BASIC

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Proclaiming in a headline that "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE," ''Popular Electronics'' gushes about the possibilities of the $395 Altair 8800 ($495 assembled). The magazine 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" (38). As it happened, even the applications that were within the capabilities of the device were rather difficult to realize since the system by default could only be programmed in machine language. Furthermore, unless one happened to have a Teletype or other terminal lying around, the programming had to be done mechanically, with the toggle switches on the front panel. The home computer may have arrived, but most users would have no way of talking to it. From the outset, it was clear that the Altair 8800 needed a programming language that facilitated experimentation. ''Popular Electronics'' mentions four programming languages by way of explaining the distinction between hardware and software (34); one of these languages was BASIC, the language that showed the most promise to early Altair 8800 enthusiasts.

−

There were two successful efforts to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair, and their varied histories have left a lasting impact upon modern computer -- and indeed, upon modern culture. While this tale of two BASICs doesn't clearly show the best of BASIC and the worst of BASIC, it does show two extremes in software development: one commercial, closely coordinated with hardware manufacturers, and highly tied to licensing and cost structures; the other community-based, non-profit, and "copyleft." The BASICs that led in these directions were Microsoft's Altair BASIC, the official BASIC for the platform, which was licensed to the manufacturer of the system, MITS; and Tiny BASIC, which originated at the People's Computer Company or PCC. The Commodore 64's BASIC is directly descended from Microsoft's Altair BASIC; its BASIC is, although this is not visible on the startup screen, a Microsoft product. At the same time, the 10 PRINT program participated in a context of BASIC sharing and exploration that was strongly influenced by the People's Computer Company.

+

There were two successful efforts to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair, and their varied histories have had a lasting impact upon modern computing -- and indeed, upon modern culture. While this tale of two BASICs is not about the best of BASIC and the worst of BASIC, it does highlight two extremes in software development: one commercial, closely coordinated with hardware manufacturers and highly tied to licensing and cost structures; the other community-based, non-profit, and "copyleft." The BASICs that led in these directions were Microsoft's Altair BASIC, the official BASIC for the platform, licensed to MITS, the Altair's manufacturer; and Tiny BASIC, which originated at the People's Computer Company or PCC. The Commodore 64's BASIC is directly descended from Microsoft's Altair BASIC; its BASIC is, although this is not visible on the startup screen, a Microsoft product. At the same time, the 10 PRINT program participated in a context of BASIC sharing and exploration that was strongly influenced by the People's Computer Company.

−

The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics'' in December 1974, just after the issue hit the stands. Allen read the Altair 8800 article and raced to show it to his friend and business partner Bill Gates, telling him, "Well here's our opportunity to do something with BASIC." (Wallace & Erikson 67) 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.

+

The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics'' in December 1974, just after the issue hit the stands. Allen read the Altair 8800 article and raced to show it to his friend and business partner Bill Gates, telling him, "Well here's our opportunity to do something with BASIC" (Wallace & Erikson 67). The two had already had some limited success when Gates was still in high school, with a venture called Traf-Data that produced hardware and software to count cars. They programmed the Intel 8008 microprocessor that powered Traf-Data 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 phoned up Ed Roberts at MITS to ask if he would be interested in having their BASIC for his system. Roberts said he would buy the first version that worked (Wallace & Erikson 74). As Gates and Allen had done when 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 entrepreneurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft clearly acknowledged) an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.

+

By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready for a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and called Ed Roberts at MITS to ask if he would be interested in having their BASIC for his system. Roberts said he would buy the first version that worked (Wallace & Erikson 74). As Gates and Allen had done when developing their Traf-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 is attributed to entrepreneurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft clearly acknowledged) an implementation of Dartmouth's freely-available programming language.

Gates and Allen devised the Altair BASIC project and did most of the programming, but there was a third Altair BASIC programmer, a sort of legendary fifth Beatle of Microsoft (or at least of Altair BASIC). This was Monte Davidoff, who wrote the floating-point routines. Gates and Allen were discussing how they needed to code these up when Davidoff, a student who was sitting with them at the table, spoke up and said he could write them. After talking it over with him, they enlisted him to contribute these (Wallace & Erikson 76-77).

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@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 Proclaiming in a headline that "THE HOME COMPUTER IS HERE," ''Popular Electronics'' gushes about the possibilities of the $395 Altair 8800 ($495 assembled). The magazine 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" (38). As it happened, even the applications that were within the capabilities of the device were rather difficult to realize since the system by default could only be programmed in machine language. Furthermore, unless one happened to have a Teletype or other terminal lying around, the programming had to be done mechanically, with the toggle switches on the front panel. The home computer may have arrived, but most users would have no way of talking to it. From the outset, it was clear that the Altair 8800 needed a programming language that facilitated experimentation. ''Popular Electronics'' mentions four programming languages by way of explaining the distinction between hardware and software (34); one of these languages was BASIC, the language that showed the most promise to early Altair 8800 enthusiasts.
-There were two successful efforts to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair, and their varied histories have left a lasting impact upon modern computer -- and indeed, upon modern culture. While this tale of two BASICs doesn't clearly show the best of BASIC and the worst of BASIC, it does show two extremes in software development: one commercial, closely coordinated with hardware manufacturers, and highly tied to licensing and cost structures; the other community-based, non-profit, and "copyleft." The BASICs that led in these directions were Microsoft's Altair BASIC, the official BASIC for the platform, which was licensed to the manufacturer of the system, MITS; and Tiny BASIC, which originated at the People's Computer Company or PCC. The Commodore 64's BASIC is directly descended from Microsoft's Altair BASIC; its BASIC is, although this is not visible on the startup screen, a Microsoft product. At the same time, the 10 PRINT program participated in a context of BASIC sharing and exploration that was strongly influenced by the People's Computer Company.
+There were two successful efforts to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair, and their varied histories have had a lasting impact upon modern computing -- and indeed, upon modern culture. While this tale of two BASICs is not about the best of BASIC and the worst of BASIC, it does highlight two extremes in software development: one commercial, closely coordinated with hardware manufacturers and highly tied to licensing and cost structures; the other community-based, non-profit, and "copyleft." The BASICs that led in these directions were Microsoft's Altair BASIC, the official BASIC for the platform, licensed to MITS, the Altair's manufacturer; and Tiny BASIC, which originated at the People's Computer Company or PCC. The Commodore 64's BASIC is directly descended from Microsoft's Altair BASIC; its BASIC is, although this is not visible on the startup screen, a Microsoft product. At the same time, the 10 PRINT program participated in a context of BASIC sharing and exploration that was strongly influenced by the People's Computer Company.
-The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics'' in December 1974, just after the issue hit the stands. Allen read the Altair 8800 article and raced to show it to his friend and business partner Bill Gates, telling him, "Well here's our opportunity to do something with BASIC." (Wallace & Erikson 67) 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.
+The story of Microsoft BASIC, and of Microsoft, begins with Paul Allen catching sight of the now-famous ''Popular Electronics'' in December 1974, just after the issue hit the stands. Allen read the Altair 8800 article and raced to show it to his friend and business partner Bill Gates, telling him, "Well here's our opportunity to do something with BASIC" (Wallace & Erikson 67). The two had already had some limited success when Gates was still in high school, with a venture called Traf-Data that produced hardware and software to count cars. They programmed the Intel 8008 microprocessor that powered Traf-Data 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 phoned up Ed Roberts at MITS to ask if he would be interested in having their BASIC for his system. Roberts said he would buy the first version that worked (Wallace & Erikson 74). As Gates and Allen had done when 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 entrepreneurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft clearly acknowledged) an implementation of Dartmouth's programming language.
+By 1975, Gates was at Harvard University and he and Allen were ready for a project with broader reach. They devised the idea of writing BASIC for the Altair and called Ed Roberts at MITS to ask if he would be interested in having their BASIC for his system. Roberts said he would buy the first version that worked (Wallace & Erikson 74). As Gates and Allen had done when developing their Traf-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 is attributed to entrepreneurial and business advances and to Microsoft in particular, it's remarkable that Microsoft's first product was developed borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft clearly acknowledged) an implementation of Dartmouth's freely-available programming language.
 Gates and Allen devised the Altair BASIC project and did most of the programming, but there was a third Altair BASIC programmer, a sort of legendary fifth Beatle of Microsoft (or at least of Altair BASIC). This was Monte Davidoff, who wrote the floating-point routines. Gates and Allen were discussing how they needed to code these up when Davidoff, a student who was sitting with them at the table, spoke up and said he could write them. After talking it over with him, they enlisted him to contribute these (Wallace & Erikson 76-77).