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Ed Roberts

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Computer Tech

The Resume

    (September 13, 1941-April 1, 2010)
    Born in Miami, Florida
    Birth name was Henry Edward Roberts
    Founded MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems; 1970)
    Developed the Altair 8800 personal computer (1974)
    Hired Bill Gates and Paul Allen to adapt BASIC for the Altair
    Sold MITS for $6 million (1977)

Why he might be annoying:

    He formed MITS planning to sell electronics to model rocket hobbyists, but had his first success with electronic calculators.
    A price war with Texas Instruments left MITS with massive debts (1974).
    Sales of the Altair 8800 took off thanks to a cover story in 'Popular Electronics' (January, 1975). The computer shown on the cover was actually an empty box and the final product had a completely different circuit board layout than was described in the article.
    He said that Gates was 'a very bright kid, but a constant headache.'
    He clashed with Gates and Allen over ownership of the BASIC program they developed.
    He was married three times, divorced twice.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He joined the Air Force to pay for college.
    He said that working on a room-sized IBM computer at Oklahoma State 'opened up a whole new world. And I began thinking, What if you gave everyone a computer?'
    Thanks to the success of the Altair, he is considered the father of the personal computer.
    Gates and Allen noted, 'Ed was willing to take a chance on us and we have always been grateful to him.'
    After selling MITS, he returned to a childhood dream of becoming a doctor, went to med school, and became a general practitioner in the small town of Cochran, Georgia.
    He used light-emitting diodes to make a Star Wars-style light saber for a neighbor's son. (You now wish you lived next to him growing up. Admit it.)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 150 Votes: 47.33% Annoying