Chuck Peddle

Charles Ingerham Peddle[2] (November 25, 1937 – December 15, 2019)[3] was an American electrical engineer best known as the main designer of the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, the KIM-1 single-board computer, and its successor, the Commodore PET personal computer, both based on the 6502.[4][5][6][1]

Chuck Peddle
Peddle in 2013
Born
Charles Ingerham Peddle

(1937-11-25)November 25, 1937
Bangor, Maine, U.S.
DiedDecember 15, 2019(2019-12-15) (aged 82)[1]
Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesChuck Peddle
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationB.Sc.; University of Maine
OccupationElectrical engineer
Years active1970–2015
Known for
Notable work

Biography

Peddle was born in Bangor, Maine, United States on November 25, 1937. He worked in a radio station while in high school.[4]

In 1955, Peddle joined the United States Marine Corps. He attended the University of Maine where he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in engineering physics. Afterward, he went to work for General Electric working with time-sharing systems.[4]

In 1973, Peddle worked at Motorola on developing the 6800 processor.[4]

Peddle recognized a market for a very low price microprocessor and began to champion such a design to complement the $300 Motorola 6800. His efforts were frustrated by Motorola management and he was told to drop the project. He then left for MOS Technology, where he headed the design of the 650x family of processors; these were made as a $25 answer to the Motorola 6800. The most famous member of the 650x series was the 6502, developed in 1975, which was priced at 15% of the cost of an Intel 8080, and was subsequently used in many commercial products, including the Apple II, Commodore PET and Commodore VIC-20, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 8-bit computers and arcade video games, Oric computers, and the BBC Micro from Acorn Computers.[4][7] The 6502 microprocessor design was also modified to support other computers while maintaining backward compatibility.

In 1980, Peddle left MOS Technology, together with Commodore Business Machines (CBM) financer Chris Fish, to found Sirius Systems Technology. There, Peddle designed the Victor 9000 personal computer.[7]

Legacy

Peddle, along with the 6502's co-designer Bill Mensch, are regarded as personal computer pioneers, in that both the 6502 technology and business model were instrumental in helping launch the personal computer revolution. After Peddle's death, Mensch wrote in memoriam.[8][9][10]

References
  1. Metz, Cade (December 24, 2019). "Chuck Peddle Dies at 82; His $25 Chip Helped Start the PC Age". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  2. Peddle, Charles Ingerham; et al. (1976). "Integrated circuit microprocessor with parallel binary adder having on-the-fly correction to provide decimal results". US 3991307.
  3. "Team 6502". Team 6502.
  4. "Chuck Peddle Byte Interview" (PDF). Byte.
  5. Peddle, Chuck (March 20, 2015). An Interview With Chuck Peddle: Charismatic Chipmaking Coryphaeus (audio). The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast.
  6. Fairbairn, Doug; Diamond, Stephen (June 12, 2014). Video interview with Chuck Peddle. Scene World (video). Mountain View, California: Computer History Museum.
  7. "Chuck Peddle". The Centre for Computing History.
  8. "25 Microchips That Shook the World". IEEE Spectrum.
  9. "Digging Into The 6502". Apple II History. WordPress.
  10. Mensch, Bill (December 20, 2019). "In Memoriam of Charles "Chuck" Peddle". Western Design Center.

Bibliography
  • Bagnall, Brian (2005). On the Edge, The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore. Winnipeg: Variant Press. ISBN 0-9738649-0-7.
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