I worked for a company in 1976 that had a 8080 with the LEDs and toggle switches on the front panel. I can’t remember if it was a MITS or an IMSIA, but I marveled at the old teletype machine they had hooked to it to input a program so they didn’t have to use the front panel switches.
Other companies were producing more advanced stuff years ahead of this, but the costs put them out of reach of small companies or hobbyists. My first computer was a Heathkit with a hexadecimal keypad and 7 segment LED readout. Next was a Tandy Color Computer, then a Tandy 1000 IBM compatible.
Gotcha beat. In 1974 I used an Intel 4004. It didn't even have a console. We used Tektronix CRTs with built in cassette recorders to store the data. Intel bragged that it took a total of 26 people all of nine months to design the chip.