http://pashpics.xmission.com/gallery/ab-p-vg-nolan http://pashpics.xmission.com/gallery/ab-p-vg-nolan/20020412_105904 When I heard the news that Nolan Bushnell was coming back to Salt Lake City, I was as excited as a Japanese school-girl. He was scheduled to speak at the University of Utah at a Micron classic-games tournament. The timing was coincidental, the University had planned to give him their "Distinguished Alumni" award the night before the tournament, and they facilitated him being there so the students and public could come see him. I contemplated bringing a manual or a cartridge or something for him to sign, but one object in particular stood out. It was the two-player Computer Space that stares at me day after day across my desk at my office. Thinking that the game would add to the presentation, I emailed the EE department and after a short exchange between me the Chairperson, and the Chairperson and Nolan, they agreed. I told them all I wanted was for Nolan to sign his work. Nolan replied that he'd be glad to put his mark on one of his most fondly remembered games. My friend Bill helped me haul the game and took pictures (see above). Nolan's speech was swell, lots of stuff that I'd never heard before. He said he regretted selling Atari to Time/Warner, that it just seemed like a lot of money at the time. Apparently, Atari had advanced technology that could have made a difference. AtariTel was a 28K modem with picturephone and plans for online gaming in the late 70's. Many ideas were abandoned by Time/Warner after the acquisition. He said he was offered 30% of Apple for $50K and turned it down because Atari was going to be making computers, and didn't want the conflict of interest. He espoused his theory that all large companies become collectively stupid, and only the small companies can be smart. He had the belief that Atari was one of the first meritocracies, judging employees not on their dress, but the quality of their work. It was a great talk. When I approached him after, he was very personable. He saw the Computer Space and said he wished he brought an oscilloscope so he could fix it. :-) Then he told me the story of the cabinet design, something I had always heard attributed to Charles Eames, but no, he designed the cabinet too. He sculpted a small model on his kitchen table, then found a guy who made whirlpools to do the fiberglass. They could only make one cabinet a day in the beginning before production was ramped up. Nolan also said he had very little to do with the two-player version of Computer Space as he had gone off to start Syzygy/Atari. He made mention that he had owned a yellow single-player that was stolen at a function he brought it to. He also talked about the single silver model that was in "Soylent Green," saying that he wished he knew of its whereabouts. He signed the game, shook my hand for the picture and thanked me for bringing the game. I was ecstatic to meet him, but even more pleased that he was such a nice guy.