<s>
The	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
was	O
an	O
early	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
released	O
in	O
late	O
1975	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8080	I-General_Concept
and	O
later	O
8085	B-General_Concept
and	O
S-100	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
clone	B-General_Concept
of	O
its	O
main	O
competitor	O
,	O
the	O
earlier	O
MITS	B-Architecture
Altair	I-Architecture
8800	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IMSAI	O
is	O
largely	O
regarded	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
"	O
clone	B-General_Concept
"	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IMSAI	O
machine	O
ran	O
a	O
highly	O
modified	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
CP/M	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
called	O
IMDOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1974	O
,	O
IMS	O
was	O
contacted	O
by	O
a	O
client	O
which	O
wanted	O
a	O
"	O
workstation	B-Device
system	O
"	O
that	O
could	O
complete	O
jobs	O
for	O
any	O
General	O
Motors	O
car	O
dealership	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IMS	O
planned	O
a	O
system	O
including	O
a	O
terminal	B-General_Concept
,	O
small	O
computer	O
,	O
printer	O
,	O
and	O
special	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Five	O
of	O
these	O
workstations	B-Device
were	O
to	O
have	O
common	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
which	O
would	O
be	O
controlled	O
by	O
a	O
small	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Millard	O
and	O
his	O
chief	O
engineer	O
Joe	O
Killian	O
turned	O
to	O
the	O
microprocessor	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
had	O
announced	O
the	O
8080	B-General_Concept
chip	O
,	O
and	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
4004	O
to	O
which	O
IMS	O
Associates	O
had	O
been	O
first	O
introduced	O
,	O
it	O
looked	O
like	O
a	O
"	O
real	O
computer	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full-scale	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
was	O
put	O
into	O
action	O
using	O
the	O
existing	O
Altair	B-Architecture
8800	I-Architecture
's	O
S-100	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
by	O
October	O
1975	O
an	O
ad	O
was	O
placed	O
in	O
Popular	O
Electronics	O
,	O
receiving	O
positive	O
reactions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IMS	O
shipped	O
the	O
first	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
kits	O
on	O
16	O
December	O
1975	O
,	O
before	O
turning	O
to	O
fully	O
assembled	O
units	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1977	O
,	O
IMSAI	O
marketing	O
director	O
Seymour	O
I	O
.	O
Rubinstein	O
paid	O
Gary	O
Kildall	O
$	O
25,000	O
for	O
the	O
right	O
to	O
run	O
CP/M	B-Application
version	O
1.3	O
,	O
which	O
eventually	O
evolved	O
into	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
called	O
IMDOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
on	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
manufacturers	O
followed	O
and	O
CP/M	B-Application
eventually	O
became	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
8-bit	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VDP	O
(	O
all-in-one	O
)	O
computer	O
had	O
sold	O
poorly	O
and	O
was	O
not	O
competitive	O
with	O
the	O
Radio	B-Device
Shack	I-Device
TRS-80	I-Device
,	O
Commodore	B-Device
PET	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
replicas	O
have	O
entered	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
due	O
in	O
part	O
to	O
the	O
legality	O
of	O
hardware	O
copyright	O
encouraging	O
amateur	O
techophiles	O
to	O
make	O
backwards	O
compatible	O
machines	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
retro	O
aesthetics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
color	O
scheme	O
matches	O
the	O
original	O
IMS	O
1973	O
"	O
Hypercube	O
"	O
project	O
,	O
but	O
some	O
peripherals	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
are	O
simulated	O
and	O
instead	O
use	O
Wi-fi	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-1977	O
,	O
IMSAI	O
released	O
the	O
VDP-series	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8085	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
VDP-40	O
had	O
two	O
5-1/4	O
"	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
a	O
9	O
"	O
40-character-wide	O
display	O
and	O
a	O
2K	O
ROM	B-Device
monitor	O
all	O
in	O
one	O
cabinet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
built-in	O
keyboard	O
had	O
a	O
8035	B-Device
microprocessor	B-Architecture
and	O
a	O
serial	O
interface	O
to	O
the	O
main	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VIO-C	O
video	O
board	O
had	O
2K	O
firmware	O
ROM	B-Device
,	O
2K	O
character	O
generator	O
read-only	B-Device
memory	I-Device
(	O
ROM	B-Device
)	O
with	O
256	O
characters	O
and	O
2K	O
of	O
refresh	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
and	O
an	O
acoustic	B-Device
coupler	I-Device
type	O
modem	B-Application
were	O
among	O
the	O
hacking	O
tools	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
main	O
character	O
in	O
the	O
1983	O
movie	O
WarGames	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
2011	O
novel	O
Ready	O
Player	O
One	O
by	O
Ernest	O
Cline	O
features	O
an	O
IMSAI	B-Device
8080	I-Device
at	O
the	O
end	O
,	O
being	O
the	O
place	O
where	O
Wade	O
"	O
Parzival	O
"	O
Watts	O
finds	O
the	O
easter	O
egg	O
that	O
will	O
grant	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
OASIS	O
virtual	O
reality	O
to	O
its	O
finder	O
.	O
</s>
