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| Interviewer: Kevin Savetz | | Interviewer: Kevin Savetz |
| + | |
| + | Date: 3/4 April 2013 |
| | | |
| Kevin: I'm interested in how you guys got together. Was it some sort of | | Kevin: I'm interested in how you guys got together. Was it some sort of |
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| David: I had left Digital Equipment in 1974, and I'm sure you read the | | David: I had left Digital Equipment in 1974, and I'm sure you read the |
| whole rationale behind that, and joined AT&T in marketing, | | whole rationale behind that, and joined AT&T in marketing, |
− | educational marketing. Same thing I was doing at Deck but obviously | + | educational marketing. Same thing I was doing at DEC but obviously |
| marketing different products to a different mix of customers. AT&T, | | marketing different products to a different mix of customers. AT&T, |
| back then and perhaps today, they had a real formula that you're in | | back then and perhaps today, they had a real formula that you're in |
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| it would be three months later that the Altair came about. It was | | it would be three months later that the Altair came about. It was |
| more that I thought that an educational magazine like we had been | | more that I thought that an educational magazine like we had been |
− | publishing at Deck should continue. | + | publishing at DEC should continue. |
− | Deck had dropped off. They stopped publishing Edu when I left the | + | DEC had dropped off. They stopped publishing Edu when I left the |
| education group. Well, they published an issue or two but they | | education group. Well, they published an issue or two but they |
| really weren't serious about continuing it. Then you had all of | | really weren't serious about continuing it. Then you had all of |
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| newsletter, what he called the "Amateur Computer Group Newsletter". | | newsletter, what he called the "Amateur Computer Group Newsletter". |
| It was for engineers who were scavenging up old parts from | | It was for engineers who were scavenging up old parts from |
− | Honeywell and IBM and GE and Deck and trying to put together a | + | Honeywell and IBM and GE and DEC and trying to put together a |
| computer. You've got success stories and here's how you can make | | computer. You've got success stories and here's how you can make |
| this worth together. | | this worth together. |
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| Because PDP1170 was not a low-end, with a platter and disk, 12 | | Because PDP1170 was not a low-end, with a platter and disk, 12 |
| inch, maybe 15 inch, but a big, big platter drive, and data entry | | inch, maybe 15 inch, but a big, big platter drive, and data entry |
− | terminals, deck writers, BTO5. And when Ziff came in, I mean they | + | terminals, DECWriters, VT05. And when Ziff came in, I mean they |
| were blown away that we were doing our own fulfillment, and doing a | | were blown away that we were doing our own fulfillment, and doing a |
| very efficiently. | | very efficiently. |
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| They had some notable people there. I was sitting down with Alvin | | They had some notable people there. I was sitting down with Alvin |
| Toffler in the lobby of the Colosseum and along comes over to us | | Toffler in the lobby of the Colosseum and along comes over to us |
− | Isaac [inaudible 00:27:03] . What a wonderful little party. We had | + | Isaac [inaudible 00:27:03] (ED: from context, they are talking about |
− | some coffee in the Colosseum and I said, "Isaac, can you write me
| + | Isaac Asimov). What a wonderful little party. We had some coffee in |
− | an article?" "I got a good story from the iRobot series that hasn't
| + | the Colosseum and I said, "Isaac, can you write me an article?" |
− | been widely used or published and you can use that." So I got an | + | "I got a good story from the robot series that hasn't been widely |
− | early contribution from Isaac [inaudible 00:27:27] and Alvin | + | used or published and you can use that." So I got an early |
| + | contribution from Isaac [inaudible 00:27:27] and Alvin |
| Toffler wrote something for us. | | Toffler wrote something for us. |
| | | |
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| developers and people in educational institutions they wanted | | developers and people in educational institutions they wanted |
| Basic. | | Basic. |
− | There were few schools and colleges in Boston area, near Deck that | + | There were few schools and colleges in Boston area, near DEC that |
| were OK with Focal. But stuff was getting published by Minnesota | | were OK with Focal. But stuff was getting published by Minnesota |
| Educational Computer Consortium and others in Basic, [inaudible | | Educational Computer Consortium and others in Basic, [inaudible |
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| England that we could take subscriptions. | | England that we could take subscriptions. |
| | | |
− | Betsy: A housewife who kept her dark issues in her spare bathroom. | + | Betsy: A housewife who kept her back issues in her spare bathroom. |
| [laughs] | | [laughs] |
| | | |
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| David: I said there was a lot of early development in New Jersey and there | | David: I said there was a lot of early development in New Jersey and there |
| was a guy named Saul Libes, you will find him probably, [laughs] | | was a guy named Saul Libes, you will find him probably, [laughs] |
− | who was the first president of the Armature Computer Group in New | + | who was the first president of the Amature Computer Group in New |
| Jersey. He was a Professor at [inaudible 01:04:43] College and he | | Jersey. He was a Professor at [inaudible 01:04:43] College and he |
| felt that Byte magazine started out fine but then they were | | felt that Byte magazine started out fine but then they were |
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| [laughter] | | [laughter] |
| | | |
− | David: Actually, a bigger acquisition was earlier and that was Rom | + | David: Actually, a bigger acquisition was earlier and that was ROM |
− | Magazine. Rom was published by who? | + | Magazine. Rom was published by who? (ED: not the Atari-related |
| + | magazine of the early 1980s.) |
| | | |
| Betsy: Erik Sandberg-Diment. | | Betsy: Erik Sandberg-Diment. |
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| David: Yeah, if you can get a hold of the third one. [laughter] I don't | | David: Yeah, if you can get a hold of the third one. [laughter] I don't |
− | even have that. There's a same thing on Tarry-on. There were three | + | even have that. There's a same thing on Atarian. There were three |
− | issues of Tarry-on that I did not keep the third issue. Oh, man. | + | issues of Atarian that I did not keep the third issue. Oh, man. |
| Shoot me. | | Shoot me. |
| | | |
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| with worms. We just had a different kind of culture, a lot of fun. | | with worms. We just had a different kind of culture, a lot of fun. |
| | | |
− | Betsy: Jonny Anderson went to work for A plus in San Francisco. He was one | + | Betsy: Jonny Anderson went to work for A+ in San Francisco. He was one |
| of the five people killed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1986. | | of the five people killed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1986. |
| He was in a car and a piece of the building fell on the car. He was | | He was in a car and a piece of the building fell on the car. He was |
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| | | |
| Betsy: I think he was sort of in rebellion when he started working at | | Betsy: I think he was sort of in rebellion when he started working at |
− | Creator Computing because he was coming off of AT&T where he had to | + | Creative Computing because he was coming off of AT&T where he had to |
| wear a suit to work every day. So the first thing he did was burn | | wear a suit to work every day. So the first thing he did was burn |
| his suits and wear t-shirt and jeans way before anybody was doing | | his suits and wear t-shirt and jeans way before anybody was doing |