If you have never heard of IMSAI, as short introduction is in order. First things first, IMSAI is pronounced “em-sigh.” In the beginning, IMSAI quickly became “The Standard of Excellence in Microcomputer Systems.” These systems were state of the art in the 1970s. Realistically, they will never keep up with modern systems. While typical PCs today run in the gigahertz clock rate range with gigabytes of memory and terabytes of storage, these microcomputers ran at 2 or 3 megahertz, had 64 kilobytes or less of memory, and storage of a few megabytes. Translated, modern systems are a thousand times faster with a million times more memory and storage. Most of these 1970s systems didn’t have graphics capability. We had to wait for the IBM PC for that.

While these systems are no match for a modern PC, they are unmatched from an educational standpoint. Back in the ’70s and ’80s, hobbyists were building these systems from kits and developing technical skills. Many of them went on to surpass their peers in the job market because they had an immense amount of real-world practical knowledge. That dynamic is still in play today. While a university engineering degree lays a good theoretical foundation, it doesn’t necessarily come with much real-world practical experience. Candidates whose hobbies support their field of study usually fare better in interviews and on the job.

These microcomputer systems are simple enough to be completely understood and traceable from one end to the other. Combine that with the fact that you built it and probably had to debug it, you will gain the kind of practical understanding of microprocessors that few of your peers will have. Building one of these systems is not like building a PC today. When you open an IMSAI kit, you’ll see sheet metal parts, hardware, bare printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, and other components. These are the same systems that perhaps your parent or grandparent built and used.

Even if you’re not in the job market, building an IMSAI can be a rewarding experience. If you like putting challenging puzzles together and the satisfaction of completing it, you just might enjoy building an IMSAI. There’s an additional level of satisfaction when your system can run software like BASIC and CP/M and you see the MEMORY SIZE?_ or A>_ prompt for the first time.

These systems flourish in a vibrant hobbyist community today. Check out S-100 Computers and S100Computers - Google Groups.

IMSAI is a division of Parastream Technologies, which provides the infrastructure for e-commerce and logistics.