220px ed roberts 2002 by spencer smith

Ed Roberts Timeline

By xylu

  • Born

    Ed Roberts was born on September 13, 1941 in Miami, Florida to Henry Melvin Roberts, an appliance repairman, and Edna Wilcher Roberts, a homemaker.

  • Roberts enlisted with the hope of finishing his degree through the Airman Education & Commissioning Program

    Roberts married Joan Clark while at the university, and when she became pregnant Roberts knew that he would have to drop out of school to support his new family. The U.S. Air Force had a program that would pay for college, and in May 1962 he enlisted with the hope of finishing his degree through the Airman Education & Commissioning Program.

  • March 1970 advertisement

    March 1970 advertisement
    March 1970 advertisement, when MITS was located in Ed Roberts' garage.

  • Four-function calculator

    Roberts had always wanted to build a digital computer and, in July 1970, Electronic Arrays announced a set of six LSI integrated circuits that would make a four-function calculator.

  • Roberts on the topic "Assemble an LED Communicator – The Opticom"

    Mims, Forrest M.; Henry E. Roberts (November 1970). "Assemble an LED Communicator – The Opticom". Popular Electronics. Vol. 33 no. 5. Ziff Davis. pp. 45–50, 98–99.

  • His successful product was an electronic calculator kit that was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics

    He founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) in 1970 to sell electronics kits to model rocketry hobbyists, but the first successful product was an electronic calculator kit that was featured on the cover of the November 1971 issue of Popular Electronics.

  • Roberts' first "four-function" calculator

    Roberts' first "four-function" calculator
    Roberts was determined to design a calculator kit and got fellow Weapons Laboratory officers William Yates and Ed Laughlin to invest in the project with time and money. The first product was a "four-function" calculator that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. The display was only eight digits, but the calculations were performed with 16 digits precision. The MITS Model 816 calculator kit was featured on the November 1971 cover of Popular Electronics.

  • MITS moved a new place

    The monthly sales reached $100,000 in March 1973, and MITS moved to a larger building with 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) of space.

  • Roberts on the topic "Understanding computer arithmetic"

    Roberts, H. Edward (November 1973). "Understanding computer arithmetic". Radio-Electronics. Vol. 44 no. 22. Gernsback. pp. 55–60. ISSN 0033-7862.

  • Roberts on the topic "Altair 8800 Minicomputer, Part 1"

    Roberts, H. Edward; William Yates (January 1975). "Altair 8800 Minicomputer, Part 1". Popular Electronics. Vol. 7 no. 1. Ziff Davis. pp. 33–38. ISSN 0032-4485. Part 2 in the February 1975 issue.

  • Roberts' the Altair 8800 computer kit

    Roberts' the Altair 8800 computer kit
    Roberts decided to return to the kit market with a low cost computer. The target customer would think that "some assembly required" was a desirable feature. In April 1974, Intel released the 8080 microprocessor that Roberts felt was powerful enough for his computer kit, but each 8080 chip sold for $360 in small quantities.

  • Ed Roberts acknowledged the 4K Dynamic RAM board problems

    There were several design and component problems in the MITS 4K Dynamic RAM board. By July, new companies such as Processor Technology were selling 4K Static RAM boards with the promise of reliable operation. Ed Roberts acknowledged the 4K Dynamic RAM board problems in the October 1975 Computer Notes. The price was reduced from $264 to $195 and existing purchasers got a $50 refund. MITS released its own 4K Static RAM board in January 1976.

  • Roberts on the topic "First Motorola/AMI "6800" MPU computer project"

    Roberts, H. Edward; Paul Van Baalen (November 1975). "First Motorola/AMI "6800" MPU computer project". Popular Electronics. Vol. 8 no. 5. Ziff Davis. pp. 33–36. ISSN 0032-4485. Part 2 in the December 1975 issue.

  • Roberts' share was $2–3 million

    In 1976, MITS had 230 employees and sales of $6 million. Roberts was tiring of his management responsibilities and was looking for a larger partner. MITS had always used Pertec Computer Corporation disk drives and on December 3, 1976, Pertec signed a letter of intent to acquire MITS for $6 million in stock. The deal was completed in May 1977 and Roberts' share was $2–3 million.

  • Died

    Roberts died April 1, 2010 after a months-long bout with pneumonia, at the age of 68.

  • the father of the personal computer

    "Microsoft founders lead tributes to 'father of the PC'". BBC News. April 2, 2010. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012.