In 1978, I worked for Advance Computer Technology in Atlanta, Georgia where I lusted after and sold Apple ][s as well. The owner, John Barkley, was very particular that it was Advance and not Advanced; maybe he just wanted to be paid up front. My personal store hero was Tom Scogin. Tom could fix anything, and always had a joke to tell. I was privileged to be on his email joke list for many years. "What's the difference between a guy who lost everything in Las Vegas and an investment broker? A tie."
That's great. If you ever want to deep dive on the saga of ComputerLand, which (spoiler alert) ends with the founder fleeing to Saipan to avoid taxes, then check out a book called Once Upon a Time in ComputerLand. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/811206
I used to work for a company called the Small Computer Company, which developed database software for Tandy. The president of the company was named Howard Wolowitz. The co-founder of the company was Bill Prady, who went on to to create the Big Bang Theory and named a character after him. The real Howard Wolowitz was nothing like the character. He was an older former IBM programmer who smoked weed all day in the office.
I had to look up what happened between Apple and Computerland: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/20/business/apple-ends-computerland-tie.html
In 1978, I worked for Advance Computer Technology in Atlanta, Georgia where I lusted after and sold Apple ][s as well. The owner, John Barkley, was very particular that it was Advance and not Advanced; maybe he just wanted to be paid up front. My personal store hero was Tom Scogin. Tom could fix anything, and always had a joke to tell. I was privileged to be on his email joke list for many years. "What's the difference between a guy who lost everything in Las Vegas and an investment broker? A tie."
That's great. If you ever want to deep dive on the saga of ComputerLand, which (spoiler alert) ends with the founder fleeing to Saipan to avoid taxes, then check out a book called Once Upon a Time in ComputerLand. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/811206
Good book. Crazy story!
Once Upon a Time in ComputerLand would have been a good title for this post if it wasn’t already taken.
I used to work for a company called the Small Computer Company, which developed database software for Tandy. The president of the company was named Howard Wolowitz. The co-founder of the company was Bill Prady, who went on to to create the Big Bang Theory and named a character after him. The real Howard Wolowitz was nothing like the character. He was an older former IBM programmer who smoked weed all day in the office.
That's a fabulous story! I bet you have a million of them. More, more!
The illuminated purple Computerland sign outside at night was special. I liked just driving past the stores to see the store’s sign.
I thought it was a very cool place in its day. I preferred its clean corporate vibe to the usual chaos of other stores.