History of Microsoft Video: Bill Gates Talks about Altair Basic (Lisa Feigenbaum)

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# The Visual Basic Team : History of Microsoft Video: Bill Gates ... | Museum And Art said on June 24, 2009 4:49 PM:

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# Nick Karels said on June 27, 2009 5:30 PM:

I wrote my very first line 'o code on Altair 8K BASIC...

That fond memory deprives me of any pity I might have felt for anyone today who moans about his computer taking a "long time to boot" - I know what "long time" really means:

Make sure loader, 17 bytes, is still in RAM - 15 seconds

Load paper tape into reader on ASR-33 Teletype, toggle the RUN switch on the Altair, and go get a cup of coffee down the hall, come back, wait - maybe two minutes, and apparently longer without the coffee refill!

Notice I didn't use the term "Bootstrap" Which would require a boot ROM, the "electric starter" of a computer. The front panel was the Altair's "hand crank". Vector Graphic's "Vector 1" was the first computer of this class to come with this "convenience", IIRC.

-NK

# JKD said on June 28, 2009 11:37 PM:

I'm sorry, but does Lisa ever post original content? Or does she just post links to other people's stuff? I wish my aggregator would differentiate the Me Too Bloggers and people with something to say.

# Flight Computer said on July 7, 2009 4:42 PM:

Dear Team,

I have been hoping for something like this from Microsoft.  I hope you keep this very historically accurate!!  In order for this to be useful/interesting it needs to be accurate.  I hope you make it a keeper for all time!!  Please, make it official Microsoft history!

Thanks,

Flight

# Waleed El-Badry said on July 19, 2009 2:33 PM:

Thanks Liz for sharing this video. Bill will always be considered the godfather of software industry.

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