Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Ian Chadwick is the author of Mapping The Atari, which was -- and
remains -- the ultimate memory map for the Atari 8-bit computers. Mapping was published in two editions: the original was for the 400/800 computers, then an updated version was later released for the XL and XE machines. Ian also did a lot of documentation writing behind the scenes, including many of Antic's software manuals, and several manuals for Batteries Included and other companies.
This interview was conducted on March 3, 2015.
Teaser quotes:
"So I would write these little BASIC programs that would go along,
and they'd POKE a bunch of memory locations, and at the same time
they'd be PEEKing into other memory locations to see what would
happen. And it was so much fun!"
"It wasn't intentionally started out as a book, it really
intentionally started out as a database of information for my own
use."
"They'd say 'You're the guy who wrote Mapping The Atari! You know,
that turned my life around when I was 18!' or something."
"It took about two or three minutes to get the platter warmed up.
Spinning up to speed it sounded like a Lear jet taking off. Wooooosh! And it held six megabytes."
Ian Chadwick on Twitter: twitter.com/iwchadwick
Ian's web site: ianchadwick.com
Ian's articles in Antic magazine: atarimagazines.com/index/index.php?author=Ian+Chadwick&mag=antic
Interview with Ian in Atari Times: ataritimes.com/index.php?ArticleIDX=324
Full text of Mapping The Atari: atariarchives.org/mapping
Ian Chadwick is the author of Mapping The Atari, which was -- and
remains -- the ultimate memory map for the Atari 8-bit computers. Mapping was published in two editions: the original was for the 400/800 computers, then an updated version was later released for the XL and XE machines. Ian also did a lot of documentation writing behind the scenes, including many of Antic's software manuals, and several manuals for Batteries Included and other companies.
This interview was conducted on March 3, 2015.
Teaser quotes:
"So I would write these little BASIC programs that would go along,
and they'd POKE a bunch of memory locations, and at the same time
they'd be PEEKing into other memory locations to see what would
happen. And it was so much fun!"
"It wasn't intentionally started out as a book, it really
intentionally started out as a database of information for my own
use."
"They'd say 'You're the guy who wrote Mapping The Atari! You know,
that turned my life around when I was 18!' or something."
"It took about two or three minutes to get the platter warmed up.
Spinning up to speed it sounded like a Lear jet taking off. Wooooosh! And it held six megabytes."
Ian Chadwick on Twitter: twitter.com/iwchadwick
Ian's web site: ianchadwick.com
Ian's articles in Antic magazine: atarimagazines.com/index/index.php?author=Ian+Chadwick&mag=antic
Interview with Ian in Atari Times: ataritimes.com/index.php?ArticleIDX=324
Full text of Mapping The Atari: atariarchives.org/mapping
