The Mark-8 is a microcomputer design from 1974, based on the Intel 8008 CPU (which was the world's first 8-bit microprocessor). The Mark-8 was designed by Jonathan Titus, a Virginia Tech graduate student in chemistry. After building the machine, Titus decided to share its design with the community and reached out to Radio-Electronics and Popular Electronics . He was turned down by Popular Electronics , but Radio-Electronics was interested and announced the Mark-8 as a 'loose kit' in the July 1974 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine.
3-508: The Mark-8 was introduced as a 'build it yourself' project in Radio-Electronics' s July 1974 cover article, offering a US$ 5 (equivalent to $ 30 in 2023) booklet containing circuit board layouts and DIY construction project descriptions, with Titus himself arranging for US$ 50 (equivalent to $ 300 in 2023) circuit board sets to be made by a New Jersey company for delivery to hobbyists. Prospective Mark-8 builders had to gather
6-563: The same category as the era's other 'minisize' computers. As quoted by an Intel official publication: "The Mark-8 is known as one of the first computers for the home." Although not very commercially successful, the Mark-8 prompted the editors of Popular Electronics magazine to consider publishing a similar but more easily accessible microcomputer project, and just six months later, in January 1975, they went through with their plans announcing
9-454: The various electronics parts themselves from various sources. A couple of thousand booklets and some one hundred circuit board sets were eventually sold. The Mark-8 was introduced in R-E as "Your Personal Minicomputer " as the word 'microcomputer' was still far from being commonly used for microprocessor-based computers. In their announcement of their computer kit, the editors placed the Mark-8 in
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