Jerry Lawson, one of the few Black engineers in 1970s Silicon Valley, led a team that developed the first-ever removable cartridges for a gaming console.
Jerry Lawson, one of the few Black engineers in 1970s Silicon Valley, led a team that developed the first-ever removable cartridges for a gaming console.
Ed Smith, computer and video games pioneer, with his Imagination Machine in 1981
Jerry Lawson led the invention of cartridges, Ed Smith made a hybrid console/PC, and designer Muriel Tramis won Franceâs highest honour for bringing history into play. How many more names are forgotten?
Wed 5 May 2021 04.30 EDT
Last modified on Tue 11 May 2021 09.02 EDT
In the 1970s, in the fledgling days of the video games industry, an engineer named Gerald âJerryâ Lawson designed one of the earliest game consoles, the Channel F, and also led the team that invented the game cartridge, a defining innovation in how games were made and sold. His son, Andersen Lawson, recalls that he was often working on gaming projects in the garage of their family home in Santa Clara, California. âThere have been conversations recently about the struggles he might have had that were related to his colour,â he says. âWas it difficult [for him]? Yes, Iâm quite certain. But I never hear