On the eve of the launch of Apple's iPad, I am thinking of Ed Roberts. He never became a household name, but as the man behind the Altair computer -- a kit for lunatic tech hobbyists released in 1975 -- he was responsible for launching the microcomputer era.
When nearly everyone in technology thought that computers would forever be restricted to big institutions, Roberts envisioned the machines as tools of empowerment. “If I were to give you an army of 10,000 people, could you build a pyramid?" he said. “A computer gives the average person, a high school freshman, the power to do things in a week that all the mathematicians who ever lived until 30 years ago couldn't do."
Roberts hired two obscure young would-be entrepreneurs to write a version of the BASIC computer language for the Altair. Recently I was talking to one of them -- Bill Gates, who managed to turn that adventure into a company called Microsoft -- about Roberts. “He's not doing that well," Gates said. “So I wrote a letter to him about what a great guy he is, and I hope he's doing well."
Ed Roberts died April 1, just as the revolution he kicked off was about to enter its next phase. On Saturday, Apple will begin selling the iPad, a book-sized tablet dominated by a bright LCD touch-controlled screen.
The zeitgeist excitement needle on this gadget has moved past Hula Hoop and Lady Gaga levels, and is approaching zones previously occupied only by the Beatles and the birth-control pill. Can a one-and-a-half-pound slab possibly live up to this massive hype?
When nearly everyone in technology thought that computers would forever be restricted to big institutions, Roberts envisioned the machines as tools of empowerment. “If I were to give you an army of 10,000 people, could you build a pyramid?" he said. “A computer gives the average person, a high school freshman, the power to do things in a week that all the mathematicians who ever lived until 30 years ago couldn't do."
Roberts hired two obscure young would-be entrepreneurs to write a version of the BASIC computer language for the Altair. Recently I was talking to one of them -- Bill Gates, who managed to turn that adventure into a company called Microsoft -- about Roberts. “He's not doing that well," Gates said. “So I wrote a letter to him about what a great guy he is, and I hope he's doing well."
Ed Roberts died April 1, just as the revolution he kicked off was about to enter its next phase. On Saturday, Apple will begin selling the iPad, a book-sized tablet dominated by a bright LCD touch-controlled screen.
The zeitgeist excitement needle on this gadget has moved past Hula Hoop and Lady Gaga levels, and is approaching zones previously occupied only by the Beatles and the birth-control pill. Can a one-and-a-half-pound slab possibly live up to this massive hype?
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