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Thread started 04/04/10 6:57am

728huey

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Ed Roberts has died

I came across some tragic news this morning about Ed Roberts, who died last week of pneumonia at the age of 68.

http://www.bloggingstocks...erts-dies/

Now, who is Ed Roberts, you say?

Well, let me elaborate. Ed Roberts was the creator of the Altair 8800, what many tech experts consider the original personal computer. He didn't actually sell it as a personal computer, though. He sold it as a kit for hobbyists and geeks to assemble at home. What was unusual for the machine at the time was that he had hired a couple of students from Harvard University who were originally from Seattle, Washington to create the operating system for the machine. These students created what was now known as the BASIC OS, and it was because of this that sales of the Altair 8800 went through the roof.

In 1977, Ed Roberts sold his company for a then-hefty sum and went to Georgia to practice his first love, country medicine. The two young Harvard students who created the BASIC OS soon dropped out of college and returned to Seattle to form their own software company. They called it Micro-Soft, and for Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the rest is history. They would improve on the DOS OS, license it to IBM, and start a revolution in the process.

pc typing
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Reply #1 posted 04/04/10 7:04am

IAintTheOne

What a drag sad a true IT Pioneer
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Reply #2 posted 04/04/10 8:01am

Stax

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An OG hacker, for sure. Nice post, 728huey.



Intel Inside nod
a psychotic is someone who just figured out what's going on
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Reply #3 posted 04/04/10 9:35am

Timmy84

RIP. rose
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Reply #4 posted 04/05/10 4:32pm

luv4u

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rose
canada

Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture!
REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince
"I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben
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Forums > General Discussion > Ed Roberts has died