Intel had grown from a small company with a few employees to a leading one, especially in producing programmable logic chips. The first microprocessor chip, the 4004 appeared in the late 1970's. With 2,250 transistors, it could process 4 bits of data at a time, and carry out 60,000 operations per second, but it wasn't powerful enough to serve as the central processor of a minicomputer, only a calculator, a taximeter, or a cash register.

At first, Intel didn't realize that this device could be the control of all sorts of devices, a washing machine, gas pump, butcher's scale, juke box, typewriter, doorbell, and a thermostat. At first sales lagged until engineers gained an understanding of the microprocessor's capabilities. Intel introduced the first 8 bit microprocessor, the 8008 in 1974 which was powerful enough to be the control of a minicomputer. A better device was the 8080 in 1974 and for several years Intel was the only microprocessor maker in the world. By 1983, Intel had 21,500 employees and $1.1 billion in sales. The small, inexpensive personal computer was now feasible.

Technically, the task wasn't complicated, but no one could predict if a market exists. Just use a calculator, a typewriter, or do computer time-sharing for the problems of the day. Only two companies dabbled with the idea, Hewlett-Packard, and Digital Equipment Company. One of Digital's employees, David Ahl, a market researcher who possessed an engineering degree, an MBA and a MA in educational psychology, set up an educational products group and succeeded in selling $20 million of packaged computer systems to high schools and colleges. In 1973, Ahl's group had $20 million in sales, about half the educational market for minicomputers with Hewlett-Packard close behind. Only a few individuals, usually consulting engineers, bought them. Ahl suggested that Digital the personal computer market with schools and for home use, using Digital' PDP-8. He proposed a computer, attachJ case size, with a monitor, keyboard and a floppy disc (which was then only a prototype), all to cost $5000. Digital's board was split on the proposal. Why buy a limited PC when time-sharing was more cost effective? When his proposal was denied, Ahl left Digital. The future of the PC was now in the hands of the electronic hobbyists.

Jonathon A. Titus, studying for a doctorate in chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, and later at Worcester Polytechnic and Rensselear, became interested in Intel's 8008 chip for use in a PC which he called the Mark 8. He approached Radio-Electronics magazine, they liked it, and ran an offer to "build your own Mark 8" in its July 1974 issue. To keep cost down, no ROM was used, so every instruction had to be entered by the user, and repeated each time. Titus wrote a 48 page instructional manual, which was published by Radio Electronics, and purchased for $5.50. The circuit board from Techniques Inc, of Englewood, New Jersey, cost $47.50. Other components from Intel and others brought the total to $250 plus plenty of time and trouble. Titus's invention brought response from 10,000 Radio-Electronics readers for the instruction book and about 2,500 for the circuit boards. This spawned computer clubs, and planted the seed for a PC for all.