Its with a heavy heart i write this blog post. One of the great pioneers who helped to create the PC has passed away on Friday April 2, 2010. Many people might not remember Dr. Ed Roberts. But, a lot of people do and also remember what he did to make what we have today a reality.
Bill Gates had flown down to be at his bedside as he laid in bed suffering from pneumonia in a hospital in Macon, Ga. The reason why Bill was there was because Ed was one of the reasons Microsoft is where it is today. See years back he gave him and Paul Allen a chance to write code for a machine he had created called the MITS Altair.
The MITS Altair was an inexpensive general purpose microcomputer that could be programmed to do all sorts of great tasks. This early computer is why so many people feel that Ed should be recognized as the inventor of the personal computer. I agree with him too. Ed was the man who did it.
The Altair first appeared on the January 1975 cover of Popular Electronics.
"'Fond memories'
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics kits to model rocket hobbyists.
The company went on to sell electronic calculator kits, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms.
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit for hobbyists.
The result was the Altair 8800, a machine operated by switches and with no display.
It took its name from the then-cutting edge Intel 8080 microprocessor.
The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, prompting a flurry of orders. It was also sold assembled for an additional $100 charge.
Amongst those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates.
The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software code that would help people program the machine.
The pair eventually moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, as it was then known, to develop their software: a variant of the Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (Basic).
"We will always have many fond memories of working with Ed in Albuquerque, in the MITS office right on Route 66 - where so many exciting things happened that none of us could have imagined back then," the pair said.
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977. "
BBC News - Microsoft founders lead tributes to 'father of the PC'
New York Times - H. Edward Roberts, PC Pioneer, Dies at 68
ABH News - Father of PC Dr. Edward Roberts passes away
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