A legend of the computer industry is set to host a Zoom chat in April 2023. Leonard Tramiel co-developed PETSCII and of course was heavily involved at Commodore and later Atari.
A recent post on Reddit’s r/retrogaming subreddit announced and provided some details for the event.
G’day, everyone !
If your interest in retrogaming dates all the way back to the 1970’s, you’re in for a real treat. During that era, Commodore was on their way up to becoming the premier home computer manufacturer in the world. The company was helmed by the Tramiel family, and a key member of the team was Leonard Tramiel. Leonard co-developed the PETSCII character set that was used in most of the 8-bit Commodore computers, including the best-selling home computer model of all time – the Commodore 64. If you played any Commodore computer games back then, there’s a 99.9% chance you’ve seen PETSCII graphics in action.
Fast forward to the mid-1980’s, and we find the Tramiels now helming Atari Corporation, where they continued to sell the Atari 8-bit computers and the incredibly successful game consoles such as the Atari 2600. At the same time, they ushered in the age of Atari 16-bit personal computing with the Atari ST lineage. As Atari’s Vice-President of Software in the 1990’s, Leonard played a key role managing the relationships with Atari Jaguar game developers, including giving them technical guidance (they didn’t always listen – LOL!).
Here’s your chance to interact with the gentleman who’s seen it all and done it all in those early days. You’re cordially invited to attend a Zoom chat with Leonard Tramiel on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
The Zoom talk is hosted by TPUG, the Toronto PET Users Group, founded in 1979 and now “the longest continually-operating Commodore users group in the world.” TPUG organizes various events throughout the calendar, including the annual World of Commodore expo held in Canada.
You can sign up for this event on the TPUG website. Note that if you mis it, TPUG will be uploading the video to YouTube at a later date.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.