Talk:Jerry Lawson (engineer)

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I think Jerry Lawson absolutely meets importance/notoriety requirements, as he was the inventor of the first cartridge-based gaming system, and contributed significantly to the videogaming industry, whatever the relative success or lack thereof of the Fairchild Channel F system.

In addition, as one of the only black engineers in the industry at the time, he is an inspirational figure in his own right.

See http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/545 for an extensive interview with him. Jonabbey (talk) 21:40, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
 * That's great. I had a good feeling that he was fairly notable. I've added in a morefootnotes template on top as a reminder that all the facts mentioned the article should be referenced via inline citations. Otherwise, it is not clear to the reader where and how the content was sourced. If I get around to it, I can do some cleanup there. MuZemike 16:39, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
 * No he wasn't. The rom cartridge microprocessor video games console was invented by alpex and licensed to jerry Lawsons team Meandmynine (talk) 15:45, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

Mm, I did add one footnote reference. I was concerned about the propriety of throwing a bunch of footnote references in such a short article, given that most of the facts mentioned stem from the interview linked above. I tried to footnote the one fact that I got from a secondary source, but the rest stems from interviews with him. Jonabbey (talk) 18:26, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I would add citations after the first statement one at the end of director of engineering and marketing for Fairchild Semiconductor's video game division, and one at the end of the last two statements. I will add fact tags to show exactly where they should be added. Especially for biographies of living people where it is imperative that everything be reliably sourced in order to avoid harming the person's reputation, you cannot go wrong with providing verification for everything. Normally you should provide one verifiable reference for every fact provided in the article. This also avoids problems down the road with other users questioning verifiability or notability of the person. MuZemike 21:30, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

I like to read about inventions and usually find that its more involved than saying one person did something all by themselves. I found a link from a commenter on Engadget that tells a very in depth story of the Channel F. What do you think? [ http://www.fastcompany.com/3040889/the-untold-story-of-the-invention-of-the-game-cartridge] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.126.193.15 (talk) 14:54, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

Only African-American in the Homebrew Club?
According to this page, Lawson was the only African-American member of the club,but on the Club's page there is mention of Ron Jones as another. Which is correct??? Rhodesisland (talk) 01:46, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

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"was survived"?
In the death section:

At the time of his death, he resided in Santa Clara, California, and was survived by his wife, two children, and his brother.

Is "was survived" a grammatical construct that I'm not familiar with, or a typo? I would change it to something more approachable, but I have no idea what this was meant to mean! I assume it actually means he died by their side? 50.232.73.154 (talk) 19:25, 1 December 2022 (UTC)
 * It's very standard phrasing referring to family members who are still alive after one's death. See the second definition here. – Rhain  ☔ (he/him) 23:55, 1 December 2022 (UTC)
 * It's a standard phrase with the meaning given by Rhain. There's no implication that the surviving family members were with the decedent (the deceased person) at the time of their death. GrahamN-UK (talk) 11:59, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 2 December 2022
Under "Early Life", "At the age of 13, he gained an amateur ham radio license..." It should just read "amateur radio license". "Ham radio" is a nickname for the hobby. You could say 'ham radio license', but for a historical record I think the former is more appropriate. Either way listing both to prefix 'license' is odd. Like saying 'driving automobile-operator license'. Source- I'm licensed in the US. Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio. 23.88.134.216 (talk) 02:22, 2 December 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅. Thank you, fellow automobile operator.  TG HL ↗  🍁 04:02, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Father of the cartridge?
this states he was dubbed "father of the video game cartridge". But the technology of the rom cartridge and microprocessor console was licensed from alpex. They used alpex "555" patent. Alpex are the fathers of the rom cartridge Meandmynine (talk) 14:29, 16 July 2024 (UTC)


 * We go by how reliable sources defined him. Yes, the original tech came from Alpex but he went further to ensure cartridges could be safely inserted and removed by consumers without damaging the ROM or console. It's those innovations that he is credited for. M asem  (t) 14:39, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
 * The rom is encased in a huge block of plastic. It can not be damaged. And how is a single computer magazine that called him a debatable name a reliable source? What makes that magazine reliable? And consoles with cartridges existed before this, they knew how to not damage a plastic cartridge that slips in and out of the console. The magnovox odyssey used game cartridges. This guy isn't the father of anything Meandmynine (talk) 15:43, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
 * And cartridges were used in the magnovox odyssey. Gerry Lawson invented neither roms or cartridges Meandmynine (talk) 15:56, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
 * There's multiple sources that confirm this. Yes, Alpex had made cartridges but they left the fact that their connectors lacked durability and safety for consumer use to Fairchild, which was a problem that Lawson solved to allow repeated insertion and removal without problems.   M asem  (t) 17:18, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Also, the Odyssey did not have ROM cartridges, they were circuit boards with connectors, so are excluded from the ROM cartridge aspect. M asem (t) 17:22, 16 July 2024 (UTC)