Friday, April 02, 2010

Ed Roberts Passed Away

A true pioneer of the personal computer, Ed Roberts, passed away yesterday. Bill Gates and Paul Allen released a statement about the creator of the MITS Altair.

I bought one of the first Altair computers, soldered it together and after several tries got it working. Entered many programs using the front panel switches and later built my own keyboard. As soon as it was available I ordered the computer language BASIC on cassette from an unknown company in Albuquerque, NM, called MicroSoft.

Many happy hours were spent at my Altair and it became the platform for my first business venture: CableGames. Though not successful, it lead me into the retail software business and starting the first software store in the world in 1979. That was my career for 15 years.

The world and my life would not been the same without Ed Roberts. I still own my Altair - my first computer.

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