What the Greeks called muses, divinities who inspired artists to create their works, can be presented in a thousand and one different ways. According to popular culture, Newton dropped an apple for inspiration and discover gravity. The creators of Viagra were looking for a drug to help treat angina. And to the creator of velcro, Georges de Mestral , the muses appeared in the form of seeds that were hooked on his clothes. Examining them under a microscope, he found the key to creating difficult-to-peel closures. For the birth of Microsoft, Paul Allen received inspiration in the form of a magazine, Popular Electronics.
To name Popular Electronics is to travel to the 60s of the last century. At a time when everything had to be done in the field of electronics and, especially, in computing. Such was her impact that many consider her the muse of those who made the personal computer possible , bringing computing to millions of homes thanks to names like Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Paul Allen and others perhaps less known to the general public who were inspired by a paper publication that explained in detail all the ins and outs of circuits, chips, valves and other elements with which you could create your own home projects related to electronics.
Precisely, the cover of Popular Electronics of January 1975 inspired many, like so many other covers. But this, especially, since it announced the launch of the Altair 8800 . Such was its impact that sales of this microcomputer increased tenfold. And among those who were inspired by the magazine, Paul Allen and Bill Gates stand out. Two young university students who decided to program software with which, indirectly, they would end up creating their own software company, Microsoft.
Intel and the Altair 8800
In the 1970s, few could afford a computer. At that time, talking about computers was referring to expensive, large machines and only available to universities, companies and public organizations of a certain depth. The personal computer was yet to arrive. The one that everyone had at home and that today has been replaced by laptops or tablets. But at the time we are in, the kings of computing were the large computers of the mainframe type.
And then Intel came along with their 1971 Intel 4004 microprocessor. And in 1974, the Intel 8080, the one that would really change everything. Thanks to this 8-bit, 2 MHz processor, the first home computers were born. One of them, the Altair 8800 from MITS. A microcomputer that you had to assemble yourself from the kit you purchased, something common at the time. But unlike other kits at the time, the processor I used was powerful enough to do great things. At least from the perspective of 1974.
If you want to know all the ins and outs of the creation of this computer, you can review the article History of technology: The Altair 8800, a legendary computer that made its way into many homes. Just to say that MITS, the company created by Ed Roberts and Forrest Mims in 1969, was at the time close to bankruptcy due to a price war in the one that came out badly in front of the giant Texas Instruments .
Author: Wolfgang Stief Their last letter was the Altair 8800 , a microcomputer that they presented in the Popular Electronics newsroom with the intention that the magazine would talk about them. Giving them such publicity that they managed to get them out of their economic quagmire. Not for nothing, this magazine was a reference among electronics and computer fans of the time. Thanks especially for posting diagrams and precise instructions to assemble at home.
As I said at the beginning of this article, the success of Popular Electronics' January 1974 cover increased projected sales of the Altair 8800 by up to tenfold. Their initial goal was to sell 200 copies. However, that figure has already been exceeded in a single day. In the end, the first month they reached the figure of 2,000 units , which allowed them to continue. Not only that. He made the following anecdote possible.
Popular Electronics and Paul Allen
In January 1975, a copy of Popular Electronics arrived at the hands of Paul Allen. In April of that same year, Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Your first office will be there. The reason that two young people from the state of Washington, in the north of the country, open their company in Albuquerque, to the south? The answer is that your first big client is based in that same city. And that customer is MITS, an acronym for Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems . Known that year for their flagship product, the Altair 8800 microcomputer.
Source: First Computer Museum of Nova Scotia Society As we saw in a previous article titled Before Microsoft: Bill Gates Started His First Company at 17, Allen and Gates met in Seattle, Washington, when they were both high school students and passionate about computer science. Circumstances of fate, both became close friends and even created their first company in 1972 . The success was such that Allen himself dropped out of Washington State University where he was studying to dedicate himself to the entrepreneurial business. For his part, Bill Gates would begin his studies at Harvard University in parallel to his professional adventure.
From 1972 we go back to 1975. Allen notices the cover of Popular Electronics from January of that year. Among other headlines, the one that says “World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models…” stands out. In Spanish, “the world's first minicomputer kit that rivals commercial models.” The headline is accompanied by the name Altair 8800, the message “Save Over $ 1000”, save more than $ 1,000 in Spanish. And in the center of the cover, an image of the Altair 8800 already assembled.
The magazine that inspired the Redmond giant
Allen is struck by the cover of Popular Electronics and lets Gates know. From here, a lightbulb lights up for both of them and they decide to write a BASIC interpreter software compatible with Altair 8800. So anyone can create programs for this computer using the BASIC programming language. Paul Allen travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the headquarters of MITS, the maker of the Altair 8800, is located. There, Allen tells his proposal to Ed Roberts, co-founder of MITS. The idea sounds good to him and he hires Allen and Gates to program Altair BASIC .
Eleven of the first thirteen Microsoft employees in Albuquerque. From left to right, top to bottom: Steve Wood, Bob Wallace, Jim Lane, Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin, Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood and Paul Allen. Ric Weiland and Miriam Lubow are missing from the photograph And this is how Microsoft was born on April 4, 1975. Then it was called Micro-Soft . Allen and Gates create their first product, Altair BASIC , to be distributed by MITS, their first customer. Hence, two young men from Seattle, Washington, temporarily move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. What's more, Bill Gates will quit his studies at Harvard. A wise decision, because at the end of 1976, Microsoft had made a profit of $ 16,005.
It will not be until the beginning of 1979, a first of January, that Microsoft will move to Bellevue, Washington . By then, the company is growing and needs programmers. Or at least that is one of the reasons given to explain the move, that this professional profile was difficult to find in Albuquerque . An iconic photograph emerges from the move showing eleven of Microsoft's first thirteen employees. Among them, the two founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
