Slashdot Mirror
The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Tech pioneer John Draper, a legendary, eccentric figure in Silicon Valley better known as Cap'n Crunch, has slipped to the margins while his peers became rich, the Wall Street Journal writes in a profile. Draper was a 'phone phreak' and helped develop the technology for word processing and voice-activated telephone menus; meanwhile, he eluded the mainstream by tampering with the phone system, frequenting the rave scene and shouting at anyone smoking anywhere near him. 'Once tolerated, even embraced, for his eccentricities, Mr. Draper now lives on the margins of this affluent world, still striving to carve out a role in the business mainstream,' says the WSJ. More from the article: 'Contemporaries who've gone on to riches and fame say they've tried to help Mr. Draper over the years. Mr. Wozniak says Mr. Draper's problem is that his skills lie in technology rather in making business deals or starting a company. "He didn't come from a business orientation," says Mr. Wozniak.'"
nt
Hi JCR. That is your name, right? Oh, of course it is. I'm glad you signed your post at the bottom, because after reading the first couple lines of your inane post I lost so many IQ points that I forgot who made it. Or maybe you just need to remind yourself who you are every few minutes.
Back in the middle 80s, when I was writing for computer magazines, I was amazed that a young pup writer like me could get an interview with someone as famous as Mr. Crunch. I remember reading the Esquire blue-box article when I was a teen.
I met him at a trade show. When I asked for some time to sit down for the interview, he repeatedly insisted we go back to his hotel and conduct the interview in the gym while we worked out. I balked, eventually only getting a few quotes and a picture.
It took me a while before I figured out what he really wanted. The other more experienced journalists laughed and laughed when I explained my puzzlement. Apparently Mr. Crunch thought I was cute.
Curator of the Jefferson Computer Museum http://www.threedee.com/jcm
VOLUME OF NETBSD Op3nBSD, as the fun to be again. would you like to
This post will likely but unfortunately be modded as "troll" considering the vast number of athiests on /., but it's intended to provoke thought. If you are not a Christian, please think before modding.
Many so-called "Christians" are in reality heathens, who worship money and the rich. These people sneer at, curse, and often even spit on the homeless, despite the fact that the man they consider their Lord and Savior spent his entire adult life as a homeless person!
IIRC he was showing kids how to do "Crunch-ups", and that's where things kind of went downhill.
Or perhaps it's like claiming that hanging around with people who throw punches can lead to being on the receiving end of one?
Besides, until smoking is outlawed, it's Drapers problem. If smoking is legal in a place and he still yells at smokers, that's his problem.