Tributes have been pouring in for “the father of the personal computer” who has died after a long bout of pneumonia at the age of 68.
Dr Henry Edward Roberts may not be as well known by the masses as say Bill Gates and Paul Allen from Microsoft or Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak from Apple, but without him our lives may have been very different today.
Dr Roberts, affectionately known as “Ed” by those who knew him, was the guy who invented the Altair 8800 computer which sparked off the whole personal computer industry.
He was the one who got the likes of Bill Gates and Paul Allen started on their life changing computing career.
Back in 1975 Gates and Allen spotted an article about the Altair 8800 computer in Popular Electronics magazine.
Dr Roberts had invented the Altair 8800 and was selling kits so that hobbyists could build their very own computer. At that time, most people wouldn’t have considered the thought that you could actually have a computer in your own home. Yes Dr Roberts was a pioneer alright.
However, there was one problem with his Altair; there was no “language” as such that the computer could speak.
After seeing the article, the Microsoft founders then contacted Dr Roberts and offered to write software for the Altair and bring it alive.
The result was Altair-Basic, which stands for Beginners All-purpose, Symbolic, Instruction Code. That’s basically how Microsoft got started. Now Gates and Allen have paid tribute to the man who made it all possible.
“Ed was willing to take a chance on us – two young guys interested in computers long before they were commonplace – and we have always been grateful to him,” the Microsoft founders said in a joint statement.
“The day our first untested software worked on his Altair was the start of a lot of great things.
“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.”
Dr Roberts eventually sold his computer kit company and went on to become a vegetable gardener and then after years of studying medicine he became a successful doctor in Georgia.
However, he will always be remembered as the father of the personal computer, the one who really changed the course of all our lives. Rest in peace Dr Roberts!
