[[File:Radio Electronics Cover July 1974.jpg|thumb|The July 1974 issue of Radio-Electronics: "Build The Mark-8: Your Personal Minicomputer"

Project kit

thumb|Intel 8008 CPU

The Mark-8 was introduced as a 'build it yourself' project in Radio-Electronicss July 1974 cover article, offering a US$5 () booklet containing circuit board layouts and DIY construction project descriptions, with Titus himself arranging for US$50 () circuit board sets to be made by a New Jersey company for delivery to hobbyists. Prospective Mark-8 builders had to gather 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 Radio-Electronics 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 the same category as the era's other minicomputer computers. As quoted by an Intel official publication: "The Mark-8 is known as one of the first computers for the home."

Influences

Although not very successful commercially, 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 the Altair 8800.

According to a 1998 Virginia Tech University article, Titus' Mark-8 microcomputer now resides in the Smithsonian Institution's "Information Age" display.

See also

  • Microcomputer
  • Minicomputer
  • SCELBI
  • MCM/70
  • Micral

References

  • Mark-8 Minicomputer – an original Mark-8, restored to working condition
  • A Mark-8 Experience – Terry Ritter's detailed memoir of building and running a Mark-8 in 1974.
  • Collection of old analog and digital computers at www.oldcomputermuseum.com
  • Jonathan A. Titus, Microcomputer Pioneer
  • A look at 5 very different MARK-8 computers
  • Titus and the Mark-8, Bit-by-Bit, a Haverford College Publication