Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2020 04:25:37 +0000
<p>Many of us grew up playing cartridge-based games. But there's few who know the story behind how those cartridges came to be. And even fewer who know the story of the man behind them: Jerry Lawson. </p><p>Few people realized how his vision would change video games. <a href="https://twitter.com/Jenny_Alto?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Jenny List</a> explains how before Jerry Lawson, a console could only play one game. <a href="https://twitter.com/benjedwards?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Benj Edwards</a> describes how Lawson partnered with a pair of engineers to design a console with swappable cartridges. Pong creator <a href="https://twitter.com/alalcorn?lang=en">Al Alcorn</a> recounts the FCC limitations on Lawson’s Fairchild Channel F—and recognizes Lawson’s immense contributions to the gaming industry. And those in the know, like <a href="https://twitter.com/museumofplay?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Jeremy Saucier</a>, advocate for sharing Lawson’s story.</p><p>Because Lawson’s story was almost lost, he was recently recognized by <a href="https://twitter.com/josephsaulter?lang=en">Joseph Saulter</a> at the Games Developer’s Conference—thanks to the work of journalist John William Templeton. And his children, <a href="http://www.andersonlawson.com/">Anderson</a> and Karen Lawson, share how passionate Jerry was about electronics—and how much it meant that he finally got the recognition he deserved.</p><p>If you want to read up on some of our research on Jerry Lawson, you can check out all our bonus material over at <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-6/jerry-lawson">redhat.com/commandlineheroes</a>. Follow along with the episode <a href="https://www.redhat.com/en/command-line-heroes/season-6/jerry-lawson#transcript-tray">transcript</a>.</p>
