first pc but did anyone ever make anything useable or useful for it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 6, 2021, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325 "2021-03-06T10:09:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325/21 "2021-03-07T12:57:50Z")

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_ **JohnT :** _  
_…here I am, typing this on Android._

Back when I was shopping for colleges my older brother kept telling me to stick with him and he’d get me into Harvard. I scoffed, pointing to my nonstellar grades. he asked about my SATs (better than my grades) and my extra-curriculars. (Mea maxima culpaI) I helped get Don Rumsfeld elected to Congress and it would probably make him good for a recommendation letter.

So, I’m in Harvard when Bill Gates arrives. We meet in the model train club. I have an eye for talent so I latch onto him. Like a lapdog vs Ballmer’s junkyard pit bull we protect Bill.

But time passes and Ballmer

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325/22 "2021-03-07T13:28:19Z")

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But time passes and Bill’s off saving the world,  
Ballmer’s running the company, and i’m doing what i’m doing in reality, without money or the frustration of trying to tell those two old fools that the Company hasn’t released a decent interface since XP.

Paul Allen got when the gittin’ was good.

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**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325/23 "2021-03-07T16:25:48Z")

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Ballmer’s been gone since 2014.

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**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-altair-8800-is-supposed-to-bethe-first-pc-but-did-anyone-ever-make-anything-useable-or-useful-for-it/937325/24 "2021-03-07T19:36:35Z")

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Shows what I know. This fantasy **dropzone** ran off with Melinda long before that.

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