Quote:
“… (by mxCoder) Is there any insight to the lives of Ken and Roberta Williams before Sierra? Was Ken old enough to go to Nam? How did he get involved with the computer world? How did he meet Roberta? Was it love at first byte? 🙂 How did Roberta get into computers?
…”
Hey! Finally a question I know the answer to!!!
Was Ken old enough to go to Nam?
– I was almost drafted, but never served. I was given a very low number – 10. Those were the days were you were assigned a number, and if your number was low enough, you were drafted. I had assumed I would be going when they canceled the draft!
How did he get involved with the computer world?
– I was in high school, and on a field trip to UCLA when I saw my first main frame computer. There were no PCs in those days. I saw a computer game on it, a text game – called “Star Wars”, and was hooked immediately. Everything I did after that was focused on breaking into the computer business.
– I dropped out of college to attend a trade school. Roberta and I were married 4 days after I turned 18. I needed a job fast! I attended Control Data Institute in Los Angeles, and was a hero there. I had a natural talent for computers. My first jobs were as a computer operator on building-sized mainframes, but within a year I was programming.
How did he meet Roberta?
– I was 16 at the time. She was dating a friend of mine. We double-dated one night. Somehow I got her phone number and called her months later, long after her and my friend had parted company. I talked her into going out, and started talking marriage about an hour into our first date…
Was it love at first byte?
– Close! It was LUST at first byte…
How did Roberta get into computers?
– Roberta worked for a while as a computer operator for the county of Los Angeles. Then she worked as a software developer for Lawry Foods, programming in Cobol. She really didn’t like either job, but we were starving in those days, and needed her to work. I helped her pass the proficiency exams, and even wrote some of her code for her. She’s smart, so she figured it out, but it was never her “thing.” She is a creative person, and wasn’t really doing what she does best until Sierra (which was really her idea!)
Thank you,
-Ken W
PS We’ve now been married 33 years! .. and, they say it doesn’t work to get married young…