1975: Ed Roberts, the "father of the microcomputer" designed the first microcomputer, the Altair 8800, which was produced by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). The same year, two young hackers, William Gates and Paul Allen approached MITS and promised to deliver a BASIC compiler. So they did and from the sale, Microsoft was born.

Apple did not make the first personal computer. A company called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) produced a kit in 1975 that you could assemble into the Altair 8800 microcomputer which is considered to be the first personal computer. The sales of this computer were higher than expected which indicated that there was a demand for personal computers. This inspired Apple and many others to start developing and selling their own brand of personal computers.

There are two kinds of telemetry--one-way, where the remote device sends instrumentation signals to the receiving station; and two-way, where the receiving station can send control signals back to the remote device. The range is literally unlimited--deep-space probes have two-way telemetry gear on them, and it can take months or even years to transmit a message from the vehicle to the earth.