ts that was a direct result of Microsoft BASIC was the memory expansion card. BASIC required 4096 bytes of memory to run, much more than the standard 256 that came with the Altair. This led to the 4k memory expansion card (k refers to kilobyte, which is 210 or 1024 bytes) (Freiberger and Swaine 45). The first memory expansion cards were made by MITS, but they had problems. The major problem was that they didnt work, literally. This led many manufacturers to make their own 4k memory cards, which did work. Soon MITS was loosing a tremendous amount of money on memory expansion cards and they decided to link the price of BASIC to the purchase of memory cards. BASIC sold for $150 to people who bought the cards, while it sold for $500, more than the cost of the Altair itself, to people who hadnt bought the cards. Soon people began making their own copies BASIC and distributing it to their friends. By the end of the year the majority of the copies of BASIC in use had been pirated (Freiberger and Swaine 45).One of the first groups that developed out of the personal computer revolution was the Homebrew Computer Club. The meetings started in the back of the founders garage, but the club soon grew so large that they had to rent a lecture hall at Stanford. These meetings were the breeding ground for a new generation of geniuses, and a new generation of companies. Most of the members were hobbyists and enthusiasts with moderate to advanced electronic abilities. At the meetings all kinds of questions about computers and electronics in general were answered (Triumph; Freiberger and Swaine 104-106). It also served as a breeding pit for new uses of the Altair. One of the most famous of these "uses" was demonstrated by Steve Dompier. At one of the meetings Steve went up to the front of the auditorium with his Altair and a radio. He sat there for a few minutes laboriously keying in a program. When he was done he set the radio on top of the Altair and star...
