Gary Kildall
The quiet genius whose operating system, CP/M, powered the earliest personal computers before a corporate deal changed history.
1942–1994 (age 52)·American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur·Birthday: May 19·The Silent Generation
Biography
Gary Kildall was a computer scientist who saw the future in a microprocessor when most saw only calculators. In the early 1970s, working from his Pacific Grove garage, he wrote CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), the first commercially successful operating system for microcomputers. It was a foundational layer of software that allowed different machines to run the same programs, and for years it was the silent engine of the budding PC revolution. His company, Digital Research, thrived. History took a sharp turn, however, when IBM came calling for an OS for its new PC. A fateful meeting missed, a subsequent failure to reach a non-disclosure agreement, and IBM turned instead to a small company called Microsoft. The rest is an alternate history that haunts tech lore. Kildall continued to innovate in networking and optical storage, but he is remembered as the architect of a road not taken, a pivotal figure whose work enabled an industry that later left him in its shadow.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Gary was born in 1942, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Gary Was Born
The biggest hits of 1942
#1 Movie
Bambi
Best Picture
Mrs. Miniver
Gary's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1942Born
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1947Started school
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1955Became a teenager
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1958Could drive
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1960Could vote
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Turned 21
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1972Turned 30
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1982Turned 40
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 50
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
1994Died at 52
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
Key Achievements
- Created CP/M, the dominant operating system for 8-bit microcomputers throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s.
- Founded Digital Research, Inc., which became a major software force in the early personal computing market.
- Pioneered the concept of a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), a key component for hardware-software communication.
- Hosted 'Computer Chronicles,' a public television show that demystified computing for a broad audience.
Did You Know?
He was a naval reserve officer who taught computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School.
Kildall held a doctorate in computer science from the University of Washington.
He created one of the first high-level programming languages for microprocessors, called PL/M.
His experience with the IBM deal was dramatized in the 1999 television film 'Pirates of Silicon Valley.'
“The computer is just a tool for the mind. It's a bicycle for the mind.”
