Here is Bill Gates Teletype tape which input the BASIC interpreter to the Altair computer. Notice the date is 2 March 1975. Gates and Paul Allen created the interpreter in two months and it fit in less than 4K of memory. Allen took the tape to MITS and discovered they had only one computer with 4K of memory. After loading the Teletype tape, the READY cursor began blinking. Everyone at MITS was excited. And so it began.

Despite good reviews from the computer hobbyists, not many were buying the operating system. It seems a lot of users were sharing their copies with other users, prompting Gates to send letters to all the electronic publications of the time that accused the hobbyists of stealing his software. Some things never change.

Post written by AA4YL