Wow, thanks for sharing this. This deserves to be on the front page! We're lucky in 2010 to have a glimpse into what it was like to create things in 1986.
Also, I loved this bit:
October 23, 1986
Everyone in the office has been playing a lot of Tetris – a Russian submission for the IBM PC. It’s a classic, like Breakout. But I don’t think Broderbund is going to publish it. The knaves.
You're welcome. I actually learned about it from the HN front page, almost a year ago. I spent about 9 hours (6pm to 3am) that day reading the entire journal on an iPhone (plugged in). It was the best non-book book that I'd read in a long while.
April 3, 1989
> We chatted for an hour about peripherally related topics. Broderbund, corporate America, the rat race, capitalism, freedom. I was seducing him. At the critical psychological moment, I remarked:
“You know, all my clipping is done on the byte boundaries.”
There was a pause
> The other thing is, I liked them. Lately I’d been starting to feel jaded about this whole enterprise – “Oh well, it’s just a computer game” – but watching Chris and Stu, I realized: These guys love games. They love games the way I loved movies in college. Even more, because they’re not interested in girls yet. Computer games are like the air they breathe. If I can make one that they can get excited about, that’s a real accomplishment. That’s something I can be proud of.
"I think you should pursue screenwriting. Go for it."
I was surprised and asked her why. She said that Broderbund is a really nice, warm, friendly place to work, but for programmers it’s actually not that great a deal. The older ones, like Chris and David, are starting to get scared, because programming’s the only marketable skill they have, and it’s a young man’s game. The new crop of kids coming up are willing to work harder and cheaper, and don’t have girlfriends or families yet to cut into their working hours. And nobody knows how long the games market will be around, or what it’ll be like next year.
Also, I loved this bit:
October 23, 1986
Everyone in the office has been playing a lot of Tetris – a Russian submission for the IBM PC. It’s a classic, like Breakout. But I don’t think Broderbund is going to publish it. The knaves.