Ampex

Lee Felsenstein

By Andrew Knapp

  • Born

    Leefelsenstein, Lee. “Where I Come From.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=102.

  • Attended the 1963 March on Washington

    The first notable event in his long career in political activism Felsenstein, Lee. “Philadelphia 1945 – 1963.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=16.

  • Ran a radio and TV repair business

    as well as winning science fair awards and being featured on TV as a "electronic experimenter" in a segment on “talented teen-agers” Felsenstein, Lee. “Philadelphia 1945 – 1963.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=16.

  • Engineering Aid in the "Telemetry Techniques Section" at NASA's Edward Air Force Base

    Resigned to go back to college, where he became a Electronic technician at College of Optometry while attempting his Engineering Degree. Felsenstein, Lee. “University of California, Berkeley 1963 – 1967.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=19.
  • Period: to

    Worked as a part of the Free Speech Movement

    Printed fliers, helped improve an early information and resource hub for the movement and wrote and edited in papers in the university. Felsenstein, Lee. “Introduction.” Lee's Web, Jan. 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/.

  • Worked on designing high speed a tape duplicators

    Capable of copying at 40 times the playback speed, he worked on their design at Ampex Felsenstein, Lee. “Special Products Division – Ampex, Inc., 1968 – 1972.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=11.
  • Period: to

    Worked at Ampex

    Through he dropped out of UC Berkeley in 1967, he became a Junior Engineer and learned the craft hands-on. Felsenstein, Lee. “University of California, Berkeley 1963 – 1967.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=19.

  • Worked on PYRAMID, a college lecture recording system

    The system would operate much like the D2L video lecture system with pauses in the audio for questions and answers effecting the next section played, including responses to .said answers Felsenstein, Lee. “Special Products Division – Ampex, Inc., 1968 – 1972.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=11.
  • Earned his "Electrical Engineering and Computer Science" Degree

    Earned his "Electrical Engineering and Computer Science" Degree

    Re-enrolled and acquired a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley after Ampex began to decline Felsenstein, Lee. “University of California, Berkeley 1963 – 1967.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=19.

  • Community Memory

    The Resource One Generalized Information Retrieval System was essentially an empty database for community use. A "library without books" as a librarian called it. Felsenstein, Lee. “Resource One / Community Memory – 1972 – 1973.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=44.

  • Build the TV Typewriter Article shows demand for home computing

    The article shows a TV being used for typing and offered the plans for the machine. Expecting ~20 orders, they received ~10,000, proving the desire for affordable computer interfaces Felsenstein, Lee. “The Social History of the VDM-1.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=53.
  • Tom Swift Terminal

    Tom Swift Terminal

    Created and sold the Spec in 1974 for 50c, the purpose was to provide a solid, easy to access and natural terminal for people to use in a non-professional environment. Felsenstein, Lee. “Social Media Technology.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=125.

  • VDM-1

    Allowed for a TV to be used as a computer terminal, bringing the cost to use such a system significantly down and with much faster hardware, making it a "Personal Computer" Felsenstein, Lee. “Social Media Technology.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=125.

  • Trek-80, early personal computer video game

    One of the first commercial video-games, it ran on the VDM-1 and sold for $9.50 on cassette or $14.50 on punched tape, extremely cheap for the time, on top of the already inexpensive hardware requirements. North, Steven. “Creative Computing v03n04 July/Aug 1977 : Creative Computing Magazine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, 1 July 1977, archive.org/details/CreativeComputingv03n04JulyAug1977/page/n47/mode/2up?view=theater.
  • Sol-20 goes on sale: first computer with integrated video, tape storage, communication and S-100 bus expansion

    Sol-20 goes on sale: first computer with integrated video, tape storage, communication and S-100 bus expansion

    Displayed for 17 years at the National Museum of American History beside the Apple-1, this computer incorporated many components into a much simpler and user friendly device, further opening up computing to the masses. Felsenstein, Lee. “Sol: the inside Story.” ROM, 1977, pp. 60–65. felsenstein, lee. “Employment Resume – Long Form – 1974 – 1992.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=58.

  • Became West Coast Editor of ROM Magazine

    One of the earlier "personal computer" magazines, he wrote of his experiences and examples of his work Felsenstein, Lee. “Social Media Technology.” Lee's Web, 2013, www.leefelsenstein.com/?page_id=125.