If I asked you “What is the first piece of software that Bill Gates and Paul Allen (the founders of Microsoft) made commercially?”… what would you say?
DOS? BASIC?
In fact… neither.
Before Microsoft was even a gleam in Bill Gates’ eye, he and Paul Allen started another computer company: Traf-O-Data.
The original Traf-O-Data logo.
It all started back in the early 1972 at Lakeside High School in Seattle, WA. Bill Gates was currently a Junior, and Paul Allen had graduated the year before.
To give you a visual, here are the two friends in those early days.
That little kid? That’s Bill Gates (13) in the 8th grade. The guy at the terminal? Paul Allen (15) as a High Schooler. Photo, taken in 1968, courtesy of Lakeside School, Seattle WA.
Gates and Allen in 1970 at the Lakeside High School computer club.
In 1972, those two boys (17 and 19 years old) had an idea for a business that just might make them some sweet, sweet moolah. Using computers. Which worked for them. They liked computers.
You see, the Washington State Department of Highways (which was later folded into the Department of Transportation in 1977) regularly counted the amount of traffic on key roads around the greater Seattle area — to optimize traffic flow and whatnot.
This was done by counting the number of axles that rolled across a series of pressure sensitive rubber tubes — then, every 15 minutes, that number would be punched onto a paper tape as a pattern representing a 16 bit number.
Those paper tapes would then be sent to local contractors who would read the data from the tape, write it out, and analyze the information — which would then be sent back to the Department of Highways.
This is the area and roads that traffic was being measured for. The picture shows modern traffic flow. Courtesy: WSDOT.
By Paul Allen’s account, “The process was monotonous, inefficient, and murder on the eyes.”
Gates and Allen created software to analyze the traffic data using a computer at the University of Washington (Allen’s father was a librarian at the University, and both Gates and Allen had used the computers there — via their school computer club — in the past).
What computer did they use?
Well, there were two options available to them at that specific time, at the University of Washington. The first option was a Scientific Data Systems Sigma 5 mainframe via a connected teletype terminal.
Fun facts of the SDS Sigma 5:
The base memory was 16K 32-Bit words (equivalent to 64K Bytes) with a maximum memory of 128K words.
The Sigma 5 was the slowest of the Sigma series, and was one of only two models in the Sigma line that had no virtual memory.
The base model sold for $300,000. Want an extra 16K words of memory? That’ll run you an extra $50,000.
An SDS Sigma 5 mainframe. Ain’t she a beauty?
A very cool machine. One that I wouldn’t mind using to decorate my living room.
But… it wasn’t the SDS Sigma 5. (But, hey, great excuse to look at that gorgeous machine, eh?)
Instead, Gates and Allen were using the CDC (Control Data Corporation) 6400.
Fun facts of the CDC 6400:
10 Mhz 60 bit processor (you read that correctly… 60 bit CPU).
64k of 60-bit core memory (with optional extended memory available).
Optional disk storage, typically around 10 Million “Words”.
Developed by none other than the legendary Seymour Cray. Yes. That Cray. Of Cray Supercomputer.
A CDC 6400 being worked on by some hardcore, late 1960s nerds.
There was just one problem:
The paper tape with the traffic data was a custom solution (storing 16 bits). The computer they had access to couldn’t read that in. (The CDC 6400 supported input via punch cards.)
How did Gates and Allen get around this problem?
They hired some kids.
Not joking.
They hired some of Gates’ fellow High School students to translate the 16 bit traffic data tape to the punch cards. By hand. They paid those kids 50 cents per tape to do the work that the two Microsoft founders really didn’t want to do.
Gates and Allen then fed the cards into the computer, and their custom software would create charts that they could then sell back to the Department of Highways.
Now, the question: How to improve on this system?
Gates and Allen needed to be able to cut out both the need to hire High Schoolers to translate the tapes (child labor just doesn’t scale well for this sort of project)… as well as remove the reliance on the University of Washington computer systems.
What they needed was… a computer of their own. One with a custom tape reader that could handle the traffic data directly.
Remember: This is the early 1970s. You couldn’t just walk down to Best Buy and grab a PC. Computers were so uncommon that people were renting computer time at Universities.
Luckily they found a schematic and instructions, in a computer magazine, on how to build a computer around the recently released Intel 8008 microprocessor — which would work nicely as the base system.
Note: It is unknown in which magazine Gates and Allen found the schematics for an Intel 8008 computer to base the Traf-O-Data system upon. If anyone has this information, I would love to find it and archive it.
Unfortunately, neither Gates nor Allen had any experience with designing hardware or building computers.
Enter: Paul Gilbert.
Gilbert was introduced to Gates and Allen by a mutual friend and he got to work building the Traf-O-Data machine. From parts. Including an 8008 processor purchased for $360 (in 1972 dollars… that’s over $2,500 in 2022 dollars).
The end result is this beauty:
The Traf-O-Data computer, based on an Intel 8008.
Custom tape reader. Cool blinking lights. An Intel 8008… what’s not to love?
What sort of specs did the Traf-O-Data computer have? A great question! According to Gates:
“[We] took these very tiny Intel memory chips -- I forget if they were 256-bit or 1K-bit, -- I think 1K-bit Intel chips in this 8008 and created a system and we did special software. 8008 wasn't capable of running a BASIC Interpreter. That had always been my Holy Grail because I had played around writing a little bit of a BASIC Interpreter on a PDP-8, and a Data General machine. But the 8008 is basically an 8-bit machine with no programmable stack. Doing this traffic analysis software was pushing the limits.”
Side note: Gates states that the “8008 wasn't capable of running a BASIC Interpreter”.
Is that true?
Gates is correct in the sense that an 8008 is an incredibly limited chip and presents many challenges for creating many pieces of software (including a BASIC interpreter).
Before their custom 8008-based computer was even complete, Gates & Allen got to work building software for this new computer that could read in the tape and create traffic reports. How did they do it? By creating an 8008 simulator on an IBM System/360 — which they also used at the University of Washington.
Simulating an Intel 8008 on an IBM System/360 was apparently not uncommon in those days.
An IBM System/360 Model 20.
Their ultimate goal was to produce and sell these Traf-O-Data computers to government agencies who wanted to automate their traffic data analysis.
Gates and Allen scheduled a time to demo the machine with their first potential client of the computer, King County (where Seattle is located). Unfortunately, according to Gates:
“When the guy from the County that Seattle's in came to see it, it didn't work.”
That’s right.
This was Bill Gates’ very first commercial demo… and his hardware & software didn’t work.
If that isn’t epic foreshadowing, I don’t know what is.
Bill Gates after a Blue Screen of Death during a Windows 98 demo.
In the end, Traf-O-Data managed to net a total of around $20,000 before closing down in 1975… when Gates and Allen formed Micro-Soft with the purpose of developing a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800.
A “Traf-O-Data” business card on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
Lunduke Journal's New Self-Hosted Forum, Telnet BBS
So many ways to enjoy The Lunduke Journal now -- X, YouTube, Rumble, Substack, Podcast & more -- plus two new (self-hosted) ways to interact with the community.
Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.
It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.
The number of people getting their Big-Tech-Free Tech News from The Lunduke Journal is shooting through the roof. Subscriptions (of every kind) are soaring.
And The Lunduke Journal is now available on a wide variety of platforms — with our core community area now consolidating on our own, self-hosted forum (which is exclusively available to subscribers).
With the tidal wave of new people — many of you wanting access to the new, exclusive Forum — I want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to become a part of what we are doing. Time to do something a bit crazy. Massive discounts on subscriptions (I mean… huge). For the entire month of February.
Yup. The whole gosh darned month.
If it’s February, the discounts below are all available. Choose whatever works best for you. Then feel awesome about supporting truly independent Tech Journalism.
50% Off Yearly Subscription:
50% off a Yearly subscription to The Lunduke Journal via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)
The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life. A great way to support Big-Tech-Free Journalism.
(This includes full access to the community Forum.)
New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from nowthrough February 28th.
The Lifetime Subscription can be obtain via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy.
Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).
Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.
How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:
And, finally, you can obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin. Save a few bucks with this option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it.
Send $190 worth of Bitcoin (or more) to the following address:
bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq
Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com.
The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without your support. Every subscriber, of every type, makes a massive difference in bringing Big-Tech-Free Tech Journalism to the world.
There are a lot of questions we don't have good answers for.
Do Trump voters prefer EMacs or Vi?
Who is happier with their life... people who use Tabs or Spaces?
Does your age impact your choice of Web Browser?
Who is more likely to support censorship... Rust Programmers or C Programmers?
Do you know the answers to those questions? No, I don't either.
Let's find out.
The Great Tech Industry Demographic Survey of 2025
This survey is massive -- containing questions on everything from Operating System preferences to religion and politics. Programming languages and... workplace discrimination. It even gets into Cryptocurrency and Text Editor preferences.
Seriously.
All answers are 100% anonymous (no account is needed), no email address is collected.
All questions are optional (only answer the ones you feel comfortable with).
The questions are all presented in random order.
All of the (anonymous) results will be published.
The 2024 edition of this survey (last year) was taken by over 7,200 people across the entire IT industry -- an absolutely massive sample size (larger than most US Presidential Election polls). For this new 2025 survey... we're aiming even higher.
Are you a computer nerd? Do you work in the IT industry?
Then tell everyone about it. The more people who take the survey -- across as many companies and communities as possible -- the better the data will be.
Fund Indie Tech Journalism. Lifetime Subs & Discounts available for 48 hours.
February is upon us! And — would you look at that — thanks to all of you, The Lunduke Journal is already fully funded through the end of February!
That means: We can continue to have zero sponsors, zero advertising and, even more importantly, zero influence from Big Tech.
Now. How amazing would it be if The Lunduke Journal could reach our funding goals through the end of March… almost two months ahead of time? Pretty freaking amazing. And absolutely doable.
Let’s do it.
Through Tuesday (February 4th), we’ve got a handful of discounts on Lunduke Journal subscriptions. Take a look. A huge thank you to everyone who has already subscribed — you make this all possible.
Every penny goes towards keeping truly independent journalism alive.
Lunduke Journal Discounts
For the next 2 days (through Tuesday, February 4th), in addition to regular subscriptions, you can grab two limited discounts:
Discounted Lifetime Subscriptions (scroll down for details)
The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal (with all the perks of subscription on Locals). For life.
New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from nowthrough February 4th. Then this option goes "back into the vault".
Here's how to grab one of these coveted bad boys for yourself:
Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).
Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.
The Famous Lifetime Subscription (with Bitcoin discount):
And, finally, you can obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin. Save a few bucks with this option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it.
Make sure you have a Lunduke.Locals.com account (a free account works just fine).
Send $190 worth of Bitcoin (or more) to the following address:
bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq
Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com.
Once again, thank you. The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without your support.
There are some options. For both subscribing and donating. They're all on this page.
Bonus: At the bottom of this page you will find the invite link to the super-secret Lunduke Journal Discord Chat Server. This is only available for full subscribers, which makes it a nice place to hang out. No riff-raff.
Only for Supporters
To read the rest of this article and access other paid content, you must be a supporter
