Ed Roberts (computer engineer)

Henry Edward "Ed" Roberts ( * September 13, 1941 in Miami, Florida, † April 1, 2010 in Macon, Georgia) was the founder and president of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems ( MITS ), the mid-1970s, one of the first personal computer for private individuals, the Altair 8800, brought to the U.S. market.

Career

His training as an electrical engineer made ​​Roberts a member of the United States Air Force at Oklahoma State University. 1968 Roberts was transferred to the research laboratories of Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he met his future partner Forrest Mims III. Together with his student friend Stan Cagle and the officer Bob Zaller founded the four MITS, the company that built telemetry systems for electronics hobbyists at the beginning. In fall 1970, the ways of the partners of MIT about the question of which direction to go, the further development of the company parted. Roberts wanted to begin production of desktops, while Cagle and Mims wanted to build an infrared alarm system. Roberts bought Cagle and Mims from the shares of the company and sat down by his ideas.

Roberts and Altair

After Roberts had brought its first desktop computer on the market, he wrote in 1971 in the November issue of the electronic hobbyist magazine Popular Electronics about his MITS -816 Desktop Computer - kit, and immediately after the publication of the business started very well with the computer to run. In 1974, Roberts was compelled, however, to bring a new product to market, as the prices of desktop computers had plummeted and his kit could not keep up with the already fully assembled desktop computers the competition. Therefore He also developed the first kit for a personal computer, the Altair 8800, on the Roberts an article in the magazine Popular Electronics, now in the January 1975 edition, published. This Product was read by the then Harvard student Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen. The two made ​​contact with Roberts and suggested that he write a BASIC interpreter for the Altair. Roberts accepted the proposal and committed the two, which is why Gates left Harvard. After Gates and Allen had spent some time working for MITS, they again left the company and founded the company Microsoft. The article also suggested a group Altair 8800 fans who called the Homebrew Computer Club to life. Later members founded this club 23 computer companies, including Also, the company Apple.

1977 MITS was purchased by the Pertec Computer Corporation. Roberts bought a ranch of his share in the U.S. state of Georgia, made a medical training and worked as a general practitioner in the country.

In 2010 he died at the age of 68 years from the effects of pneumonia.

Movies

Georgia (U.S. state) Oklahoma State University System
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