TODAY IN TECH: Dec. 19, 1974: Build Your Own Computer at Home!

I saw one of these when they first came out. It was part of a roadshow passing through Knoxville that a friend’s computer-genius older brother took us to see. I looked at it and thought it was cool, but didn’t do much yet. About the same time, Bill Gates saw one — quite possibly the exact same machine — and thought that he could make some money if he produced software for it. And there’s the difference. . . .

To be fair, I was still in Junior High, and Bill was a bit older.