With a futuristic whiff lingering in the air thanks to NASA’s Space Shuttle, and the microprocessor an established element of the semiconductor industry, owning a computer in the 1980s became a possibility for the masses. The MITS Altair 8800 minicomputer, using Intel’s eight-bit 8080, had sold in its thousands since 1975 but, without a keyboard or monitor, it couldn’t be described as simple to program. At $439 for a self-build kit and $621 assembled, it wasn’t cheap either. That all changed with the launch of a home computer for under £100 ($137).