Al Alcorn talks about creating Pong at Atari in 1972
Allan Alcorn (born January 1, 1948) was an Apple Fellow and the first person to hire future Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Education
Alcorn received a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science in 1971 from the University of California, Berkeley.
Career
Atari
Alcorn joined Atari in 1972 and designed its first commercially successful video game, Pong.[1] In 1974, he hired a teenaged Steve Jobs into his first formal job. Later, Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak came to Alcorn's home to demo what would become the Apple I computer for Alcorn and Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.[2][3]
Apple Computer
In 1986, Alcorn joined Apple Computer, where he was designated an Apple Fellow. Alcorn led development of digital video compression that led to the creation of the MPEG standard. He left Apple in 1991.[1][4]
After Apple
Alcorn founded Silicon Gaming in 1993 that applied video gaming technology to the slot machine industry. He presently heads technology at uGetit, a product invention, technology R&D, and professional consulting company.[4]
Media portrayals
Alcorn was portrayed by David Denmanl in the 2013 film dramatization Jobs.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Spawn of Atari by Nick Montfort, Wired vol.4, no.10. 1996-10-01.
- ↑ Al Alcorn, Creator of Pong, Explains How Early Home Computers Owe Their Color Graphics to This One Cheap, Sleazy Trick by Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum. 2020-04-21.
- ↑ Breakout - Jobs and Woz Bust Through by William Hunter, The Dot Eaters. 2013-03.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Allan Alcorn, People Pill. Accessed 2020-08-09.
- ↑ Jobs (2013): Full Cast & Crew, Internet Movie Database. Accessed 2022-10-06.
External links
- Al Alcorn at the Internet Movie Database
- Mr. Allan Alcorn at IT History Society
- Allan Acorn at Retro Gamer (2014-02-06)
- Allan Acorn at Wikipedia
Articles
- The Inside Story of Pong and the Early Days of Atari by Leslie Berlin at Wired (2017-11-15)
