Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Bob Fraser worked at Atari for four years: he worked on the early CX70 light pen, helped write the specs for an unreleased database manager for the Atari 8-bits. and later moved into Atari's Games Design Research Group under Alan Kay, where he experimented with 3-D graphics. He wrote a chapter of De Re Atari — chapter 7, all about sound — and two applications that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Supersort, a data sorting routine; and Insomnia, a sound editor.
Supersort was APX catalog number 20030, and was for sale starting with the first APX catalog, summer 1981. Insomnia was catalog number 20073 and was available about six months later in the winter 1981 catalog.
The CX70 light pen: it's rare — according to AtariWiki, it was only offered by Atari for a few months in 1981. After our interview, Bob sent me his: prototype #2. He also sent me a lot of floppy disks (around 70) which I was able to get the data off of. They include many of his 3-D rendering demonstrations, source code for an early version of the Ballsong demo, several early versions of Mike Lorenzen's MEDIT text editor, light pen software, internal development tools, and more. I've put them all online, have fun digging through them.
This interview took place on June 10, 2026.
Download Bob's disks, and conversation about them: forums.atariage.com/topic/392145-bob-fraser-disk-trove
Supersort in the summer 1981 APX catalog: archive.org/details/Atari_Program_Exchange_Summer_1981_Catalog/page/n24/mode/1up
Supersort at Atarimania: atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-supersort_19188.html
Insomnia in the winter 1981 APX catalog: archive.org/details/APXCatalogWinter1981/page/n48/mode/1up
Insomnia at Atarimania: atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-insomnia_15946.html
De Re Atari: atariarchives.org/dere and archive.org/details/ataribooks-de-re-atari
CX70 Light Pen at AtariWiki: atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Atari%20CX70%20Light%20Pen
CX70 discussion at AtariAge: forums.atariage.com/topic/373779-atari-cx70-light-pen-existence
Invest like a Billionaire by Bob Fraser: amzn.to/4eeCx9v
Dale Yocum interview: archive.org/details/DaleYocumInterview
Chris Crawford interview: archive.org/details/2013-09-09-crawford-interview
Douglas Crockford interview: ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-240-douglas-crockford-galahad-and-the-holy-grail-burgers
Bob Fraser worked at Atari for four years: he worked on the early CX70 light pen, helped write the specs for an unreleased database manager for the Atari 8-bits. and later moved into Atari's Games Design Research Group under Alan Kay, where he experimented with 3-D graphics. He wrote a chapter of De Re Atari — chapter 7, all about sound — and two applications that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Supersort, a data sorting routine; and Insomnia, a sound editor.
Supersort was APX catalog number 20030, and was for sale starting with the first APX catalog, summer 1981. Insomnia was catalog number 20073 and was available about six months later in the winter 1981 catalog.
The CX70 light pen: it's rare — according to AtariWiki, it was only offered by Atari for a few months in 1981. After our interview, Bob sent me his: prototype #2. He also sent me a lot of floppy disks (around 70) which I was able to get the data off of. They include many of his 3-D rendering demonstrations, source code for an early version of the Ballsong demo, several early versions of Mike Lorenzen's MEDIT text editor, light pen software, internal development tools, and more. I've put them all online, have fun digging through them.
This interview took place on June 10, 2026.
Download Bob's disks, and conversation about them: forums.atariage.com/topic/392145-bob-fraser-disk-trove
Supersort in the summer 1981 APX catalog: archive.org/details/Atari_Program_Exchange_Summer_1981_Catalog/page/n24/mode/1up
Supersort at Atarimania: atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-supersort_19188.html
Insomnia in the winter 1981 APX catalog: archive.org/details/APXCatalogWinter1981/page/n48/mode/1up
Insomnia at Atarimania: atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-insomnia_15946.html
De Re Atari: atariarchives.org/dere and archive.org/details/ataribooks-de-re-atari
CX70 Light Pen at AtariWiki: atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Atari%20CX70%20Light%20Pen
CX70 discussion at AtariAge: forums.atariage.com/topic/373779-atari-cx70-light-pen-existence
Invest like a Billionaire by Bob Fraser: amzn.to/4eeCx9v
Dale Yocum interview: archive.org/details/DaleYocumInterview
Chris Crawford interview: archive.org/details/2013-09-09-crawford-interview
Douglas Crockford interview: ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-240-douglas-crockford-galahad-and-the-holy-grail-burgers
