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The Games and other Sierra Adventure stuff / Re: Anyone have any information about ADL?
« on: March 22, 2021, 05:24:38 PM »
Oh, yes, I'm definitely familiar with The Digital Antiquarian; several of the systems on my list I found out about from there. However, one of his main sources of information about the early days of Sierra is the aforementioned book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, by Stephen Levy, so the mention of the name ADL seems to come down mostly or entirely to that one source, and I'm... not convinced that source is reliable, and certainly wouldn't consider it "hard evidence". Yes, it occurred to me that Ken Williams could have misremembered, but while I agree that people don't retain vivid memories of events from forty years ago, his not recognizing the name of a system that he himself created (even forty years later) seems... maybe a bit much.
According to the author's notes in Hackers, the author's primary source was "over a hundred personal interviews" (he doesn't specify the interviewees). So basically it seems to me there are three main possibilities here:
While the last alternative isn't impossible, it strikes me as the least likely of the three.
In any case, at this remove, short of some contemporary document turning up signed by Ken Williams and mentioning ADL by name (or conspicuously leaving the system unnamed), I don't think there's really any way to "verify what he says"... I guess it's basically his word against Levy's, and Williams seems to me to be the more credible source. But yeah, you're right; when I do cover ADL on my blog and discuss this, I should acknowledge the possibility that Williams is misremembering and he did name his system ADL—I don't personally think it's likely, but it is a possibility.
There is some interesting information in that thread; thanks. And yeah, I will search this forum to see if there's any other relevant information about historical issues.
According to the author's notes in Hackers, the author's primary source was "over a hundred personal interviews" (he doesn't specify the interviewees). So basically it seems to me there are three main possibilities here:
- Stephen Levy misunderstood something from one of the interviews he conducted
- Some ex-Sierra employee Levy interviewed told Levy that Ken Williams called his system ADL, but was lying or mistaken
- Ken Williams so completely forgot the name of the system that he invented and that launched his company that he didn't even recognize it on seeing it years later
While the last alternative isn't impossible, it strikes me as the least likely of the three.
In any case, at this remove, short of some contemporary document turning up signed by Ken Williams and mentioning ADL by name (or conspicuously leaving the system unnamed), I don't think there's really any way to "verify what he says"... I guess it's basically his word against Levy's, and Williams seems to me to be the more credible source. But yeah, you're right; when I do cover ADL on my blog and discuss this, I should acknowledge the possibility that Williams is misremembering and he did name his system ADL—I don't personally think it's likely, but it is a possibility.
There is some interesting information in that thread; thanks. And yeah, I will search this forum to see if there's any other relevant information about historical issues.