Dr. Henry Edward Roberts, the developer of an early personal computer that inspired Bill Gates to found Microsoft, died Thursday in Georgia after battling pneumonia, said his son, David. He was 68.
The man better known as Ed Roberts developed and marketed the MITS Altair 8800 in the 1970s. The build-it-yourself kit was operated by switches and had no display screen, but it inspired Gates and childhood friend Paul Allen to found Microsoft in 1975 after they saw an article about it in Popular Mechanics.
David Roberts said Gates, who had remained close to his father over the years, visited Friday after hearing he was ill.
[Note: Ed Roberts is featured in Chapter 9 of the book Hackers (chapters 1 and 2 available on Project Gutenberg) and Chapter 2 of the book Fire In The Valley (two of my favorite books).]
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