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Nolan Bushnell Appointed to Atari Board


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Remember that innovation is about accepting risk. New things are inherently riskier that evolution of a proven product. I embrace risk because it is the only way to innovate. Yes I was too soon for the Robot Business but I know some things about that that no one knows. Stay tuned on that.

 

I think my favorite quote from your talk at the googleplex was something (along the lines of) "mow the baby mode". The talk is one of the most comprehensive talks I've seen from any founder to date (link for those who may want to see below):

 

 

I think everyone present is glad to see you here on the forum and for the work you've done.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you have coming up next.

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Also, you guys are proving every negative stereotype about Atari collectors with this thread. I mean, seriously... the only thing missing are the butter posts. If these new posters really are Nolan Bushnell, Owen Rubin, and Ted Dabney Coleman or whatever, wouldn't you want them to take you seriously? Instead I'm seeing equal parts hostile skepticism and Beatlemania.

I would put it somewhat more charitably. I think that the discussion that has taken place here has demonstrated two things about our community. One is that we are passionate about issues that we believe in and care about; in this case, about the history of a significant entertainment industry that has played an important part in our lives and society. Sometimes that passion brings out the best in us, and sometimes it brings out the worst, but I don't think anything that was said here was motivated by hatred or hostility. Another is that we are a community that places a high premium on integrity: we value genuine achievement, and we have genuine respect for those who are who they say they are, who have done what they say they have done, and who give proper credit to others when appropriate.

 

Whether the earliest "NolanB" posts were really written by Nolan Bushnell or not, it's clear that they were written in a context in which Bushnell's own integrity was being called into question based on the best historical evidence that was available. This was combined with a certain healthy skepticism that one would expect for any new member who claimed to be a very prominent celebrity (and who provided reasonable evidence that he was not who he claimed to be, further compounding the integrity issue), along with words that should have been chosen more wisely. It made for a very unusual and volatile situation, and the initial reception that "NolanB" received does not represent what should be expected by other prominent visitors, to whom none of the foregoing considerations would apply. But even with all of that, after passions were aroused and views were exchanged, each side was able to learn something from the other side, and everyone involved wants the participation to continue in the most constructive way possible.

 

The point is that none of the prominent visitors who have joined the discussion on these forums, or who may be thinking of doing so, have anything to fear from engaging our community. It is true that the members here did not hesitate to express our objections and counter-arguments, but we were eager to express our affection and gratitude, too, just as we would for anyone who has enriched our lives through their work (for evidence of this, see the welcome thread that was started in Ted Dabney's honor). Like any large community, we've got a small minority of bad actors, and we're all prone to our excesses at times, and each individual visitor has to decide for themselves whether the positives of communicating with us would outweigh the negatives. If they decide that they do, we're ready and eager to welcome them here. If they decide that they do not, I think we can all respect that, too.

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Nolan and I just had a long video conference. Much was sorted out, much is just chalked up to some errors and wrong memories, some forgotten events and I think it was a good talk, it looks like I have one event incorrect and that was regarding Etak which I will go back and re-investigate.

 

Bottom line, lets close this thread up, and let Nolan have a fresh start here to post and when he forgets something or mis-remembers, he knows we'll be more forgiving and much less hostile when correcting those errors.

 

 

Curt

 

So what your sayin' is you and Marty were wrong(mainly about who NolanB is), Curt, and that "NolanB" is really him just as Ted said he was and you still doubted it even after Ted confirmed the identity. Why can't you just admit when your wrong?

 

But I don't hear a public apology for the messed up stuff you said about him and requested of him here.....who he was sleeping with while married and such.

 

Agreed.

 

Asking to close a thread like this sounds sheepish at best and outright sweeping under the carpet at worst. Feel free to take it offline (curious as I might be about the consulting fees, I don't really need to know) but don't tell us to "close a thread up" just because it makes you look somewhat reactionary. I'm willing to look past the lesser posts and move on - keep the stuff coming!

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Wow.

 

This has been a pretty intense thread from about every possible angle.

 

Who could have guessed that we would end up seeing both the best and the worst this forum could offer?

 

We've got some of the old-standbys who have changed little in the almost 10 years (edit: i'll be fair and say 8.5 years) that I've been here (you probably don't know who you are unless you want to be smart and finger point yourselves)

 

But at the same time we've managed to bring some of the most uniquely fortunate individuals from the literal birth of an industry (using electronics for 'consumer' purposes!) pioneers in many respects. The people who are directly responsible (directly in any sense you wish) for the playthings, and the obsessions therein, of millions of childhoods.

 

My point is, I'm glad that we've managed to take another huge step thanks to the internet. I'm glad I always seem to arrive just in time for things like this, and am fortunate to have been a part of this forum as long as I have.

 

Some of you fellows got way too emotional these past days. And others though both right and wrong in many respects are in the end concerning yourselves with the warm hospitality that AtariAge is known for (though in this case a little late and after a lot of mud slinging...) and more importantly the facts.

 

It was important for Curt to be 100% certain on the identity of NolanB. He did him a service by ensuring he was speaking for himself (despite the perhaps high probability that it took a while for that to actually be true)

 

As far as the other people lurking like Dabney and co., that's pretty cool too.

 

While I don't really expect much of a reply, I think we are going well in the bridge making process and the healing efforts.

 

Good job folks.

 

That said, I'm still quite excited to see what will happen as a result of Bushnell's appointment to the BoD at the new Atari, if we end up with something good, all is well. (Though obviously I'm coming to understand just how limited the clout level will be)

 

Really cool thread, the kind of thread I've been waiting for in many respects. Just a bit of a shame that we didn't do it in the best way. Definitely could have used less emotional/private "BS" but looks like we're mostly clear.

 

I realise I'm rambling.

 

I'll keep my eye open on the new threads that will popup from these interesting new accounts.

Edited by Atari-Jess
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That would be me.

 

See, I don't h8 Murdoch for Fox News [love Red Eye, actually], I h8 him for what his actions did to Atari, not to mention his POS company NDS and their sub-standard DVRs he forced upon DirecTV - ending the arrangement with TiVo - until John Malone ended Murdoch's majority stake in DirecTV a couple of years ago.

 

Then again, Murdoch gave the world the Page 3 Girls so maybe that makes up for some of his actions.

 

Yeah, but Marty already pointed out that the whole takeover issue was settled well before any sale of Atari:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/161774-nolan-bushnell-appointed-to-atari-board/page__view__findpost__p__1994740

Then again, some have pointed the blame at Rupert Murdoch's takeover attempt for forcing Warner's hand in the matter.

 

I'm sure that had something to do with it initially, as far as why they went for the appraiser in January:

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IGsaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NCoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6686,2154551&dq=murdoch+warner&hl=en

 

But the issue with Murdoch was over by March when they completely bought him out by mid March:

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k3AoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HIcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5080,1004955&dq=murdoch+warner&hl=en

 

And by the time of the Tramiel sale, it was a non-issue. What was an issue was all the stuff surrounding the insider trading, and the lawsuits from Warner stock holders regarding the Murdoch stock buyback:

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MlwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k6UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5680,185325&dq=murdoch+warner&hl=en

Edited by kool kitty89
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Nolan and I just had a long video conference. Much was sorted out, much is just chalked up to some errors and wrong memories, some forgotten events and I think it was a good talk, it looks like I have one event incorrect and that was regarding Etak which I will go back and re-investigate.

 

On Nolan and Ralph - some personal feelings were shared by Nolan to me regarding the events around the Magnavox-Atari lawsuit, I'm going to leave it to Nolan/Ralph to sort that out as it is something I'm going to leave some room on and discuss out of the public eye until these guys can shake hands and move on.

 

Basically a lot of was sorted out, I think and I hope Nolan will continue to stop by, maybe post some contributions and comments and maybe be a regular visitor. I would hope that Ted sticks around as well and pop up from time to time too.

 

Bottom line, lets close this thread up, and let Nolan have a fresh start here to post and when he forgets something or mis-remembers, he knows we'll be more forgiving and much less hostile when correcting those errors.

 

 

Curt

 

Good to hear it all worked out. This sure turned out to be an influential topic. :D

 

 

I would agree - work environment wise, it would be much more fun and interesting under Nolan, then under the strictness and fear of the Tramiels.

 

The question though at the end of the day would be - who would produce more profittable and innovative products of the two?

 

I think its possible to say both - profits under the Tramiels, faster turnaround, but I think products would be more innovative under Bushnell...

 

Again its tough to tell, the Tramiels caught on to being more creative at the end of Atari's days and Bushnell I think lost a lot of his innovative spark by witness of the "Wallruss Debacle" and the "blip" but not a sustained "wow" of the uWink concept...

 

Yes, but how about others like James Morgan. Or how about Mike Katz. ;)

 

 

don't be an idiot. Chuck E. Cheese was not made for you it was made for kids. As your kids what they think about your favorite restaurant and they will say is sucks.

 

 

Before this thread is closed, I want to address this...especially for the posts that were highly critical of the pizza's quality at Chuck E. Cheese back in the day. I loved Chuck E. Cheese back in the day. I had my birthday parties there from the age of 6 to 12, and I think my family generally went there once a month, especially after church services. I don't recall ever having a bad tasting combo pizza there. And during that time, on more than one occasion, I ate at Pizza Hut and I thought the taste of their pizza was completely inferior. Sure, taste wise, the Chuck E. Cheese pizza* may not have been an equal to Round Table Pizza, but what is?

 

So thank you, Mr. Bushnell, for giving us Chuck E. Cheese in addition to Atari. I owe a lot of my great childhood memories to you... and Mr. Lucas. [Well, and my parents too, of course!].

 

Of the half dozen times I've been there since the early/mid 90s I didn't seem to mind the food, not anything special, but no worse than average delivery places. (better than some Domino's and Pizza Hut I've had for sure) I can only vouch for the 2 locations I've been to in San Jose though.

Of course I have no idea what it was like back in the early 80s before the merger with Showbiz Pizza.

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Of the half dozen times I've been there since the early/mid 90s I didn't seem to mind the food, not anything special, but no worse than average delivery places. (better than some Domino's and Pizza Hut I've had for sure) I can only vouch for the 2 locations I've been to in San Jose though.

Of course I have no idea what it was like back in the early 80s before the merger with Showbiz Pizza.

 

Heck, even as a KID I knew Chuck E Cheese had bad pizza! :P

 

But then again, I never asked to go there for the food -- it was for the games.

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Who could have guessed that we would end up seeing both the best and the worst this forum could offer?

 

 

It was important for Curt to be 100% certain on the identity of NolanB. He did him a service by ensuring he was speaking for himself (despite the perhaps high probability that it took a while for that to actually be true)

 

As far as the other people lurking like Dabney and co., that's pretty cool too.

 

While I don't really expect much of a reply, I think we are going well in the bridge making process and the healing efforts.

 

Good job folks.

 

 

I must have missed out on the best of the forum because this wasn't a well handled thread in any way. Nolan was treated inappropriately multiple times by some of the more respected members on this forum. An explanation primarily consisting of "well I didn't think it was truly him" doesn't justify attacking his personal life. Owen Rubin has already stated that he was outraged and may not post again. And even if Nolan himself did not create his initial posts, he hasn't refuted them and he is continuing to use that same ID. I find it highly amusing that one of the chief criticisms about Nolan was that he could not remember facts correctly from 20+ years ago while we have members displaying the same dementia over the past 24-48 hours.

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I'm going to avoid all the negatives in this thread and just please ask that if those Atari legends are still watching and reading this thread that there are so many of us who would love for you to stay and chat and talk about the Atari we all know and love.

 

I can only speak for myself but a hearty welcome from a big time Atari fan :)

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Figured you want to give the guy a fresh podium for him to work with, but hey - lets take it to 128 pages instead! :-)

 

Nolan and I just had a long video conference. Much was sorted out, much is just chalked up to some errors and wrong memories, some forgotten events and I think it was a good talk, it looks like I have one event incorrect and that was regarding Etak which I will go back and re-investigate.

 

Bottom line, lets close this thread up, and let Nolan have a fresh start here to post and when he forgets something or mis-remembers, he knows we'll be more forgiving and much less hostile when correcting those errors.

 

 

Curt

 

So what your sayin' is you and Marty were wrong(mainly about who NolanB is), Curt, and that "NolanB" is really him just as Ted said he was and you still doubted it even after Ted confirmed the identity. Why can't you just admit when your wrong?

 

But I don't hear a public apology for the messed up stuff you said about him and requested of him here.....who he was sleeping with while married and such.

 

Agreed.

 

Asking to close a thread like this sounds sheepish at best and outright sweeping under the carpet at worst. Feel free to take it offline (curious as I might be about the consulting fees, I don't really need to know) but don't tell us to "close a thread up" just because it makes you look somewhat reactionary. I'm willing to look past the lesser posts and move on - keep the stuff coming!

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Exactly and I pointed that out (mostly in jestful ways) that I found that excuse to not jive with many of the conversations I've had numerous times with Nolan, and I found it to actually be an insult to Nolan Bushnell to make claims of being an old man and senility.

 

On the video conference, there was no dottering old man who couldn't remember simple things - no, it was the same old sharp witted Nolan that I had always known. So the posts earlier on that were much of the times wrong or incorrect in a few points just didn't add up to the real Nolan.

 

 

Curt

 

 

Who could have guessed that we would end up seeing both the best and the worst this forum could offer?

 

 

It was important for Curt to be 100% certain on the identity of NolanB. He did him a service by ensuring he was speaking for himself (despite the perhaps high probability that it took a while for that to actually be true)

 

As far as the other people lurking like Dabney and co., that's pretty cool too.

 

While I don't really expect much of a reply, I think we are going well in the bridge making process and the healing efforts.

 

Good job folks.

 

 

I must have missed out on the best of the forum because this wasn't a well handled thread in any way. Nolan was treated inappropriately multiple times by some of the more respected members on this forum. An explanation primarily consisting of "well I didn't think it was truly him" doesn't justify attacking his personal life. Owen Rubin has already stated that he was outraged and may not post again. And even if Nolan himself did not create his initial posts, he hasn't refuted them and he is continuing to use that same ID. I find it highly amusing that one of the chief criticisms about Nolan was that he could not remember facts correctly from 20+ years ago while we have members displaying the same dementia over the past 24-48 hours.

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Uh huh. This is exactly the answer that I expected. :P So it seems then, by being a best seller in the catagory that Kent's book is the best yet - even with the mistakes. I do appreciate being informed of the mistakes tho. ;)

 

Again, sales don't have anything to do with the relative quality or lack thereof. Kent's work demands a certain amount of respect, naturally, but its success is as much due to having a great title and great timing as it does with anything else. "Best yet" is a very loaded statement.

 

Well, It would be nice to have a corrected history of video games book, so Kent doesn't misinform people like me, who then come here to be told what I read was wrong, and that people don't agree with him(Kent) so I then feel like I am missing important details of what really happened in the interesting history of one of my favorite companies, Atari.

 

It's good that we have Atariage to point these things out and to get the truth. Maybe someone should try to contact Kent with maybe a short list(to start) of his mistakes and wrong thinking relating to Atari Inc. so possibly he can consider a revision of the book to fix things. Point is let him know he's wrong about some Atari things so hopefully it eats at him and he does something.

 

It would be nice to have a corrected version given its influence and how people still gravitate to it, and frankly, I don't know why there haven't been any new editions printed given the success, but I suppose if you can keep doing well selling the same 10 year old product without any additional work or expense, why fix it now? This may also be due to the market conditions I talked about previously as well.

 

There's also probably no need to point out all the inaccuracies and errors at this point either. I'm sure he's gotten them sent to him ad nauseum. (And it's not just Atari stuff in the book either, just for the record). Again, having written several books of my own, I can tell you that errors find their way into ANY book (grammatical or otherwise), be it of the authors' own doing or as a result of the many other hands a traditionally published book gets passed through (tech editor, editor, production, etc.). You hope to make it to second and even third editions so you can fix those errors and have a nearly perfect book, but that's only if you get lucky (basically print runs and sales). Even things like image quality sometimes doesn't become clear until the book is actually printed. In fact, for my latest book, we pretty much sent the publisher new images right after the book came back from the printers because some were too light (given the onscreen coloring) in black and white. That's something that you hoped would have been accounted for ahead of time by them, but it wasn't. Creating a book is not a perfectionist pursuit sadly, because if it was, we'd never have any books.

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We need an AtariAge Atari history wiki that can be constantly corrected and updated by trusted AtariAge members. People can post any errors and uncovered info in the new Atari history forum, and once verified, the trusted members will add the info to the wiki using the proper grammar and spelling that would be expected in a high-quality newspaper, magazine, or book.

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I mean no offense in saying this, but isn't it time we drop this whole "Yeah, we've moved on.....BUT YOU GUYS ARE ALL STILL JERKS" stuff? This is rapidly heading into meta-thread territory where we don't actually talk about the topic at-hand, we instead just talk about the talking itself.

 

Curt said the issues with Nolan were resolved. He said they got taken care of. Isn't that good enough? Can't we just chat with people like Mr. Bushnell, Mr. Rubin, and Mr. Dabney without having to constantly gravitate back to this inherent process of "let's just all attack one person or another"?

 

Every single post has been basically "Yeah, I agree, I think we should all move forward.....oh, but as a post-script, this was poorly handled and Curt (and probably Cebus) are a couple of jerks, but remember, we're moving PAST that rather than bringing it up again, but you're still jerks!" since even Albert, the friggin' ADMIN, stated it was time to move forward.

 

I understand that some of you are offended by things Curt and others said, but this has already been 3-4 pages of exactly what I've stated above.

 

If Nolan Bushnell HIMSELF can get over it, I think his fans can get over it too, no? Let's ask him some more questions and stop with the pitchforks and torches headed toward Curt's house. Those of you who are continually dragging this "offense" issue out are doing the thread no services either. Why would Mr. Bushnell want to continue participating in this thread if every 5 posts someone else CONTINUES to bring the topic up as a means of attacking other members?

 

Seriously, can we just drop it and move on to actual questions? If you have an issue with things any of the members said, maybe now is the time to take that up via PM instead of airing it out in public constantly, for the sake of certain famous individuals who just joined and are not inclined to continue being here because of the constant bickering.

 

Having said that:

 

Mr. Bushnell, Mr. Rubin, Mr. Dabney:

 

I asked this of Mr. Bushnell earlier but I'd like to reinstate the question. What are you three gentlemen's opinions on the homebrew community at large, if you are familiar enough to say so? Do you look upon individuals that create games for vintage systems with a bit of affection and pride for keeping your accomplishments in the foreground of people's minds?

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I'd love it if we could close this thread and move on to a better topic, creating a more inviting place for our new members to discuss anything they'd care to with us.

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I mean no offense in saying this, but isn't it time we drop this whole "Yeah, we've moved on.....BUT YOU GUYS ARE ALL STILL JERKS" stuff? This is rapidly heading into meta-thread territory where we don't actually talk about the topic at-hand, we instead just talk about the talking itself.

 

I like having a big honkin' long thread (and having everything in one bucket) - but as other readers who are still somewhere back around message 329 out of 700 hit the same mile markers, I'd expect more past-threads to re-appear. I actually like these odd blasts-from-the-pasts because it revisits old stuff and brings new information (and sometimes people) to light.

 

Plus you're forgetting the free prize for the 1000th post.

Edited by mgabrys
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I'd love it if we could close this thread and move on to a better topic, creating a more inviting place for our new members to discuss anything they'd care to with us.

That would be gorploople at best and zimchittle at worst, so we can't. We must stay here and ufluffinate in the snocknoodle.

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I suppose I can see how all of this could be interesting for people from a historical perspective, but were I Mr. Bushnell, I think I'd be at least a wee bit creeped out by how much attention people pay to what I say/said/do/did. I reckon that's a pretty strong indicator that I don't have what it takes to be a high flyer in the business world (or public figure of any sort).

Edited by BigO
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