- Ed Roberts (computers)
Henry Edward Roberts (born 1942) was the founder and former president of
Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) which built theAltair 8800 , one of the very first hobbyistpersonal computers .cite web | title = Ed Roberts | publisher = New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science | url = http://www.startupgallery.org/gallery/item.php?ii=23 | accessdate = 2007-07-05 ]He grew up in Miami, Florida, where he attended the University of Miami and majored in electrical engineering. He joined the Air Force in 1962, and stayed in the service for 10 years, finding enough time along the way to finish his engineering degree at Oklahoma State University
As a teenager, he created circuitry for analog and
digital computers . A member of theUnited States Air Force , he earned hisbachelor's degree inelectrical engineering fromOklahoma State University , and was assigned to anAir Force base inSan Antonio, Texas , where in his spare time he established two electronics companies, Reliance Engineering and Reliable Radio and TV.In 1968, he was assigned to the research laboratory division of
Kirtland Air Force Base inNew Mexico , where he metForrest Mims III . Reunited with a college friend Stan Cagle and an officer Bob Zaller, the four established MITS to sell rocket telemetry systems for hobbyists. In the fall of 1970, the company split up over a disagreement about the direction of the company, as Roberts wanted to start producing calculators, while Cagle and Mims wanted to create an infrared alarm system. Roberts and a friend bought out Cagle and Mims, although Mims would later return to write technical manuals.Roberts wrote a featured article in the November 1971 issue of "
Popular Electronics " about theMITS 816 calculator kit, and the business began to earn a profit. By 1974, however, competing companies were making the kits obsolete, so Roberts created theAltair 8800 and wrote a related article that was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of "Popular Electronics ". This article excited aHarvard University undergraduate namedBill Gates , and his good friendPaul Allen , and the duo contacted Roberts to write aBASIC interpreter for the machine. Roberts agreed to hire them, and Gates dropped out of Harvard. Later, Gates and Allen would leave MITS to begin a company calledMicroSoft . The article would also inspire the creation of theHomebrew Computer Club by a group of Altair 8800 enthusiasts, and from this club emerged twenty-three computer companies, includingApple Computer (now known as Apple, Inc.).In 1977, MITS was bought by
Pertec Computer Corporation for upwards of $6 million, and Roberts entered medical school atMercer University . He is now a country doctor in Cochran, Georgia.References
cite journal
author = Forrest Mims
coauthors = Henry E. Roberts
year = 1970
month = November
title = Assemble an LED Communicator - The Opticom
journal = Popular Electronics
volume = 33
issue = 5
pages = 45–50
publisher = Ziff Daviscite journal
author = Ed Roberts
year = 1971
month = November
title = Electronic desk calculator you can build
journal = Popular Electronics
volume = 35
issue = 5
pages = 27–32
publisher = Ziff Daviscite journal
author = H. Edward Roberts
coauthors = William Yates
year = 1975
month = January
title = Altair 8800 minicomputer
journal = Popular Electronics
volume = 7
issue = 1
pages = 33–38
publisher = Ziff Daviscite journal
author = H. Edward Roberts
coauthors = Paul Van Baalen
year = 1975
month = November
title = First Motorola/AMI "6800" MPU computer project
journal = Popular Electronics
volume = 8
issue = 5
pages = 33–36
publisher = Ziff Davis
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