Pong inventor made Steve Jobs work night shift because of his bad B.O.

New York Posr ^ | November 19, 2022 | Gavin Newsham

[nickcarraway]

Allan Alcorn was desperate when he hired a young college dropout named Steve Jobs.

Atari, the fledgling computer games company he worked for, was scrambling to staff up after the sudden success of its first game, Pong. Now, here was a young hippie in sandals, waiting in reception and asking for a job as a technician.

“It was 1973 and there was this kid, maybe 18, who was just so passionate about technology – said his name was Steve Jobs,” Alcorn told The Post “So I hired him.” “He was kind of a pain to work with and he had this real problem with body odor, so we made him work nights,” Alcorn recalled of the man who would go on to found Apple

[nickcarraway]

[SaxxonWoods]

No surprise, Steve Jobs always looked like Pigpen.

[dinodino]

Cool article, thank you!

[Salamander]

If he'd worn a skinny tie, he could've been lead singer for The Knack

[NWFree]

I had pong and thought it was a complete snoozer 😴

Felt bad since mom and dad paid so much but it was really really boring

[JonPreston]

I’ve read a pair of his pants, to this day, are in a broom closet airing out.

[nickcarraway]

Good CEOs don’t... but I do.

[nickcarraway]

What was the competition? How much did it cost then?

[LittleBillyInfidel]

In the 90s, I worked with Acorn’s old partner at Video Professor. He was the brains behind Pong. I was always in awe of being in his presence. Ha ha!

[rlmorel]

LOL, he and Hillary both.

Job’s pants probably smelled body odor bad, but Hillary’s pant suit bottoms likely smell like boiled cabbage and despair.

[Dr. Sivana]

What was the competition? How much did it cost then?

The arcade had pinball for competition.

For home units, everyone paid royalties to Magnavox (except Vectrex) because Magnavox had the patent on a very primitive Odyssey 100 that hooked up to the TV, so any electrinic game that hooked up to a TV paid Magnavox. Intel sued and lost.

[Salamander]

Being just a little girl, I understand.

/closet Knack fanatic

[Levy78]

Totally forgot about Video Professor.

That ‘please buy my product’ bit is still stuck in my head.

[Regulator]

Worked with people in the early ‘90s who said the same thing about Job.

Said Woz was much more fun to work with, actually helpful. Steve J smelled bad and had a temper.

[skeeter]

Lol. The day shift won’t, but I will.

[Celtic Conservative]

“The guy smelled like bong water, patchouli oil and a$$”.

CC

[Dr. Sivana]

Intel sued and lost.
I meant to say "Mattel Intellivision sued and lost". Brain seizure. Intel did not make home video games.

[NWFree]

I don’t think there was any competition it was the first video game for tv.

If by competition you mean opponent -:it was either human or computer opponent which was my case usually as my brother was a jock

I don’t remember the price would have,to google. Seems like $150:which was a lot back then especially for one simple console black and white BORiNG game

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Alcorn recalled of the man who would go on to found Apple

Yeah. No one would know his name if it weren't for Woz.

[Carriage Hill]

He and fat slob Mikey Moore, could clear the LA Coliseum in 20 mins.