Announcing the Kim-1

On page 14 of the April 1976 issue of Byte Magazine appeared a new product announcement for the MOS Technology Kim-1. On the facing page, a full-page ad proclaimed its availability.

For $245, you could buy a fully assembled Kim-1 Microcomputer System (Not a kit!) with 1024 bytes of static RAM, a 23 key keyboard, 6 character hexadecimal LED display, an audio cassette interface, and 15 bidirectional programmable I/O pins.

Since the announcement of the MITS Altair, a year earlier, I had been very interested in acquiring a computer. But, just out of school, with student loans still outstanding, the cost was a major issue. The price of the Kim-1 was much more attractive than that of the 8080 S-100 bus systems I had seen advertised, and the fact that it was assembled and ready to use made it even more appealing.

It is also worth noting that $245 in 1976 would be over US$800 today and almost C$1300 in Canada. At the time, the Canadian dollar was worth slightly more than the US dollar. That has also changed.

I knew from the articles in Byte that the 8080 was capable of real computing, but I didn't know about the 6502. In order to satisfy my curiosity about the capabilities of both chips, and having access to a Xerox Sigma IX Time Sharing computer at work, I wrote a simulator for each chip. There is nothing like writing a simulator to focus the mind on understanding the instruction sets for the two chips. The simulators were written in APL. At the end of this exercise I was firmly convinced that I would much rather program a 6502 than an 8080.

In May, I drove to Cleveland to attend the Midwest Regional Computer Conference and parted with my $245 in hard earned cash for a box containing a Kim-1 and three books of instructions. The Hardware Manual detailed the 6502 and its support chips. The Programming Manual detailed the instruction set, and the Kim-1 User Manual showed how to set up and operate the Kim-1 Single Board Computer. Arriving back in Toronto, I was up most of the night reading these manuals.

Within a few days, I had acquired the parts necessary to construct the 5 and 12 volt power supply necessary for the operation of the Kim-1. With trepidation, I pressed the 44 pin edge connector onto the PC board, and applied power. Nothing happened. I pressed the RS key, and the LEDs lit up. With great delight, I entered the example program in the manual and before my eyes, my little computer added two hexadecimal numbers and displayed them on the LED display. I was overjoyed.