Comp-Sultants
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Founded | 1973 in Huntsville, Alabama, United States |
| Founder | Paul Bloom, Joanne Bloom, Brian Nelson |
| Defunct | 1977 |
| Headquarters | Huntsville , United States |
Key people | Paul Bloom (president), Jack W. Crenshaw (general manager and lead developer) |
| Products | Micro 440 microcomputer |
Number of employees | 9 (1975) |
The Micro 440 represents an early entry in the microcomputer market, introduced by Comp-Sultants, Inc.. It was driven by the Intel 4040 microprocessor and is believed to be the first third-party system built around this particular chip. Although sales were modest and the company ceased operations within two years, the Micro 440 maintained a modest following among enthusiasts after the company's closure, primarily as a basic chassis platform.
Background and development
Comp-Sultants, Inc. was established in 1973 in Huntsville, Alabama by entrepreneurs Paul Bloom, Joanne Bloom, and Brian Nelson. Paul Bloom took on the role of president and initially concentrated on creating microprocessor-based real-time programmable logic controllers tailored for industrial equipment. Before formal incorporation, the firm provided software translation services for GE-200 mainframe computers.
In 1975, Comp-Sultants unveiled a prototype of the Micro 440 at an electronics trade exhibition in Huntsville. This microcomputer incorporated Intel’s then-new 4040 microprocessor, which succeeded the earlier 4004 model. During this event, Paul Bloom met Jack W. Crenshaw, a software engineer and academic instructor who subsequently joined Comp-Sultants as general manager and lead developer. By that year, the company’s workforce numbered nine employees, including the founders, Crenshaw, one programmer, and four technicians.
The development team operated with limited tools: a basic development environment centered on a 4004 single-board computer, a simple assembler program, and minimal testing apparatus. For firmware storage, they used UV-erasable EPROMs but lacked an eraser device, instead relying on sunlight to erase memory contents. After Crenshaw's arrival, Comp-Sultants expanded its capabilities by acquiring an Intellec 8 Mod 80 development system to facilitate software projects targeting the Intel 8080 processor.
Crenshaw’s first major project was writing firmware for a satellite-tracking antenna employing a Kalman filter algorithm. This contract was secured through Bloom’s connections with an outside client. The project met its deadline and received favorable evaluations; however, no subsequent contracts followed. The Micro 440 was officially launched late in 1975 and was available either as a kit or fully assembled.
Specifications
The Micro 440 came equipped with 256 bytes of RAM, which could be expanded up to 8 KB. It featured toggle switches for manual data input, LED indicators for hardware status monitoring, input/output ports including teletype interfaces, and a power supply unit board included in the package. Optional add-ons consisted of a chassis enclosure, memory expansion modules, and ROM software preprogrammed with utilities. Comp-Sultants also provided optional ROM-based software such as a machine code monitor, debugger, and a simple source code editor.
Upon release, Byte magazine highlighted that it was the first third-party system based on Intel’s 4040 microprocessor. Initially priced at $275—making it $100 less expensive than the Altair 8800—the Micro 440 experienced limited commercial success but found some acceptance within academic institutions. Reflecting later on market reception, founder Crenshaw acknowledged that they had underestimated customer priorities: buyers favored better performance metrics (greater memory capacity, longer word lengths, faster clock speeds) over lower pricing. The kit version eventually dropped in price to as little as $90 ($75 for bulk orders), achieved by cutting production expenses such as omitting plated vias on printed circuit boards.
Legacy
Comp-Sultants had discontinued its activities by the end of 1977. David H. Ahl, who established Creative Computing, characterized the firm as one of the initial victims of the microcomputer era. The Micro 440 evolved into a sought-after collectible, with numerous kit owners dismantling components to use in various other DIY computing ventures.