ANTIC Interview 199 - Bob Alkire and Steve Saunders, Rainbow GPU - a podcast by Randy Kindig, Kay Savetz, Brad Arnold

from 2016-07-11T07:00

:: ::

Bob Alkire and Steve Saunders, Rainbow GPU

Bob Alkire and Steve Saunders worked in Atari's Corporate Research lab under Alan Kay, where they worked on the Rainbow GPU. Rainbow was a next-generation graphics chip (after ANTIC) which was never released.

This interview took place on June 10, 2016. The first voice you hear is that of Bob Alkire.

Teaser quotes:

Steve: "And they basically went around the table and said, 'This computer project has software in it, therefore it belongs in my division.' — 'No, this project has hardware in it, therefore it belongs in MY division.'"

Bob: "But he has a Kermit The Frog tie tack. I say, 'Nice tie tack.' He says, 'This is a close personal friend of mine.' I look up, and it was Jim Henson."

Steve: "A trunk of the research lab had a completely fictional manager named Arthur T. Fishel."

Wikipedia on Sierra and RAINBOW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Sierra

Further episodes of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Further podcasts by Randy Kindig, Kay Savetz, Brad Arnold

Website of Randy Kindig, Kay Savetz, Brad Arnold