Steve Jobs’ brief time in the arcade industry

arcadehero October 8, 2011 0

I am sure that by now you have heard the news of Steve Jobs’ passing and with that there have been a number of articles out there covering some part of his personal history. Before he and Steve Wozniak formed Apple Computers in 1976 however, they were both involved in the arcade industry, particularly with the arcade giant of the time, Atari. Jobs was hired in 1974 as employee number 40, a technician to work on circuit boards and later he would covertly bring Mr. Wozniak in to work with him on things, such as with the classic hit Breakout. From the sounds of it in the article, he was an interesting character that had some friction with others at the company but despite that and a few other issues it was a time that would directly lead him into creating Apple.

There is a bit more to it than that, which game industry site Gamasutra has the rundown. It’s a fascinating article that mostly relies on Al Alcorn’s memories of hiring and working with Jobs at the time. Check it out here.

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