Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Warner, the new corporate owner of Atari, did not share my views on
diversifying the product offering. The Warner folks believed that, while
videogames may be permanent fi xtures of our culture, personal comput-
ers were likely a fad (in fact, I participated in a research gathering where
some signifi cant luminaries agreed, including Stewart Brand, who com-
pared personal computers to jogging—no offense to Stewart; these were
jogging's early days, and it was hard to tell whether it was a fad). Further,
Warner's idea of great videogames went no further than great movie or
comic licenses. The great game designers recruited by Atari founder No-
lan Bushnell got little support for developing high-quality games from the
new regime, including a lack of personal credit, but those who remained
after the Warner acquisition continued to do mostly great work, at least
until the
E.T.
disaster. Most important, perhaps, was the fact that the Atari
VCS actually provided both a better processor and a better interface for
most Atari games.
As the corporate axe began to swing my way, I literally ran over to the
Atari System Research Lab to ask Alan Kay to let me work there. I wanted
to devote time to thinking through what I had come to believe about com-
puters and theatre (I also needed to begin my dissertation, which I had
Phone Home!
In 1983, the story goes, a bunch of kids were riding their bikes around Alamagordo, New
Mexico. Alamagordo is a sea of gorgeous white sand dunes. The town itself used to have
establishments such as the Blast Heat Motel, if memory serves. Or perhaps it was a bar. In
any case, that's because the area was home to the Trinity nuclear weapons testing in 1945.
The kids found interesting stuff in the white sands. They found
E.T.
cartridges. According to
the
New York Times
, the landfi ll included Atari computers, assorted parts, and approximately
3.5 million unsold
E.T.
cartridges encased in concrete. According to the
Alamagordo Daily
News
in a column written by M. E. McQuiddy on September 27, 1983, the dumping caused
the Alamagordo city commission to take a “strong stand against 'extratorrial' garbage. . . . El
Paso Atari offi cials apparently refused to confi rm or deny the dumping, and referred any
queries to California.” The site was fi lled with concrete. But urban legend has it that the kids
on bikes found
E.T.
cartridges, and it seems like a little more than urban legend to me, and
I think it probably had something to do with Atari's rapid downturn and crash (and subse-
quent sale to Jack Trameil).
CEO Ray Kassar was indicted by the SEC for insider trading, but settled out of court.
