Comments on: Do we owe it all to the hippies?

CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says there's a case to be made for the argument that the '60s counterculture shaped the PC revolution.

Right on, man!

Having grown up in the 60's in California, and then getting into the mainframe side of the computer industry (and later the PC side in the 1980s), the correlations in the article are chilling. Okay, sure, it's a theory, but it's much more plausible than, um, global warming.

Far out, cool!

Right on, man!

Having grown up in the 60's in California, and then getting into the mainframe side of the computer industry (and later the PC side in the 1980s), the correlations in the article are chilling. Okay, sure, it's a theory, but it's much more plausible than, um, global warming.

Far out, cool!

Self-congratulations

From the responses, it's obvious that this article and its premise have struck a chord and exposed a lot of pent-up (or maybe not) resentment toward "hippies", if there ever were any. I was once called a hippie and have been in the computer industry since the days when a terminal was a personal computer. I also worked at Apple during the early days of the Macintosh.

There was a real difference between the view that computers are personal, tailored to the individual, and the view that computers are the agents of the corporation. This was the main difference between the Apple view and culture and the IBM view and culture. And the reason why most of the creative world uses Macintosh technology. Interestingly, Bill Gates and company saw the computer as personal and were able to subvert IBM into producing personal tools, rather than terminals. It was inevitable. They (Microsoft) were also able to see the Internet for what it was and to adapt their business model to it.

I am writing not to endorse or criticize Apple or IBM or Microsoft. All simply played their roles. As did the "hippies" and as do the neo-cons. If we can jump out of the praise and blame cycle for a few moments, we can see that there's a lot to be learned from books about the influence of the "counterculture" on our current "culture". And we can see that it's all an interesting and complex web we weave in the computer industry.

Self-congratulations

From the responses, it's obvious that this article and its premise have struck a chord and exposed a lot of pent-up (or maybe not) resentment toward "hippies", if there ever were any. I was once called a hippie and have been in the computer industry since the days when a terminal was a personal computer. I also worked at Apple during the early days of the Macintosh.

There was a real difference between the view that computers are personal, tailored to the individual, and the view that computers are the agents of the corporation. This was the main difference between the Apple view and culture and the IBM view and culture. And the reason why most of the creative world uses Macintosh technology. Interestingly, Bill Gates and company saw the computer as personal and were able to subvert IBM into producing personal tools, rather than terminals. It was inevitable. They (Microsoft) were also able to see the Internet for what it was and to adapt their business model to it.

I am writing not to endorse or criticize Apple or IBM or Microsoft. All simply played their roles. As did the "hippies" and as do the neo-cons. If we can jump out of the praise and blame cycle for a few moments, we can see that there's a lot to be learned from books about the influence of the "counterculture" on our current "culture". And we can see that it's all an interesting and complex web we weave in the computer industry.

[fmims]

What about MITS and the Altair 8800?

There are many mythical accounts about the history of personal computing, but the one by Charles Cooper is the first I?ve seen that completely leaves out the role of MITS, Inc. and the Altair 8800.

MITS was definitely not a ?counterculture? group of hippies. Ed Roberts, the Altair?s designer, Bob Zaller and I were Air Force officers. Stan Cagle worked for an Air Force contractor. The four of us founded MITS in 1970. Bill Yates, another Air Force officer, laid out the Altair?s circuit boards. I wrote the operator?s manual. We all had military-style haircuts, and none us smoked dope.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates started Microsoft (then Micro-Soft) at MITS in 1975. They were at least as entrepreneurial as Ed Roberts.

The Homebrew Computer Club was begun after, not before, the Altair 8800, which was announced on the cover of the January 1975 issue of POPULAR ELECTRONICS. The Apple 1 came more than a year later. These and other major developments were inspired by the Altair, not by a mythical counterculture.

Cooper also fails to recognize that we started MITS at Albuquerque, New Mexico, not the West Coast. Ed Roberts and I had both built computer-like devices in high school. His counted fish. Mine translated 20 words of Russian into English. When Ed learned about Intel?s 8080 microprocessor, he immediately realized that it could form the engine for a sophisticated computer. The 8080 was available to anyone, yet it was Ed and MITS who followed through, not the counterculture crowd.

Charles, please revisit this topic. You might begin by asking the historical revisionists at the Smithsonian Institution why they invoke the counterculture myth at our national museum.

Forrest M. Mims III
www.forrestmims.org

[fmims]

What about MITS and the Altair 8800?

There are many mythical accounts about the history of personal computing, but the one by Charles Cooper is the first I?ve seen that completely leaves out the role of MITS, Inc. and the Altair 8800.

MITS was definitely not a ?counterculture? group of hippies. Ed Roberts, the Altair?s designer, Bob Zaller and I were Air Force officers. Stan Cagle worked for an Air Force contractor. The four of us founded MITS in 1970. Bill Yates, another Air Force officer, laid out the Altair?s circuit boards. I wrote the operator?s manual. We all had military-style haircuts, and none us smoked dope.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates started Microsoft (then Micro-Soft) at MITS in 1975. They were at least as entrepreneurial as Ed Roberts.

The Homebrew Computer Club was begun after, not before, the Altair 8800, which was announced on the cover of the January 1975 issue of POPULAR ELECTRONICS. The Apple 1 came more than a year later. These and other major developments were inspired by the Altair, not by a mythical counterculture.

Cooper also fails to recognize that we started MITS at Albuquerque, New Mexico, not the West Coast. Ed Roberts and I had both built computer-like devices in high school. His counted fish. Mine translated 20 words of Russian into English. When Ed learned about Intel?s 8080 microprocessor, he immediately realized that it could form the engine for a sophisticated computer. The 8080 was available to anyone, yet it was Ed and MITS who followed through, not the counterculture crowd.

Charles, please revisit this topic. You might begin by asking the historical revisionists at the Smithsonian Institution why they invoke the counterculture myth at our national museum.

Forrest M. Mims III
www.forrestmims.org