H. Edward Roberts, PC Pioneer, Dies at 68

Dr. Roberts made an early contribution to modern computing and was a mentor to Bill Gates, but left the industry decades ago to become a country doctor.

PDP 8, PDP 11 ? Digital Equipment Corp.?

In Albuquerque, Dr. Roberts, a burly, 6-foot-4 former Air Force officer, often clashed with Mr. Gates, the skinny college dropout. Mr. Gates was “a very bright kid, but he was a constant headache at MITS,” Dr. Roberts said in an interview with The New York Times at his office in 2001.

“You couldn’t reason with him,” he added. “He did things his way or not at all.”

His former MITS colleagues recalled that Dr. Roberts could be hardheaded as well. “Unlike the rest of us, Bill never backed down from Ed Roberts face to face,” David Bunnell, a former MITS employee, said in 2001. “When they disagreed, sparks flew.”

I did not know him. I was there for the early micros. did not like them.

they could not spell and neither could I.

Fortran was nasty and lisp did. cobol and GW basic - yuck. I still do not program. The Media lab had no charms. I bought a sinclair and then much later an Osborn I one of the last of that breed. I never did learn CPM operating systems.