Second Half of The Life Story of a Technology

Well, I am happy to say that the second half of this book met (may have even exceeded) my expectations. It was filled with so much information that we could all understand and relate to, and there were very interesting stories. For example, Edward Roberts' microcomputer, the Altair, was introduced to the general public via Popular Electronics in 1975. I just love the way this machine got its name. It was given the name "Altair" by Roberts' daughter, because "Altair" was the name of the planet visited on Star Trek that night. I think that's hilarious, and I'm not even a Trekkie. The Altair was sold as a completely unassembled kit for $397, or assembled for $497. This didn't include any peripherals, either--no keyboard, monitor, disk drive, printer, software, operating system, or any input/output devices other than the toggle switches and lights that were on the front panel!

At that time, there were two men who ran a company called Micro-Soft who took a very keen interest in the Altair. Their names were Paul Allen and Bill Gates, and they wanted in on this product. They believed that they already had the programming language that was needed for the Altair. Within six weeks, Roberts licensed the interpreter from Allen and Gates' company, and hired Allen as the sole programmer and director of software. By the late 1970's, there was fierce competition for Roberts and his Altair microcomputer, and now its peripherals, as well. In 1977, Roberts sold his company and the production of the Altair stopped the next year. Roberts went back to school to pursue his other interest, medicine, now that he could afford to do so. He later went on to combine both electronics and medicine, creating a suite of medical laboratory programs.

I really enjoyed reading about the creation and development of companies and products that I'm familiar with, such as Apple, IBM, and AOL. One other topic I found very interesting was that of the digital divide. For the most part, we take computers and internet access for granted. However, there is still still a gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology, and those with very limited or no access at all. This gap exists globally, but seems to be exacerbated along racial, income, and educational divides. (page 133)

Computers accelerate the pace of technological change at a phenomenal rate. I personally have a hard time keeping up with it all. Just when I learn and get used to something, there is a bigger/better/new and improved product available on the market. It seems that if something can be imagined by someone, somewhere, then someone, somewhere can create that which was imagined. In my opinion, this is both intriguing and frightening. My husband works in IT, so he is alway on top of all of the latest and greatest of whatever is out there. He soaks it all in, and is ready to embrace it all. Me, not so much. I am still using my first generation iPhone, and am very content in doing so.