-
The Beginning of Alan Kotok
Alan Kotok was born in 1941. Many people state that even through his childhood he had an interest in electrical engineering. -
MIT
Kotok goes to MIT at the young age of 16. He was very interested in the developments of chess computer games. Eventually, he proceeded to join the MIT Model Railroad Club and became infatuated with designing new gaming systems and software. He worked alongside John McCarthy and many interests were due to the work of McCarthy. -
Kotok joins MIT Model Railroad Club
In the late 1950's, Kotok took an interest in computers when joining the MIT Model Railroad Club. -
Their First Video Game is Created
The MIT Model Railroad Club created its original video game called Space War. This was built on a PDP-1 computer. -
The Joystick
The innovation of Spacewar was a huge advancement. This was also the beginning of the joystick that was required for this game. In this game specifically, the joystick allowed the player to move a ship around. This eventually created large advancements in other video games and their capabilities. This created the opportunity for more video games with many further challenges. For many, a keyboard could also be used in place of a joystick. -
BSEE
Kotok received his BSEE from MIT at only 20 years old. -
Graduation into Work
After graduation, Kotok went to work at DEC and helped design the PDP-6 and PDP-10. -
PDP-6
Kotok assisted in developing the PDP-6 as an assistant logic designer. -
MSEE
Kotok went to get his master's from MIT and graduated in 1965. -
Teaching at UC Berkely
Kotok taught logic design at UC Berkely for about 1 year. -
MBA
Kotok got his MBA from Clark University in 1978. -
VAX 8600
Kotok contributes to the innovation of the VAX 8600 as a system architect. -
Retirement
Alan Kotok retired from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1996, after 34 years of different leadership positions. -
W3C Chairman
In 1997, Kotok became the chairman of the W3C shortly after retiring from DEC. -
The Death of Kotok
In 2006, Kotok died of a heart attack where he left his innovations and knowledge to be expanded by others.