Age, Biography and Wiki

Jim Butterfield was born on 14 February, 1936 in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada, is a Frank James Jim" Butterfield was Toronto. Discover Jim Butterfield's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 71 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Computer programmer, author, public speaker
Age 71 years old
Zodiac Sign Aquarius
Born 14 February, 1936
Birthday 14 February
Birthplace Ponoka, Alberta, Canada
Date of death 29 June, 2007
Died Place Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canada

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 14 February. He is a member of famous Computer with the age 71 years old group.

Jim Butterfield Height, Weight & Measurements

At 71 years old, Jim Butterfield height not available right now. We will update Jim Butterfield's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Jim Butterfield's Wife?

His wife is Vicki Butterfield

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Vicki Butterfield
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Jim Butterfield Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Jim Butterfield worth at the age of 71 years old? Jim Butterfield’s income source is mostly from being a successful Computer. He is from Canada. We have estimated Jim Butterfield's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Computer

Jim Butterfield Social Network

Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Wikipedia
Imdb

Timeline

1936

Frank James "Jim" Butterfield (14 February 1936 – 29 June 2007), was a Toronto-based computer programmer, author, and television personality known for his work with early microcomputers.

He is particularly noted for associations with Commodore Business Machines and the Toronto PET Users Group, for many books and articles on machine language programming, and for educational videos and TV programs.

Jim Butterfield was born on 14 February 1936 in Ponoka, Alberta, which is south of Edmonton.

He was the third of four children to James and Nancy Butterfield, who had emigrated from England to farm.

1953

In 1953 he won a French scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts.

He later attended the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia but dropped out due to lack of interest.

One of his first jobs was radio continuity writing in Alberta.

1957

In 1957, Butterfield began working for Canadian National/Canadian Pacific Telecommunications, at first as a microwave technician trainer in Whitehorse.

1959

In 1959 Popular Electronics Magazine published his article simplifying then new transistors for the hobbyist.

1962

In 1962 he was transferred to Toronto, and within a year was programming CN/CP's mainframe computers.

1976

In May 1976, Butterfield became intensely interested in microcomputers, purchasing a MOS KIM-1 and eventually coauthoring a book about the machine.

He soon published games and applications for many computers, and became a regular contributor, and in some cases a columnist or associate editor, for computer magazines such as COMPUTE!, COMPUTE!'s Gazette, The Transactor, and Printout.

Several more books followed, including Machine Language Programming for the Commodore 64 and Other Commodore Computers, a leading reference on 6510 programming which went through several editions.

Butterfield's writing was praised as being "informal and witty in spite of its technical content", and so endeared him to Commodore users that The Transactor once included a centrefold of a (clothed) Butterfield.

1979

Butterfield helped found the Toronto PET Users Group (TPUG), and was the invited speaker at its first meeting in 1979.

His reputation as a speaker and educator grew, and people would drive hundreds of kilometres to early TPUG meetings to hear him speak.

Butterfield gave speeches at science conferences and computer expos around the world; in Europe he was hailed as the "Commodore Pope".

Commodore contracted him to tour in support of its new VIC-20 computer and later to produce training videos for the Commodore 64.

1980

During the 1980s, Butterfield continued his association with TPUG, teaching a machine language course there and at George Brown College.

He continued to hold regular classes and seminars at TPUG meetings, World of Commodore shows, and other events until his death.

For those who could not attend in person, Butterfield accepted telephone calls every day from 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 pm, receiving hundreds of questions every week.

He also had a significant presence in the online communities of the day, holding regular Q&A sessions on services such as Q-Link and GEnie.

Butterfield also wrote about non-Commodore computers, such as the Atari 8-bit version of Microsoft BASIC.

An early advocate of free and source-available software, Butterfield authored a quarter of the about 80 programs which began the TPUG software library.

Much of his software appeared as type-in programs in the magazines for which he was a columnist or associate editor.

Among the best-known were SuperMon and TinyMon, two machine language monitors that many assembly language programmers used to debug and test code.

Butterfield's only commercially marketed program was SpellPro, a spell checker for Steve Punter's popular WordPro word processor.

1981

Butterfield left CN/CP in 1981, allegedly for telling his boss that personal computers would wipe out the wire teleprinter business, though Butterfield stated that he quit voluntarily after the company relocated too far from central Toronto to make commuting worthwhile.

He became a full-time freelance writer, programmer, and speaker.

1983

In 1983, Butterfield appeared as the resident expert in the TVOntario educational series The Academy; the show served as a companion to Bits and Bytes, for which he was already the main source of technical content and author of the accompanying resource book.

That year Butterfield and co-host Jack Livesley appeared at Commodore's inaugural World of Commodore show.

2006

In a November 2006 newsgroup message, Butterfield announced that he was undergoing chemotherapy.

2007

He died at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto on 29 June 2007.

The death was announced the following day on the [news:comp.sys.cbm comp.sys.cbm] newsgroup, and later in Toronto Star and Edmonton Journal obituaries.

Numerous tributes to Butterfield were published online and in the mainstream and computing press.

The Globe and Mail dedicated a "Lives Lived" column to him in August 2007, and the Winter 2007 issue of the TPUG Newsletter featured dozens of biographies, eulogies, and tributes.

Memorials were held at the Naval Club of Toronto on 22 September, including a tribute video by computer historian Syd Bolton, and at the World of Commodore 2007 expo on 1 December.

Butterfield and his family lived near downtown Toronto.

In his spare time he enjoyed gardening, playing the piano, caring for his many cats, socializing at the Naval Club of Toronto, and exploring downtown Toronto and the many cities he visited.

His wife, Vicki Butterfield, was not a computer enthusiast, but was an active Rhinoceros Party member who ran for office in Toronto.