4 ms·

Jack did some amazing things while owner of Atari Corporation too (his son, Sam, was CEO). They helped bring the Lynx to market, developed by Epyx, which was "m

Jack did some amazing things while owner of Atari Corporation too (his son, Sam, was CEO). They helped bring the Lynx to market, developed by Epyx, which was "miles" ahead of other consoles at the time. It had amazing sound, color graphics, and 3D graphics, on a portable in 1989!

mosburger 15y ago
Wasn't the Atari ST during his tenure as well? That was an excellent little machine that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
- OzzyB 15y ago
  Well the ST definitely got alot of love from musicians due to the MIDI ports that it had. Now that was forward thinking -- brought MIDI sequencing to the masses. --- [Additional Edit] The C64 is also getting alot of love today from musicians due to the wonderful soundchip it had. There is a great company called "MidiBox" that provides kits for you make your own "8bit soundmachines". http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid.html http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid.html
- dgallagher 15y ago
  Yeah. The wiki article has a list of what they released: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Corporation One neat thing they were developing, but never came to light, was Jaguar VR. It was a virtual reality headset, using IR-tracking, which let you play VR games. Only a few working prototypes exists: VR headset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFZCgNBxkcM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFZCgNBxkcM Game shown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmnmRzWipo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmnmRzWipo Another of VR headset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCQJrd-4rk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCQJrd-4rk
- Tichy 15y ago
  Must check the state of Oids simulators. I always was envious of my friend with his Atari ST, because Oids looked so cool...
ekianjo 15y ago
Yeah, but they did an awful job marketing the Lynx, that's why RJ Mical and Dave Needle left to form a new startup, which would become the next platform for the 3DO.
fpp 15y ago
With regards to PCs / desktop computers he had a similar influence. Still remember when we got our first ST520 to try out that was seemingly rushed from their labs (still had hand-soldered cables on the board) - this small machine was revolutionary for that time when we were making the screens of IBM PCs the price of a car glow green in the night. It had most of the things you could wish for, but at a fraction of the price. What followed where long development nights / weekends first with Basic then digging deep into Motorola's 68000 assembler and C. Not to forget endless hours of playing Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (yes that was a text adventure). With his C64 and the ST520 Jack has strongly contributed to spreading knowledge on computing and providing many a possibility and access to learn, practice and excel in this field of technology. All major computer companies that directly or indirectly are drawing talent and profiting from this till today should thank him greatly. (For those who have never touched any of those machines - most likely those who you learned from or who thought you courses at University have and learned / discovered many things they are now able to pass on.)

mosburger 15y ago

Wasn't the Atari ST during his tenure as well? That was an excellent little machine that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

OzzyB 15y ago
Well the ST definitely got alot of love from musicians due to the MIDI ports that it had. Now that was forward thinking -- brought MIDI sequencing to the masses. --- [Additional Edit] The C64 is also getting alot of love today from musicians due to the wonderful soundchip it had. There is a great company called "MidiBox" that provides kits for you make your own "8bit soundmachines". http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid.html http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid.html
dgallagher 15y ago
Yeah. The wiki article has a list of what they released: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Corporation One neat thing they were developing, but never came to light, was Jaguar VR. It was a virtual reality headset, using IR-tracking, which let you play VR games. Only a few working prototypes exists: VR headset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFZCgNBxkcM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFZCgNBxkcM Game shown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmnmRzWipo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmnmRzWipo Another of VR headset: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCQJrd-4rk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCQJrd-4rk
Tichy 15y ago
Must check the state of Oids simulators. I always was envious of my friend with his Atari ST, because Oids looked so cool...

ekianjo 15y ago

Yeah, but they did an awful job marketing the Lynx, that's why RJ Mical and Dave Needle left to form a new startup, which would become the next platform for the 3DO.

fpp 15y ago

With regards to PCs / desktop computers he had a similar influence. Still remember when we got our first ST520 to try out that was seemingly rushed from their labs (still had hand-soldered cables on the board) - this small machine was revolutionary for that time when we were making the screens of IBM PCs the price of a car glow green in the night. It had most of the things you could wish for, but at a fraction of the price. What followed where long development nights / weekends first with Basic then digging deep into Motorola's 68000 assembler and C. Not to forget endless hours of playing Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (yes that was a text adventure). With his C64 and the ST520 Jack has strongly contributed to spreading knowledge on computing and providing many a possibility and access to learn, practice and excel in this field of technology. All major computer companies that directly or indirectly are drawing talent and profiting from this till today should thank him greatly. (For those who have never touched any of those machines - most likely those who you learned from or who thought you courses at University have and learned / discovered many things they are now able to pass on.)