File:Altair 8K BASIC paper tape.jpg

Summary
An original copy of 8K BASIC on paper tape for the MITS Altair 8800 computer with a RAM configuration of at least 8 kilobytes. The tape is labeled "BASIC 8K without cassette" and dated "July 2" (1975). The BASIC interpreter was written by Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Micro-Soft, with floating-point routines by Gates' Harvard dormmate Monte Davidoff.

Paper tape was a common method for storing programs and data in the 1960s and 1970s. This tape was produced by a Teletype ASR-33. The term cassette means support for the Altair 88-ACR (Audio Cassette Recorder) interface board.

In October 1975, 8K BASIC sold for $200. The price was discounted to $75 for "purchaser of 8K of Altair memory, and an Altair I/O board." 4K BASIC was $150 and Extended BASIC was $350 with discounted prices of $60 and $150. They were available on paper tape or cassette tape.

This tape is on display at the "STARTUP: Albuquerque and the Personal Computer Revolution" wing of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

Source

 * File:Altair BASIC Paper Tape.jpg by Michael Holley, Wikimedia Commons. 2007-04-27.