Gilbert Hall of Science made one. It had a Geiger counter and a Wilson cloud chamber. A hundred bucks. But she got me a radio receiver, a [Hallicrafters] S From then on, I built converters, antennas, everything else. That is the heart of what I started out with. I ran into one black man who did help me, and his name was Cy Mays. Cy worked as a motorman in the subway system in New York. He was a buddy of one of the guys who ran Norman Radio.
He had more stuff in his garage and his basement…it was like going through a goodie land. BE: What advice would you give to young black men or women who might be considering a career in science or engineering? JL: First of all, to get them to consider it in the first place. Even considering the thing. K2SPG Jerry? BE: So I guess you have to be brave in some ways to be a black scientist. It seems like it would go against the tide of culture. Except for the new peers you find as a result of going through this.
I mean, normally, the guys on the corner that go play basketball are not gonna be your buddies in that. He went through Morehouse in Atlanta and graduated as a programmer. Computer science. Just recently, he decided to go back, because he wanted to do electronics. I like this stuff, and my wife calls me Little Jerry. My daughter — she was an athlete that kinda blew it. BE: How do you feel about Obama as President?
JL: Let me put it this way: Obama was the best qualified guy, period, of any color. And his heritage is half-white anyhow, right? JL: Well, I used to work with Stanford in the mentor program, working with kids to put two satellites in space already. BE: Have you played any video games since the s? Have you kept up with video games? To me, a game should be something like a skill you should develop — if you play this game, you walk away with something of value.
No, they want to see a car, they want to see wheel spinners on it, and all the detail — infinite detail. JL: It made me go into business for myself — I can tell you that.
Videosoft I had for a couple years, I started that. We did cartridges for the and for Milton Bradley. Also, I remember one time I was in Las Vegas, walking down the strip. And I thought I may have inspired him. My son actually nominated me as a fellow at the Computer Museum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2. You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Pinging is currently not allowed. Thank you so much for this. Someone should make a movie about this man. Great interview. Thanks, Mr. Lawson, for taking the time to talk to someone, and for having so much to say. That was a genuinely engaging story. I too was unfamiliar with Mr.
One of the things that stands out to me is his assessment of Steve Wozniak as being unimpressive. Jobs, I can understand, but Wozniak? But overall, Mr. Lawson sounds like a very interesting guy and thanks for sharing his story with us. That was fascinating — I knew the name Jerry Lawson, but that was about it. Thanks for doing the interview, Benj, and Mr.
Lawson, thanks for sharing so much! This was a great interview. I remember seeing the name in my old computer gaming mags from years ago. It was very interesting to read his life story. He definitely deserves to be featured in the Computer History Museum. Another Amazing article Benj!
Keep em coming! Jerry Dick Kors forwarded this link to me this morning. Enjoyed reading your interview and learned so much more about you, even though I worked with you at Fairchild in the early 70s getting your RVs outfitted and road-ready. Yours is a fascinating and inspiring story.
Remember that bacholer party in the Santa Cruz mountains? Jerry, I got the link to your story from Geri Hadley. Yours is a fascinating story. So glad Benj Edwards did this, and I hope it will make your history known to new groups. Cheers to you! I also got this link from Gerri. Nice job by both you and Benj Edwards. Still have one of those hand controllers in my drawer. I have always been proud of my friend Jerry, and always introduced him as the person who created video games. I met him when I worked at Fairchild.
There should be a movie about him and inspire particularly Black youth about science and engineering. It is my honor and pleasure to call him my friend. See you soon! Thanks, Jerry. Excellent interview about a fascinating figure. Thanks to Mr. Edwards for conducting it and to Mr. Lawson for participating, it was a really great read. Nice interview! First I had to help him up to his seat at the podium.
Then just as he began to talk, the fire alarm went to off so I had to quickly get him back down to his wheelchair so we could evacuate the building. Unofrtunately, less people returned to hear Jerry talk after the fire drill. By the way, in this article Jerry mentions another black man in the industry named Ron Jones. Ron Jones later founded Songpro, a company that had released a peripheral that turned the Gameboy into an MP3 player.
Thank you, from everyone from my generation who ever picked up a controller. We are in your debt, sir. Interesting article, got linked over from kotaku and read every word. Some interesting perspectives and neat to hear the history of videogames from someone who has been around it for so long.
Thank you Benj for bringing this to light, and thank you Jerry for being who you are. I hope I can thank you in person someday. What a great article. It is arranged as a x64x2 bit frame buffer. Oh for a frame buffer on the Brilliant stuff for 35 years ago. I really loved this interview. It feels like you honored a great man with what I did read. The details of this article are accurate and the article portrays his down home management style.
The early industry was fun because of people like Jerry Lawson. I think this gentleman should be on a stamp someday. I happened across this webpage doing some research in an unrelated field. I hope the best on your book and much applause for the mentoring project s. This is James, I uploaded videos of Jerry in the past and did an interview with him recently. I wanted to ask his tall assistant about some specific disks—please give me an email.
The moment I found this article I began to cry. I was overwhelmed with a gratitude and respect. Yet dismayed by the unjustified omission of Jerry Lawson from the History of our incredible Industry.
He is a true treasure to all in the video game industry. Thank you sooooooo much for your article. This was an excellent read. As a black youth, everything he said about going your own path I have experienced myself. Unfortunately, the media has affected our self-perceptions for the worst. It would be great for his amazing life to get more exposure, his story is really touching. RIP, Mr. I regret that it was only now that I had the chance to know of you and your legacy.
Thank you for your amazing influence and perseverance. One thing I was interested in after reading this article was the book he was preparing to write. I am sorry to say that I never did get a chance to meet you in person, Mr. I can only hope that your final moments were spent with those you love and those who love you back. Great interview —you get a sense of the man. His life is movie material indeed. What a great interview. I never new much about the Channel F but always had a mild curiosity.
Thanks to this piece I now know some more about it and about Jerry Lawson too. Fascinating person, and an equally fascinating history!
I certainly hope Mr. Lawson was able to finish his book before he passed away. That is a story just begging to be made into a movie! I too, was a young black child with a keen interest in electronics, in a rough neighborhood surrounded by people that called me a square for not spending all my free time at the basketball courts.
I wish I would have known about you before today. Hearing the story of your mother and her determination, and your successes was inspiring. He has expressed to me before that he wanted to become a game developer. Maybe hearing about you will inspire him to reach that goal. I was the industrial designer responsible for the styling and ergonomics for the Channel F System of hand-controllers, game console as well as the the inserted video cartridges. Ron Smith the ME on the team did all the mechanical engineering for the hand controllers internal switches and zero force cartridge connector system.
I also had responsibility for all the graphics and labeling and instruction manuals so I worked closely with Jerry from the very beginning with Gene Landrum even before Fairchild decided to started this division. Jerry was a great guy to work with and especially travel with.
JHe was truly a unique individual who always had a quick tory or two punctuated with his infectious laugh. I was very lucky to be associated with Jerry and the Channel F team to contribute to the beginnings of the Video Game industry.
Jerry will be missed but he left quite a legacy as all the Channel Team did. Now this is a story just waiting to be a movie, I agree. He sounds like a very down to earth, no nonsense, honest and truthful kind of guy. And must have been one hell of a practical engineer. A successful and uplifting story. Also credit to Benj Edwards for being such a good interviewer.
Not being of the craft, I still picked up on this. Like asking extra questions about race and such that crosses the mind. I want to read it. Benj if you read this would get involved with?
WOW…Thanks so much for such a great article. RIP Mr. Thanks for the kind words, Kevin and everyone else who commented on the interview. I really appreciate it. Jerry Lawson definately belongs in the Computer Museum. If there is a medal for perseverance it would have been an honor to have pinned it on his chest. I would very much like to buy his book for my grand kids. Thanks Jerry for all the games. Both of us grew up with very few people around who were technicly skilled yet we both wanted to learn electronics and later computers.
I am the current web master of taaa. I would like to post a pdf copy of this article on the web site. Glad to see that Mr. Lawson had some overdue but recent recognition before he passed away. And this in-depth article is terrific in details and profiles the honorable person that he was.
I took the videos on youtube of him. I was planning a new audio interview, written interview, and a new video about his 3-D games for the Atari He made them after the Channel F days in his Videosoft company. The unreleased games were just published after all these years recently, just weeks before he died. He told me to call him and tell him what I thought of the games when I got them.
He was a genius who made the first cartridge videogame machine, the first home 3-D games, and unique controllers for the Channel F. He was very knowledgable in electronics. And he was cool. Take that Turkey, as he might say. He mentioned the book not too long ago on the phone.
Did he finish it? I had the feeling it might not have been done yet. I would certainly like to read it. I really felt depressed when I learned he died. He really was a nice man, and I was lucky to have known him. Yo, James: I would really like to get in touch with you. It seems that even his family were unaware of how far he had gotten, or what the status of it was. He probably did a lot of his projects by himself.
Got some more videos of him on youtube. I think we should try to find a way to get his name into Black History Month. This was an amazing interview; It needs to be featured on the front page, or recognized for Black History Month. He was given Jerry Lawson. I am so pleasantly surprised to learn about this man who passed away on my 38th birthday. I hope this will be the spark to get him interested in technology and engineering.
Thanks for this interview and information! Its rare i ever make it to the end of a multi-screen article anymore, let alone comment on one. Thank you author for the insight into a pioneers life, and thank you, sadly posthumously, to the inspiration for the article. I grew up teething on the hardware innovations created by, or influenced by Mr. They have shaped my life in ways i cant describe. Very interesting article.
I am a Black woman who started programming at a company called Systems Development Corporation in the late 70s and I had not heard of Jerry either. I am so happy to begin to learn about Jerry and am so sorry about his passing.
Jagger, thanks for pointing that out. What an amazing interview. Looking forward to reading the rest of your stuff! Are there any? Thanks, Avalon Lawson was born December 1, Although Lawson was nurtured in a learning environment, it was a first-grade teacher that sparked his curiosity in the sciences. I want to be something. Future New York Governor Mario Cuomo attended the same school, which Lawson was only able to go to because his mother used a phony address.
However, he found early work as a computer engineer in New York before heading to the west to work in Silicon Valley. In the early s, he worked as a freelance engineer for the Fairchild company and developed a roving technology unit using a mobile home.
This vessel which held the actual video game itself was an invention of the Brooklyn-born Jerry Lawson. Born December 1, , as Gerald Anderson Lawson , he pursued electronics very early in life starting in. Posted in : Law Commons Show details. Lawson was one of the few African-American engineers who worked in. Born December 1, , as Gerald Anderson …. His parents, both blue collar workers, encouraged his intellectual pursuits.
Posted in : Intellectual Property Law Show details. Posted in : Air Law Show details. Jerry Lawson says: October 7, at pm In high school some the guys were cruising back roads dropping rocks on mailboxes from the back of a pickup.
One night the cops pulled in behind them, and the driver decided the best option was to turn off his lights and make a run for it. Born December 1, , as Gerald Anderson Lawson , he pursued electronics very early in life starting in first grade.
He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as leading the team that pioneered the commercial video game cartridge. Early life. Lawson was born in …. Gerald or Jerry as his. This was the first home gaming system to use a microprocessor and it was the first that had the ability to p. Jerry Lawson was an engineer and inventor who changed video gaming forever! Saucier is the assistant vice president for electronic games and interpretation at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
Posted in : Industry Law Show details. Just Now by Roland Michel March 4, March 4, Jerry Lawson Image: wiki images A black engineer named Jerry Lawson oversaw the creation of the Channel F, the first video game console with. Gerald A.
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