Roberts, Ed : in conversation with David Greelish
Ed Roberts played a seminal role in the early development of hobbyist microcomputers and personal computing. In 1974, his company, MITS, created a computer kit—called the Altair 8800—that became the most successful and influential computer of its time. This interview, by historian of computing David Greelish, took place in early 1995 at Roberts’ office in Cochran, Georgia. Roberts describes the founding of MITS as a model rocket electronics company he founded with two USAF friends which began manufacturing electronic calculators and then personal computers, in both kit and assembled form. The interview then covers the challenges in responding to thousands of unforeseen orders as the Altair sold far beyond projections due to a cover-story construction article in the hobbyist magazine Popular Electronics in January 1975. Roberts also describes the Altair 8800 “ecosystem”—that large network of people and companies who created add-on products for the computer. He concludes by discussing the end of MITS as a company and his later accomplishments, including becoming a medical doctor.
Item Details
- Date
- 1995 (Made)
- Type
- Audio
- Catalogue number
- 102740008
- Organization
- Computer History Museum (Publisher)
- Category
- Interview
Interview - Format
- MP3
- Credit line
- Gift of David Greelish
- Extent
- 01:48:25
- Place of publication
- North America/USA/GA/Cochran
- Language
- English
- Acquisition number
- X7390.2015
- Subject
- BASIC (Computer Program Language), Motorola 68000 (Microprocessor), Pertec, US Air Force, Intel 8080 (Microprocessor), Popular Electronics, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Calculators, Altair 8800 (Computer)