Being a brash entrepreneur, Roberts responded to the crisis by deciding to launch a whole new business. He had always been fascinated by computers, and he assumed that other hobbyists felt the same. His goal, he enthused to a friend, was building a computer for the masses that would eliminate the Computer Priesthood once and for all. After studying the instruction set for the Intel 8080, Roberts concluded that MITS could make a do-it-yourself kit for a rudimentary computer that would be so cheap, under $400, that every enthusiast would buy it. "We thought he was off the deep end," a colleague later confessed.112 Ed Roberts {1941–2010}.
Ed Roberts, a bold entrepreneur, decided to turn a crisis into an opportunity by launching a new venture focused on computers, a field he was passionate about. Believing that many hobbyists shared his interest, he aimed to create an affordable and accessible computer kit that would democratize technology, challenging the existing gatekeepers in the industry. His vision was to make technology available to everyone, thereby dismantling what he referred to as the "Computer Priesthood."
Roberts' idea revolved around the Intel 8080 instruction set, which he believed could be utilized to produce a basic computer kit for under $400. He was convinced that this price point would attract countless enthusiasts eager to build their own machines. Despite initial skepticism from colleagues who thought his ambitions were unrealistic, Roberts persevered, believing in the potential of his concept to transform the landscape of computing.
