The personal computer... one of the foremost important innovations known to man. It's hard to picture a world without computers, where would we be today without them? Released in 1975, Micro Instrumentations and Telemetry Systems (MITS) introduced the world's first personal computer, completely revolutionizing the technology industry as a whole.
The man behind it all was Edward Roberts, the founder of MITS. He went to Oklahoma State University where he worked on the IBM 1620 Computer, and the success of that computer sparked an enduring interest in all computers. From then he took it upon himself to make the big and bulky computers smaller and more personal.
IBM 1620 Computer
When he finalized his mega invention, the first personal computer, he named it after his daughter, Altair. The computer was officially named the Altair 8800. At initial release, his goal was a break-even quantity of 200 but after 90 days, he was at around a 4,000-unit backorder. The success was uncanny compared to anything else at the time.
Altair 8800 personal computer
At and before its initial release, the thought process for releasing it was to provide people with a passion for computer tinkering to have smaller projects to work on. But in hindsight, it was a cheaper option for everyone to enjoy the up-and-coming technology and a simpler way for people to use computers.
When the dust settled on the craziness at the start, it was advertised as a more affordable option for people, and more convenient. To Roberts's surprise, it was easily investable; Bill Gates and Paul Allen saw it in the Popular Electronics article. They reached out to Roberts; Gates and Allen then created Microsoft’s first product; the Altair BASIC. The Altair BASIC was the world’s first high-level coding language. From then on Microsoft grew into the company we know today.
Roberts's innovation truly sparked the computer age, wherein Microsoft bought the rights to Ed Roberts’s product, the Altair 8800, and started on the path of becoming one of the biggest companies ever, inspiring hundreds of other people and companies to follow in Roberts's footsteps. Simply put, we wouldn’t be exactly where we are today in technology without Edward Roberts.
Although most of the effects of the Altair 8800 were positive, there was one big negative that wasn't seen at the time. Over time since this innovation there has been a persistent growth of human dependency and obsession with technology. We can't go through our daily lives without relying upon or using some sort of technology. It's truly getting so bad that one day I'm sure that technology and artificial intelligence will run the world because of our greed to have as much power as possible. But if we can move together slowly, we can make sure that never happens and the human race will be all the better for it.
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