In January 1975, Popular Electronics magazine, with more than half a million subscribers, published a microcomputer image on its cover. The case for the device was a small metal box of gray-blue color with red LEDs and rows of switches. In addition, an article was published with a detailed description of the new machine and an offer to buy a set of components for only $ 396. Success exceeded all expectations. For three weeks, the amount of applications reached $ 250 thousand.
The man who changed the world
The inventor was 33-year-old American Air Force lieutenant Henry Edward Roberts - a man with incredible energy and irrepressible curiosity. In 1965, Ed graduated from the University of Oklahoma, received a diploma in electrical engineering, and was sent to the air base in Albuquerque (pc. New Mexico), where he was engaged in the development of laser weapons. During the service, Roberts, along with his colleagues Forrest Mims, Bob Zaller and Stan Caglu decided to start producing designers for modeling rockets.
Thus was born the company MITS - Model Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (Simulation Instrumentation Telemetry Systems). The first MITS products were light signals for radio models, temperature sensors and audio signal generators. But Roberts soon became interested in microchip technology. He was one of the first to evaluate the emerging prospects and, having bought the shares of partners, launched the production of digital calculators. In 1971, Roberts products were very popular, which allowed him to leave the service and expand the company to 100 people.
The first computer was created by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642. The unit was able to memorize numbers and perform arithmetic operations. The young inventor was only 18 years old.
But within a year, serious competing companies entered the market, whose products were much cheaper. MITS lost the price fight, and by mid-1974, the company's debts reached $ 365 thousand. And then Roberts decided to abandon the production of calculators and start producing a completely new product - a personal computer. This idea completely consumed him. As David Bunnel, one of the oldest MITS employees, said: "This is the most radical and hobbyist in the world."
