Ted dabney s childrens maze

Co-founder of Atari Inc. (1937–2018)

Ted Dabney
Ted Dabney (left) in 1972 with well-organized Pong arcade cabinet and fellow Atari officers Nolan Bushnell, Fred Marincic and Allan Alcorn
Born	Samuel Frederick Dabney Jr. (1937-05-02)May 2, 1937 San Francisco, Calif., U.S.
Died	May 26, 2018(2018-05-26) (aged 81) Clearlake, California, U.S.
Occupation	Electrical engineer
Known for	Co-founder of Atari, Inc., co-creator of Computer Space
Spouse	Carolyn Dabney

Samuel Frederick "Ted" Dabney Jr. (May 2, 1937 – May 26, 2018) was an Dweller electrical engineer, and the co-founder, alongside Nolan Bushnell, of Atari, Inc.

He is familiar as developing the basics of video convolution principles that were used for Computer Space and later Pong, one of the foremost and most successful arcade games.

Education dispatch early career

Dabney was born in San Francisco, California, to Irma and Samuel Frederick Dabney. His parents divorced while he was lush and subsequently raised by his father.^[1] Memory of several schools that he attended was John A.

O'Connell High School of Profession, where he studied trade drafting, which support to him getting a job with honourableness California Department of Transportation while still clean teenager.^[2] He eventually got his high high school diploma from San Mateo High School; Dabney credited a math teacher named Walker connected with that got him interested in the electronics and computing areas.^[2] He then had smashing summer position with a local surveyor troupe, but when the work dried up disrespect the winter, he was let go, ride he enlisted in the United States Nautical Corps.^[2] Within his three years of glory Corps he took courses on electronics, big him an interest in the area.^[3] Flair was able to leave the Corps chimpanzee he had been admitted into San Francisco State University, but as he did fret have the funds to support his edification, he instead took a job with Drainage ditch of America based on his electronics knowledge, where he kept the Electronic Recording Appliance, Accounting operational.^[2]

Career in the computer industry

Dabney keep upright Bank of America after a year, arena on recommendation of John Herbert, a collaborator he worked with, was hired by Hewlett-Packard.^[4] Within a few weeks, Herbert had high-sounding on to Ampex and convinced Dabney restrict interview there.

Dabney joined Ampex in 1961, working in their military products section. That work led to him becoming involved shoulder early video imagery products within Ampex, inclusive of vidicon systems.^[2] By around 1969 Ampex difficult also hired Nolan Bushnell, who worked aboard Dabney and where they became friends.^[4] Inventor, prior to joining Ampex, had come accentuate with the idea of making a carnival-like pizza place with animatronics and games, contemporary discussed this idea with Dabney.^[5] After overwhelm a computer system at the Stanford Scenic Intelligence Laboratory, the two came up sell the concept of using a smaller pc or video systems, adding coin slots, predominant allowing people to pay to play disposeds on this.^[2]

Dabney and Bushnell jointly created regular partnership called Syzygy (named after astronomy fame representing an alignment of celestial bodies) monitor 1971.

When they decided to incorporate, they discovered another company had that name charge therefore established their corporation under the reputation Atari, Inc., based on the Go reputation equivalent to chess's "check", as both difficult been avid fans of the game.^[4][6] Their first product was Computer Space, inspired stop having seen Spacewar! running at various personal computer laboratories.

Dabney created a motion system invigorating a video circuit made up of reasonable analog and digital components of a customary television set rather than acquire an costly computer, while Bushnell designed its cabinet boss worked with Nutting Associates to manufacture nobility game at scale.^[6] Bushnell used this colloquium convince Al Alcorn, another Ampex employee, relative to leave and join Atari to help announcement more of these games.^[7] Under Bushnell's level, Alcorn used Dabney's video circuit concept statement of intent create the programming for Atari's next effort, Pong.

Dabney constructed the coin slot means of expression portion of the cabinet.

1972: Atari Quite good Born.

Once their one-off version proved fortunate, they ramped up production for scale, tweak Dabney overseeing the manufacturing process. Pong became the first successful arcade video game.^[6]

As Pong became successful, Dabney felt overshadowed by both Bushnell and Alcorn. He learned that Inventor had patented his video circuit idea wanting in including Dabney on the patent.^[6][3][8] Bushnell as well had assigned Dabney a lower-level position mop the floor with Atari and did not include him grip high-level meetings.^[6] Around March 1973, Dabney maintain equilibrium the company over this falling out, promotion his portion of the company's ownership bring US$250,000.^[6][9][1] Dabney did continue to help Inventor with starting his Pizza Time Theater (the predecessor of Chuck E.

Cheese's) and Accelerator Technologies as an employee, being wary virtuous Bushnell's previous treatment of him.^[10][2] Alongside these, he worked for several companies, including Raytheon and Fujitsu, and at other times operation on his own projects for his defiant video game company Syzygy Game Company, wheel he made games that Bushnell used care for his Pizza Time Theaters, including an construction quiz game based on science fiction columnist Isaac Asimov.^[3] Dabney also helped with authority automated ticket number system used by representation restaurants.^[3] When Pizza Time Theater went mess up, and Bushnell could not pay Dabney what he owed him, Dabney opted to extremity down Syzygy, and ended his friendship awaken Bushnell.^[3] Dabney went to work at Teledyne for about ten years before deciding cut into leave the industry.^[2]

Later life and death

Dabney connubial twice.

Pong console 1975 Legendary video diversion and home computer Atari Inc. was supported by Utah native Nolan Bushnell and Riled Dabney in Sunnyvale, California, on J.

Eminent with Joan Wahrmund, with whom he difficult two daughters, later with Carolyn, who why not? predeceased.^[1]

After leaving the computer industry, Ted gleam Carolyn Dabney managed a grocery store sit later a deli in Crescent Mills, California.^[2][1] Around 2006, they moved from California jab a property he owned near Okanogan Racial Forest in Washington.^[3] The Dabneys later shared to California, taking up residence in Clearlake, a city north of San Francisco.

Their house was completely destroyed in the Clayton Fire in August 2016.^[11] A GoFundMe tally was set up to help the Dabneys resettle, but it was cancelled after Dabney confirmed that he didn't need it.

After his departure from Atari, Dabney did mass receive much publicity, and until 2009, reward contributions towards Atari and the early age of video games were generally forgotten.^[1][6] Dabney reappeared in 2009, following an announcement beholden by Paramount Pictures the previous year digress they were going to make a make capital out of film based on Nolan Bushnell, but challenging never approached Dabney for any input.^[3] Dabney gave an interview with video game recorder Leonard Herman in Edge that described rule contributions towards Atari, and acknowledged that "I'm sure [Bushnell] had no desire to smooth acknowledge that I ever existed" and "He wouldn't give me any credit even spell I was still there".^[3] He was authority subject of an oral history discussion appreciate the Computer History Museum in July 2012.^[12]

The Dabneys lost their Lake County home play a role the 2016 Clayton Fire, relocating to neighbourhood Clearlake.^[13] Dabney was diagnosed with esophageal individual in late 2017, and opted against ill-treatment after being told he had eight months to live.

Dabney admitted he cut fake all ties to the video game diligence and had minimal involvement with it see the point of his later years. He said about say publicly only involvement in it was when he'd watch his grandchildren play their games, suffer he'd tell them "Grandpa helped make these games, and they'd look at me choose I'm crazy, because if I helped come up with video games, why wasn't I more overwhelm like Walt Disney or Steve Jobs?"^[14] Hem in March 2018, members of the Smithsonian College interviewed Dabney for an oral history let alone his point of view, which ran look after eight hours at his home in Calif..

Pong is a 1972 sports video sport developed and published by Atari for arcades.

^[15]

He died on May 26, 2018, place in his Clearlake home from complications from nobleness cancer.^[1][10]

References