Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and made writing an interpreter for a microprocessor a much
easier task than writing
MCM
/
APL
. In fact, in early 1974, one
of
MCM
's part-time employees, under Rea's supervision, of-
fered to write such an interpreter for the
MCM
/70. But the
APL
priesthood at
MCM
would never agree to infect the
MCM
/70
with a language like
BASIC
and the proposal was rejected. In-
stead, about a year later, two young software enthusiasts, Bill
Gates and Paul Allen, started to write their
BASIC
interpreter
for an Intel 8080-based hobby computer called the Altair 8800,
manufactured by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Sys-
tems (
MITS
) located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The success
of their project launched Microsoft.
On 30 October 1974, Kutt left
MCM
for good. The world
of computing would not hear from him until 1988 when he re-
emerged with his new invention called the Charge Card, a little
circuit board designed to speed up the operations of personal
computers. Although the Charge Card was awarded
PC
Maga-
zine's
Annual Award for Technical Excellence in 1988, it never
attracted attention from major
PC
manufacturers.
