Smithsonian Institution Archives

Minicomputers and Microcomputers Videohistory Collection, 1987

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU9533
Creators:
Dates:
1987
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
2 videotapes (Reference copies). 11 digital .wmv files and .rm files (Reference copies).
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Introduction

Introduction
The Smithsonian Videohistory Program, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 1986 until 1992, used video in historical research. Additional collections have been added since the grant project ended. Videohistory uses the video camera as a historical research tool to record moving visual information. Video works best in historical research when recording people at work in environments, explaining artifacts, demonstrating process, or in group discussion. The experimental program recorded projects that reflected the Institution's concern with the conduct of contemporary science and technology.
Smithsonian historians participated in the program to document visual aspects of their on-going historical research. Projects covered topics in the physical and biological sciences as well as in technological design and manufacture. To capture site, process, and interaction most effectively, projects were taped in offices, factories, quarries, laboratories, observatories, and museums. Resulting footage was duplicated, transcribed, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives for scholarship, education, and exhibition. The collection is open to qualified researchers.

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
Jon B. Eklund, curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, interviewed six members of "The Brotherhood" at Broderbund Software, Inc., in San Rafael, California, on July 31, 1987. The group discussed the creation, publishing, marketing, distribution, and reporting of microcomputing software in the late 1970s. They also reflected on how software houses survived the leveling off of the personal computer market in 1984 and 1985, and suggested strategies for remaining competitive in the marketplace. In addition, group members demonstrated early computer games.
This collection consists of one interview session, and one supplementary session, totaling approximately 5 hours of recordings, and 59 pages of transcript.
Please note that this session is comprised of dual sets of tape from two cameras positioned at different angles, plus a supplementary direct feed from a microcomputer.

Historical Note

Historical Note
An informal confederation of computer software designers, known as "The Brotherhood," formed during the late 1970s. The group began as a result of the members' mutual interest in microcomputer software development and their geographic proximity along the West Coast of the United States. Their contribution to computer graphics and games was significant in the development of more advanced systems.
Interviewees were Douglas Carlston, Ken and Roberta Williams, Margot Comstock, Jerry Jewell, and Dave Albert. Douglas Carlston wrote Software People in 1985 to document the role of "The Brotherhood" in the microcomputer industry. Carlston, a lawyer, was "bitten by the computer bug" in 1979 and began writing programs as a hobbyist. After the commercial success of his first two games, Galactic Empire and Galactic Trader, Carlston quit his practice and co-founded Broderbund Software, Inc., with his brother Gary in 1980.
Ken and Roberta Williams founded On-Line Systems in 1980 and achieved success with their creation of the first adventure/mystery games with graphics, Mystery House and later The Wizard and the Princess. In 1982, they became known as Sierra On-Line and continued to focus on games and educational software for the Apple Computer.
Margot Comstock began the journal Softalk with Al Tommervik in Los Angeles on September 12, 1980. Comstock had been hired by a small software publisher, Softape, to publish their in-house newsletter, when she transformed it into a national full-scale magazine for Apple owners. The magazine reviewed software, tracked industry news and listed the monthly top thirty best-selling computer programs.
In 1980, Jerry Jewell was working as a Computerland store manager in Sacramento, California. Less than a year later, he and partner Terry Bradley were in charge of the multimillion-dollar Sirius Software Company founded on the games of programmer Nasir Gebelli. Sirius Software was noted for its meteoric rise and fall in the games market bonanza of the early 1980s. Dave Albert, a journalism major from the University of Iowa, worked as an editor for Softside magazine. The magazine prompted its original editor, Mark Pelczarski, to form the Penguin Software Company in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1981. Albert joined Penguin as a software publisher for the Apple II-inspired graphics and animation tools and games which the company produced. Albert later moved to Electronic Arts, an educational and game software house.

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9533, Minicomputers and Microcomputers Videohistory Collection

More Information

Notes

Oral Histories


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Eklund, Jon B., interviewer Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Carlston, Douglas G. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Williams, Ken Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Williams, Roberta Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Comstock, Margot Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Jewell, Jerry Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albert, Dave Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brøderbund Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brotherhood Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Science -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Technology -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Computer programming Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Computer games -- Programming -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Computer games -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oral history Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Videotapes Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transcripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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