04/15/2025

Bill Gates Reflects upon a Computer Code that Reshaped Technology

The code is 50 years old

Even as he grows older, Microsoft founder Bill Gates still fondly remembers the catalytic computer code he wrote 50 years ago that opened up a new frontier in technology.

Although the code that Gates printed out on a teletype machine may look crude compared to what is powering today's artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, it played a critical role in creating Microsoft in April 1975 — a golden anniversary that the Redmond, Washington, company will celebrate on Friday.

Gates, 69, set the stage for that jubilee with a blog post reminiscing on how he and his old high school friend — the late Paul Allen — scrambled to create the world’s first "software factory" after reading an article in the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine about the Altair 8800, a mini-computer that would be powered by a tiny chip made by the then-obscure technology company, Intel.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.