Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Liza Loop wrote the first users manuals for the Atari 400 and 800
computers. She was a Consultant/Technical Writer for Atari from
June 1979 through April 1980, sometimes writing documentation for
interfaces that had not been designed yet -- so her description
became the de facto interface specification. Liza also worked
for Personal Software, where she wrote the reference manual for the
original VisiCalc program. And in an interesting
Atari-related note, she and her husband Steve Smith were married by
Atari 400/800 designer Jay Miner -- she talks about that in the
interview, too.
This interview was conducted January 28, 2015. As of the day I'm
recording this in April 2015, Liza hasn't been able to find the
manuals and newsletters that we discuss to scan them -- but she
says she's still on the lookout. When she finds them and we get
them scanned, they'll be added to the show notes atAtariPodcast.com.
History of Computing for Learning and Education: A Virtual Museum: hcle.org
Atari 800 Operators Manual — First Version — 1979: archive.org/details/Atari800OperatorsManualFirstVersion1979
Teaser quotes:
"There was no way that this machine [the Atari 800] would be
accepted by a touch typist if you had to shift to get lower
case."
"I met Steve Wozniak...I was the first person that he had ever met
who was taking computers into schools so he gave me the first
Apple... So we have Apple I number 1 and Apple II number
10."
"One of the things very few people know about Jay [Miner] is that
he was interested in nudism. The local nudist group used to have
their parties at his house."
"So I would have to go and stand in the accounting office...and say
'It's a week after my pay date and I have not received my check...
write me a hand check, and put it in the system later ... And I'm
going to stand here until you do it."
"The guys who started Activision were at Atari. ... Somebody asked
me how much I was being paid. I told them ... And they said, '$40
an hour! We're in the wrong business.' And they all quit, and they
said 'If you want us to work for you, hire us back at consultants
for $40 an hour.'"
Liza Loop wrote the first users manuals for the Atari 400 and 800
computers. She was a Consultant/Technical Writer for Atari from
June 1979 through April 1980, sometimes writing documentation for
interfaces that had not been designed yet -- so her description
became the de facto interface specification. Liza also worked
for Personal Software, where she wrote the reference manual for the
original VisiCalc program. And in an interesting
Atari-related note, she and her husband Steve Smith were married by
Atari 400/800 designer Jay Miner -- she talks about that in the
interview, too.
This interview was conducted January 28, 2015. As of the day I'm
recording this in April 2015, Liza hasn't been able to find the
manuals and newsletters that we discuss to scan them -- but she
says she's still on the lookout. When she finds them and we get
them scanned, they'll be added to the show notes atAtariPodcast.com.
History of Computing for Learning and Education: A Virtual Museum: hcle.org
Atari 800 Operators Manual — First Version — 1979: archive.org/details/Atari800OperatorsManualFirstVersion1979
Teaser quotes:
"There was no way that this machine [the Atari 800] would be
accepted by a touch typist if you had to shift to get lower
case."
"I met Steve Wozniak...I was the first person that he had ever met
who was taking computers into schools so he gave me the first
Apple... So we have Apple I number 1 and Apple II number
10."
"One of the things very few people know about Jay [Miner] is that
he was interested in nudism. The local nudist group used to have
their parties at his house."
"So I would have to go and stand in the accounting office...and say
'It's a week after my pay date and I have not received my check...
write me a hand check, and put it in the system later ... And I'm
going to stand here until you do it."
"The guys who started Activision were at Atari. ... Somebody asked
me how much I was being paid. I told them ... And they said, '$40
an hour! We're in the wrong business.' And they all quit, and they
said 'If you want us to work for you, hire us back at consultants
for $40 an hour.'"
