tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167179463808604240.post4591600345040158222..comments2024-03-24T17:41:28.172-05:00Comments on The Golden Age Arcade Historian: Annotated Atari Depositions - Part 2Keith Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08421308095592306594noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167179463808604240.post-14396815107885355512015-01-30T16:43:17.742-06:002015-01-30T16:43:17.742-06:00Some people know their limits I guess.Some people know their limits I guess.Chris Sobieniakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09838106041175506925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167179463808604240.post-40482477095407759192015-01-22T12:13:19.634-06:002015-01-22T12:13:19.634-06:00Well, he was pretty interested in computers, his E...Well, he was pretty interested in computers, his EE degree had a focus in computer design, but he's just a few years older than Jobs and computers meant something very different in his day: mainframes and minicomputers. There's not really a lot he could have done with computers for consumers in 1972.<br /><br />Atari did start a computer project while he was still there, the Atari 400/800, that ran rings around the 1977 trinity, but Warner and Atari failed to put together a coherent strategy and largely avoided both games and third-party software, which really hampered acceptance. Once Atari finally worked out those problems, the crash led to a CEO change and a product freeze that basically let Commodore sew up the low-end with the C64 in 1983 with little resistance from Atari. That was essentially the end of Atari Inc.'s computer aspirations, as their advanced projects were all nixed when consumer was sold to Jack Tramiel.<br /><br />If Bushnell had graduated from college in 1975 instead of 1968, I could certainly see him going the computer route instead of the arcade route, but I think it was probably a technology thing not a lack of interest that sent him down the coin-op path.Alex Smithhttp://videogamehistorian.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8167179463808604240.post-41395183827695743072015-01-22T10:56:40.507-06:002015-01-22T10:56:40.507-06:00I had no idea that Bushnell had programming experi...I had no idea that Bushnell had programming experience, nor that he had been one of those tech-savvy people to see a mouse. If only he had the interest in computers, he may have taken Jobs' place as it proliferater!<br /><br />Great job with the depositions. You make it very readable.AguyinaRPGnoreply@blogger.com