---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Crawford, Barbara
Date: Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 1:01 PM
Subject: FW: Did you know a VT Grad Developed Apple DOS - see upcoming
seminar
To: coefaculty-g@vt.edu , coestaff-g@vt.edu <
coestaff-g@vt.edu>
TO: COE Faculty and Staff
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
*Bradley Distinguished Lecture*
*A Techman’s adventures in Silicon Valley:Creating Apple DOS 3.1, Atari
Basic, Digital Cameras and more*
*Paul Laughton*
Notable Virginia Tech Alumni Paul Laughton: Author of Apple DOS 3.1, Atari
DOS, Atari Basic, and BASIC! for Android
*Date/Time: *Friday April 20, 2018 at 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
*Location*: 190 Goodwin Hall (Quillen Family Auditorium)
*WebEx:*
https://virginiatech.webex.com/virginiatech/j.php?MTID=m59badc7d875048d3f105...
Paul Laughton, a Techman, followed his passion to a programming career that
spanned from mainframes to micros, including the early days of Apple,
working on a $13,000 contract to develop Apple DOS, writing Atari Basic,
meeting his future wife at the Homebrew Computer Club, hanging out with
Jobs and Woz, and writing books on Atari DOS and Atari BASIC. He eventually
wound up as the project manager of some of the first consumer digital
cameras at Logitech and Kodak. Paul is now a docent at the Computer History
Museum in Mountain View, using his spare time to write and maintain the
BASIC! For Android application.
By 1978 Paul Laughton had been involved in a number of projects writing
code for Johns Hopkins, IBM and others. Steve Wozniak had just completed
the electrical design and testing of a relatively inexpensive hard drive in
1976-77 but did not have the software to run it in production.
*As then-Shepardson employee Paul Laughton remembers it, Wozniak came by
one day saying Apple had a disk drive, but no DOS, and was wondering what
to do. "I said, 'I know about operating systems.' And so he said, 'Cool,
let's have you do it.'"**
This important step for the Apple dynasty was dependent upon one of the
many contributors to the evolution of technology. As is evidenced by Paul’s
contributions throughout his career, it takes many hardworking and creative
persons to *Invent the Future*.
Paul celebrated 50 years as a VT alum by visiting campus in the Fall of
2017 at the Old Guard Reunion. We would like to invite all those who knew
Paul as an AFROTC student or a science and engineering practitioner to join
us for his distinguished seminar talk. Those interested in where technology
has come from and where it is going will be very interested in this talk.
See
**CNET April 3, 2013*
*Joseph G. Tront*
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
359 Durham Hall
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111
Voice: 540-231-5067
Fax: 540-231-3362
--
Best,
Daphne
