Artifact Details

Description

Chuck Peddle is not one of the better known names in the world of microprocessors and personal computers, but he has had as much influence on the evolution of those industries as anyone.

He began his career at General Electric, where he had a wide range of engineering experiences in defense and commercial systems. He became convinced that the future was distributed intelligence rather than centralized computing. He started a company, Intelligent Terminal Systems, to design a point of sale system. He found himself ahead of the technology curve and was not able to get the company funded. He then took a job building a typesetting system based on the PDP-11. This experience was a real eye-opener for him, as the PDP-11 architecture would significantly influence his future work.

Chuck joined the Motorola team working on the 6800 microprocessor in 1971. His major contribution was the development of the Programmable Interface Adapter (PIA), which provided enhanced I/O capability to the microprocessor.

After disagreements with Motorola, Peddle joined with former colleagues at MOS Technology to create what became the most popular microprocessor of the personal computer age: the 6502. It was designed into Apple, Atari, Commordore, and so many other personal computers.

He later went to work for Commodore, where he designed the wildly popular Commodore PET computer and several personal computers after that, working deals with Victor, Microsoft, Shugart, Tandon and many others. Peddle’s impact on the personal computer industry through the 1970’s and ‘80’s is truly remarkable.

Date

2014-06-12

Contributor

Dennis, Eric, Videographer

Diamond, Stephen L., Interviewer

Fairbairn, Doug, Interviewer

Peddle, Chuck, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Mountain View, CA, USA

Extent

108 p.

Format

PDF

Copyright Holder

Computer History Museum

Category

Transcription

Subject

semiconductor history; PDP-11; Motorola; Personal computer (PC); Mensch, Bill; Commodore VIC-20; Commodore PET; Commodore 64 (Computer)

Collection Title

Oral history collection

Credit

Computer History Museum

Lot Number

X7180.2014

Related Records

102739938

Peddle, Chuck oral history