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Proto-PC Inventor, and inspiration for Microsoft, Dr. Henry Edward (Ed) Roberts passes

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Tom Johnson

Proto-PC Inventor, and inspiration for Microsoft, Dr. Henry Edward (Ed) Roberts passes

Proto-PC Inventor, and inspiration for Microsoft, Dr. Henry Edward (Ed) Roberts passes

Dr. Henry Edward Roberts is best known for inventing the Altair 8800, a personal computer that would spark the home computer era. Dr. Roberts died yesterday after complications from pneumonia. Dr. Roberts founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), which was originally started to sell electronics kits to model rocket hobbyists. The firm began to struggle in the mid-1970s, and Dr. Roberts began developing a computer kit for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800 with an Intel 8080 microprocessor. The kit was available for $395 and was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975. This cover inspired Paul Allen and Bill Gates to contact Roberts with an offer to write software code that would help people program the machine. Allen and Gates eventually moved to Albuquerque (home to MITS) and founded Micro-Soft to develop their software. Dr. Roberts eventually sold his company and retired to Georgia where he eventually fulfilled a life long dream of earning a medical degree and became a small-town doctor. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was saddened to learn of Robert's death stating in an email, "He [Roberts] took a critically important step that led to everything we have today."

The first link leads to a story from the New York Times about the passing of Dr. Roberts. The second link will take visitors to a tribute remembering Ed Roberts from Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The third link leads to a story on the saving of the newsstand that sold Paul Allen the famous Popular Electronics magazine that started it all. The fourth link will take visitors to a history of MITS and Altair 8800. The fifth link leads to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science StartUp Gallery. This is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the personal computer revolution and the many breakthroughs that happened in Albuquerque. If all this talk has you thinking about how far computers have come, the last link should suit you, as it leads to a piece (audio or transcript) from NPR's All Things Considered which takes a look at the 40 years since the birth of the Internet.

PC Maker, Inspiration for Microsoft Dies in Ga.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/01/us/AP-US-Obit-Computer-Designer.html

Remembering Ed Roberts
http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Thinking/article.aspx?ID=126

New operator found for iconic Harvard Square newsstand
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/01/new_operator_fo.html

MITS and Altair history
http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/d_altair.html

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: StartUp Gallery
http://www.startupgallery.org/

40 Years Later, Looking Back At the Internet's Birth
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114376728

Dr. Henry Edward Roberts is best known for inventing the Altair 8800, a personal computer that would spark the home computer era. Dr. Roberts died yesterday after complications from pneumonia. Dr. Roberts founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), which was originally started to sell electronics kits to model rocket hobbyists. The firm began to struggle in the mid-1970s, and Dr. Roberts began developing a computer kit for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800 with an Intel 8080 microprocessor. The kit was available for $395 and was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975. This cover inspired Paul Allen and Bill Gates to contact Roberts with an offer to write software code that would help people program the machine. Allen and Gates eventually moved to Albuquerque (home to MITS) and founded Micro-Soft to develop their software. Dr. Roberts eventually sold his company and retired to Georgia where he eventually fulfilled a life long dream of earning a medical degree and became a small-town doctor. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was saddened to learn of Robert's death stating in an email, "He [Roberts] took a critically important step that led to everything we have today."

The first link leads to a story from the New York Times about the passing of Dr. Roberts. The second link will take visitors to a tribute remembering Ed Roberts from Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The third link leads to a story on the saving of the newsstand that sold Paul Allen the famous Popular Electronics magazine that started it all. The fourth link will take visitors to a history of MITS and Altair 8800. The fifth link leads to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science StartUp Gallery. This is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the personal computer revolution and the many breakthroughs that happened in Albuquerque. If all this talk has you thinking about how far computers have come, the last link should suit you, as it leads to a piece (audio or transcript) from NPR's All Things Considered which takes a look at the 40 years since the birth of the Internet.

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