（BBC）The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68. Dr Henry Ed  ward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age. Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it. The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business. "Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to hi  m," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today". Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists. The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms. In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800. The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders. Amongst those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates. The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine. The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software. Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977. He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia．(肺炎) 小题1:Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
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wanted to develop a computer kit for hobbyists.