BASIC

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== Altair BASIC and Micro-Soft ==

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The computing revolution after time-sharing would change industry and reshape everyday interactions with computing. It was the beginning of the home computer or minicomputer era, and the face that launched a thousand ships was a panel of switches and LEDs on the cover of the January 1975 ''Popular Electronics.'' The image was of the Altair 8800. This $395 machine ($495 assembled) was described consistently there and throughout the magazine as a "minicomputer," rather than a "microcomputer." The article about this device also describes the many virtues of a useful computer for individuals and the headline of the editorial on page 4 clearly proclaims "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE!" ''Popular Electronics'' was founded in 1954 by Ziff-Davis Publications and was a well-known, widely-distributed magazine by 1975. The year did mark an inflection point for home computing and for the magazine, which came to focus increasingly on computing. In November 1982, it would be renamed ''Computers & Electronics.''

+

The computing revolution that followed time-sharing would change industry and reshape everyday interactions with computing. It was the beginning of the home computer or minicomputer era. The face that launched a thousand ships was a panel of switches and LEDs on the cover of the January 1975 ''Popular Electronics.'' The image was of the Altair 8800. This $395 machine ($495 assembled) was described consistently on the cover and throughout the magazine as a "minicomputer," rather than a "microcomputer." The article about this device also describes the many virtues of a useful computer for individuals and the headline of the editorial on page 4 clearly proclaims "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE!" ''Popular Electronics'' was hardly a novelty by the time this issue came out; the magazine was founded in 1954 by Ziff-Davis Publications and was a well-known, widely-distributed magazine by 1975. The year did mark an inflection point for home computing and for the magazine, which came to focus increasingly on computing. In November 1982, the magazine would be renamed ''Computers & Electronics.''

The article describing the Altair 8800 claims that the computer can be used as a "Sophisticated intrusion alarm system," an "Automatic IC tester," an "Autopilot for planes, boats, etc.," a "Time-share computer system," a "Brain for a robot," and a "Printed matter-to-Braille converter for the blind," among other things, noting that "many of these applications can be performed simultaneously." (p. 38) As it happened, even the applications that were within the capabilities of the device were rather difficult to realize since the system, as delivered or assembled, could only be programmed in machine language. Unless one happened to have a Teletype or other terminal lying around, the programming had to be done using the toggle switches on the front panel. From the outset, it was clear to many that the Altair 8800 could really use was a programming language that facilitated experimentation. The ''Popular Mechanics'' article actually mentions four programming languages by way of explaining the hardware/software distinction (p. 34); one of these is BASIC, which was the language of most interest to early Altair 8800 users.

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The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics,'' reading about the Altair 8800 in it, and showing the article to his friend and business partner Bill Gates. The two had already earned some limited success when Gates was still in high school. Their first venture was called Traf-O-Data and produced hardware and software to count cars. They programmed the Intel 8008 using a simulator running on a Washington State University mainframe.

−

By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready to envision a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and contacted Ed Roberts' company MITS to ask if they would be interested in a BASIC for their system. As with their Traf-O-Data system, they initially programmed on a university's computer system using a simulator. What they were programming at this point was, of course, a modified and minimized version of the original 1964 BASIC. Given how often the success of personal computing software is attributed to entreprenurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed using Harvard's computer and was an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.

+

By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready to envision a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and contacted Ed Roberts' company MITS to ask if they would be interested in a BASIC for their system. As they did in developing their Traf-O-Data system, they initially programmed on a university's computer system, using a simulator. What they were programming at this point was, of course, a modified and minimized version of the original 1964 BASIC. Given how often the success of personal computing software is attributed to entreprenurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed using Harvard's computer and was an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.

Gates and Allen were successful in fitting their BASIC interpreter into an austere 4KB and leaving some room for a BASIC program. Allen flew to visit MITS in Albuquerque, taking the program on paper tape. The demo was a success and was licensed by MITS; Gates and Allen moved to New Mexico to create new versions of BASIC for the Altair and to maintain the original code.

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@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 == Altair BASIC and Micro-Soft ==
-The computing revolution after time-sharing would change industry and reshape everyday interactions with computing. It was the beginning of the home computer or minicomputer era, and the face that launched a thousand ships was a panel of switches and LEDs on the cover of the January 1975 ''Popular Electronics.'' The image was of the Altair 8800. This $395 machine ($495 assembled) was described consistently there and throughout the magazine as a "minicomputer," rather than a "microcomputer." The article about this device also describes the many virtues of a useful computer for individuals and the headline of the editorial on page 4 clearly proclaims "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE!" ''Popular Electronics'' was founded in 1954 by Ziff-Davis Publications and was a well-known, widely-distributed magazine by 1975. The year did mark an inflection point for home computing and for the magazine, which came to focus increasingly on computing. In November 1982, it would be renamed ''Computers & Electronics.''
+The computing revolution that followed time-sharing would change industry and reshape everyday interactions with computing. It was the beginning of the home computer or minicomputer era. The face that launched a thousand ships was a panel of switches and LEDs on the cover of the January 1975 ''Popular Electronics.'' The image was of the Altair 8800. This $395 machine ($495 assembled) was described consistently on the cover and throughout the magazine as a "minicomputer," rather than a "microcomputer." The article about this device also describes the many virtues of a useful computer for individuals and the headline of the editorial on page 4 clearly proclaims "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE!" ''Popular Electronics'' was hardly a novelty by the time this issue came out; the magazine was founded in 1954 by Ziff-Davis Publications and was a well-known, widely-distributed magazine by 1975. The year did mark an inflection point for home computing and for the magazine, which came to focus increasingly on computing. In November 1982, the magazine would be renamed ''Computers & Electronics.''
 The article describing the Altair 8800 claims that the computer can be used as a "Sophisticated intrusion alarm system," an "Automatic IC tester," an "Autopilot for planes, boats, etc.," a "Time-share computer system," a "Brain for a robot," and a "Printed matter-to-Braille converter for the blind," among other things, noting that "many of these applications can be performed simultaneously." (p. 38) As it happened, even the applications that were within the capabilities of the device were rather difficult to realize since the system, as delivered or assembled, could only be programmed in machine language. Unless one happened to have a Teletype or other terminal lying around, the programming had to be done using the toggle switches on the front panel. From the outset, it was clear to many that the Altair 8800 could really use was a programming language that facilitated experimentation. The ''Popular Mechanics'' article actually mentions four programming languages by way of explaining the hardware/software distinction (p. 34); one of these is BASIC, which was the language of most interest to early Altair 8800 users.
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics,'' reading about the Altair 8800 in it, and showing the article to his friend and business partner Bill Gates. The two had already earned some limited success when Gates was still in high school. Their first venture was called Traf-O-Data and produced hardware and software to count cars. They programmed the Intel 8008 using a simulator running on a Washington State University mainframe.
-By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready to envision a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and contacted Ed Roberts' company MITS to ask if they would be interested in a BASIC for their system. As with their Traf-O-Data system, they initially programmed on a university's computer system using a simulator. What they were programming at this point was, of course, a modified and minimized version of the original 1964 BASIC. Given how often the success of personal computing software is attributed to entreprenurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed using Harvard's computer and was an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.
+By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready to envision a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and contacted Ed Roberts' company MITS to ask if they would be interested in a BASIC for their system. As they did in developing their Traf-O-Data system, they initially programmed on a university's computer system, using a simulator. What they were programming at this point was, of course, a modified and minimized version of the original 1964 BASIC. Given how often the success of personal computing software is attributed to entreprenurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed using Harvard's computer and was an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.
 Gates and Allen were successful in fitting their BASIC interpreter into an austere 4KB and leaving some room for a BASIC program. Allen flew to visit MITS in Albuquerque, taking the program on paper tape. The demo was a success and was licensed by MITS; Gates and Allen moved to New Mexico to create new versions of BASIC for the Altair and to maintain the original code.