the micro-computer geek passes on...

[acroyear]

Ed Roberts, creator of early PC, dies | Beyond Binary - CNET News:

Ed Roberts, whose early Altair 8800 computer helped inspire Bill Gates and Paul Allen to start Microsoft, died Thursday. He was 68.

Though Roberts' name is less well known than some other computing pioneers, the Altair is widely credited as the first personal computer and for helping inspire the modern computer industry. Roberts established Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), which introduced the Altair in 1975.

He gave Gates and Allen their first big break by letting them try to write a BASIC interpreter, which they carefully entered in on a long paper-tape, and which astonishingly, actually worked. Had it not, there might not even be a Microsoft today...