533: The Garage Is Open

Author Susan Lammers joins the show to discuss the 40th anniversary edition of her classic book, Programmers at Work. We discuss what it was like to interview young and pioneering software developers like Toru Iwatani, C. Wayne Ratliff, and Michael Hawley and how the personal computer revolution was built by individuals seeking freedom from corporate mainframes. Susan also shares her experiences as Editor-in-Chief at Microsoft Press, leading Microsoft's early interactive CD-ROM division, founding Headbone Interactive in the 1990s, and why she's bringing retro games like Elroy Goes Bugzerk back to Steam today. SUSAN'S BOOK & WEB RESOURCES: Programmers at Work: 40th Anniversary Edition – Official site featuring updated bios, excerpts, and current career paths of the 19 interviewees Programmers at Work on Amazon or on Simon & Schuster website Overview and list of interviewees on Wikipedia HEADBONE INTERACTIVE & RETRO GAMING: HeadboneInteractive.com Headbone Interactive - Wikipedia Elroy Goes Bugzerk on Steam – The classic 1990s interactive cartoon adventure game brought back for modern platforms SOFTWARE & HISTORICAL MENTIONS: VisiCalc on Wikipedia (The first computer spreadsheet) Ukatsuke Komachi (The automated receptionist robot at Namco in 1985) The Paris Review interview series (The literary inspiration behind Programmers at Work) Transcript