Robert Smith
👤 Speaker
1160
total appearances
Appearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
He knows what's happening.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
At least he knows in retrospect.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
And he respects it.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
It's like the Midway, right?
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
It's like Steve Ross is like the Carney.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
And Bushnell is the Rube.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
He's the Rube.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
He's getting played at a much higher level.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
Respect.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
Respect.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
And he respects it.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
So the next morning, the morning after the screening, Bushnell agreed to sell Atari to Ross, to Warner, for $28 million.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
And Bushnell stayed on, kept running the company as he had been.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
And now he has the capital to work on this console that, you know, we will eventually know as the Atari 2600.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
It had the stick of joy.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
A literal stick of joy.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
One joystick.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
The orange button, one button that you usually would fire or jump were the things it would do.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
Yeah, so fast.
SNAFU with Ed Helms
From Business History: How E.T. The Extra-Terresterial Destroyed Atari
Not just a knob.