In a message dated 1/7/00 5:58:21 AM Eastern Standard Time,
writes:
<< The man does have a talent for starting things but always manages to escape
before they blow up. And for that he's supposed to be our hero? You can
have
him! >>
There are others who share Rodger's view; but I allways looked at Nolan
as an enterprenuer, NOT an inventor. He had a real knack for getting the most
out of his people, and for INSPIRING engineers, though he might not have been
any kind of engineer himself.
He also had real guts - guts that promoted creative thinking. He was
willing to risk everything on an idea he believed in, even if it was not his
own. His promoting creative thinking and new ideas are (in my opinion) what
led Atari to design such innovative machines, many of which were Vector.
There's a rumor that Manny Gerrard wanted to kill Asteroids and have
"something more like Space Invaders" designed; rumor has it that Nolan got
Manny to shut up and kept Lyle & Ed working on Asteroids. Imagine what would
have happened if Manny got his way??
Manny should have been wearing a Donkey outfit when he became hoplessly
addicted to one of the prototypes a few weeks later. There's a bit more info
in "Zap" about this....
Falling off the soapbox again...
MK
