Atari's Al Alcorn on the birth of gaming, his time with Steve Jobs and how to foster innovation as a competitive advantage.
In this episode, I speak to Al Alcorn – electrical engineer, Apple Fellow and the man who created Pong – one of the earliest arcade video games and one of the first video games to be commercially successful. Pong very much put Atari at the forefront of what became the gaming industry in the early 70s.
Al is a great storyteller and we dive into the early days of Atari from hiring an 18 year-old intern called Steve Jobs and watching him and Woz start Apple - to getting Pong into the hands of hundreds of thousands which launching an industry that is now worth billions. We also talk about the financial struggles Atari experienced, the copycats they had to deal with and what it meant for the company when Atari got sold and the suits came in to run it.
We also talk about life post Atari for Al, as he continued to pioneer in the tech field, becoming an Apple Fellow.
It is rare that one gets to talk to someone who was at the dawn of an industry so I am grateful to Al for his time and hope you enjoy our conversation, as much as I did.
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Danielle on Twitter @daniellenewnham and Instagram @daniellenewnham
Al Alcorn on Twitter / LinkedIn
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This episode was hosted by me - Danielle Newnham, a recovering founder, author and writer who has been interviewing tech founders and innovators for ten years - and produced by Jolin Cheng.
Series 1 of this podcast is sponsored by Sensate – the device which can help to reduce stress and anxiety in less than ten minutes a day. To get an exclusive, limited offer, $25 off your first purchase, simply head to Sensate and insert my discount code POD.