Father of the Computer Revolution Passed Away Thursday

PC Maker, Inspiration for Microsoft Dies in Ga.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 1, 2010

ATLANTA (AP) -- Dr. Henry Edward Roberts, a developer of an early personal computer that inspired Bill Gates to found Microsoft, died Thursday in Georgia. He was 68.

Roberts, whose build-it-yourself kit concentrated thousands of dollars worth of computer capability in an affordable package, inspired Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen to come up with Microsoft in 1975 after they saw an article about the MITS Altair 8800 in Popular Electronics.

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