I got my first computer (TRS-80 Model 1) in 1980 at the age of 8. I got my second computer – an Atari 800 – two years later. I was living in Springfield, Ohio. Very few people were interested in computers in that area then. The only people that seemed to be were engineers at the nearby Air Force base, Wright Patterson. Every month, I used to get my parents to drive me over to meet the engineers there for Atari “user group” meetings.
Like most computer enthusiasts back then, I wanted to program video games. This of course was pre-internet and before the PC boom, so information on computer programming was scarce. At the user group meetings we would trade information as basic as what memory locations performed what functions, or new techniques people had developed (vsync interrupt, page 6 techniques – old school readers will know what I mean). After a while I was increasingly frustrated by the lack of technical information so I decided to write a letter to Atari asking them for manuals. I got a hand written letter back from Alan Kay, who was already quite famous at the time and was working at Atari, along with a giant box full of manuals and technical documentation. I’ve never met the man but I give him a lot of credit for my lifelong interest in computers.
I was reminded of this yesterday when I had the pleasure to meet with Om Malik. Om took time to meet with me years ago when I was struggling to get SiteAdvisor off the ground. No other popular bloggers would meet with me, but Om spent over an hour listening to me talk and giving me advice. I was introduced to Om by Ron Conway who invested in my company despite the fact that the industry experts he introduced me to as part of diligence hated my idea.
People never forget who helps them when they are struggling. It’s a cliche, perhaps, but true – and a good thing to always keep in mind. Thanks Alan, Om, and Ron.
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Very true. Great post.
completely agreed. And as you, Fred and others have said before – the inverse is also true. It takes a very long time to forget – I think Fred he never does – the folks who were rude or difficult along the way. Most of us have a list of people who we will never ever work with again and in some cases it only took one meeting for the person on the list to get there. VCs are typically the biggest offenders in this regard.
Peek and poke!! Ah, such a long time ago…
The trickiest program I every wrote in my life was when I tried to turn my Dragon 32 (based on the TRS-80) into a synthesizer (it didn't even have a sound chip, just a 6 bit DA converter wired directly to the speaker). So as not to change pitch during the ADSR (sound envelope) I had to count the cycles for every assembly op. It took me months, but it worked!!
yeah, that was back when programming computers was about scarcity and efficiency. totally different today.
yes, the hard part about being on the other side of the fence is staying a nice guy and also keeping a reasonable schedule.
btw, if anyone has alan kay's email, i'd like to send this to him. not sure he'd care but might as well let him know i'm grateful.
I was a Commodore 64 kid, but I had similar fun with the 6502. Though I think the most fun I had was working with my dad on a French version of Eliza in Commodore Basic, complete with profanity. Never showed that one to my middle-school French teacher!
One of the nice things about blogging is that more of the conversation is public. It makes it easier to be a nice guy and communicate efficiently. Still, I'm always grateful and impressed when people whose time is extremely valuable spare some of it for me. It also encourages me to try to make it worth their while.
Yes and no. Bandwidth (especially over mobile) is the new scarce resource. Try deploying a 1Mb app to a mobile browser – you've got the use the same mindset as we did back then.
I was just thinking yesterday that people don't say “thank you” enough.
Nice post.
OM is a great guy. And a good friend too. always great to read those stories from people i don t know (yet)
Thank you for all your great posts, Chris.
What I would like to ask you is where did this willingness to go join the Atari user group, to be so thirsty about knowledge on your machine, where did this really stem from?
Your story remind me of my childhood, making my father sweat on the thick “Commodore-64 Kernel manual”, to translate from English to French some very obscure sentences, as I could barely understand english at that time.
As a father now, I'm wondering what kind of special event can trigger such a determination, to step over difficult hurdles and make progress even when you're just a kid.
I perfectly remember my defining moment: going with a friend of my parents to his office, as I was 6 (in '79), and see him writing two lines of code that would produce “Bonjour Eric” 200 times in just a second. This was clever from him: showcase the power of the computer with personalized message. I got hooked.
Did you have such a defining moment, or do you think it was just the accumulated fascination of video games (as I was too!) that made you so strong in this path?
The hand-written letter was important for sure, but was there something before, already?
Take care,
–Eric
I am certainly no expert in child development, but it seems to me that some people just like computers and some don't. All you can probably do is show them how cool they are and see if they like it…?
I had a similar experience. I think the lack of manuals etc made it that much more mysterious/fascinating.
Thank you for all your great posts, Chris.
What I would like to ask you is where did this willingness to go join the Atari user group, to be so thirsty about knowledge on your machine, where did this really stem from?
Your story remind me of my childhood, making my father sweat on the thick “Commodore-64 Kernel manual”, to translate from English to French some very obscure sentences, as I could barely understand english at that time.
As a father now, I'm wondering what kind of special event can trigger such a determination, to step over difficult hurdles and make progress even when you're just a kid.
I perfectly remember my defining moment: going with a friend of my parents to his office, as I was 6 (in '79), and see him writing two lines of code that would produce “Bonjour Eric” 200 times in just a second. This was clever from him: showcase the power of the computer with personalized message. I got hooked.
Did you have such a defining moment, or do you think it was just the accumulated fascination of video games (as I was too!) that made you so strong in this path?
The hand-written letter was important for sure, but was there something before, already?
Take care,
–Eric
I am certainly no expert in child development, but it seems to me that some people just like computers and some don't. All you can probably do is show them how cool they are and see if they like it…?
I had a similar experience. I think the lack of manuals etc made it that much more mysterious/fascinating.
You're right there, Chris. I firmly remember the sense of total wonder I had those rare times I had the chance to sit in front of a real-life computer.