One of the ‘true pioneers of this industry.’ Bill Gates mourns passing of John V. Roach
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates mourned the passing former Tandy Corp. CEO John V. Roach in a statement to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“I was saddened to hear of John’s passing. John’s vision and his ability to get early computers, like the TRS-80, into people’s hands through Radio Shack made him one of the true pioneers of this industry,” Gates said. “He helped create a market that so many people and companies benefited from as the personal computing industry took shape.”
Roach died at age 83 early Sunday.
He was integral in foreseeing how personal computing could change the future for businesses and consumers. In 1977, Tandy introduced one of the first retail home computers, the TRS-80. Tandy hired eventual Microsoft co-founders Gates and Paul Allen to write the software code for the TRS-80.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 4:38 PM.
