Glenn Keller
Before Amiga
Prior to working at Amiga, Glenn studied generating electricity from ocean waves at the University of Edinburgh and wanted to enter the field of ocean engineering. Funding for alternative energy went away so Glenn moved to Silicon Valley. [1]
In Silicon Valley, he meets Jay Miner at the Sunnyvale train station. He is parked in a Lincoln and has his dog, Mitchy in the car. Jay greets Glenn and asks him, "What's the difference between a latch and a flip-flop?" Glenn answers correctly and wants to work for him. [1], [2]
At Amiga
At Amiga, Glenn initially stuck to what he knew about electronics, but ended up learning a lot while working there. Jay taught him chip design. Using the whiteboard as a guide, Glenn was assigned to design a chip which would interface with peripherals and handle other functions not included in Agnus and Daphne.
Chip design was accomplished by drawing on vellum, digitizing it and putting it in a database. The layout was then printed on a large sheet, which several people would spread out on the floor and draw the wiring with a yellow marker. Wire-wrapped breadboards of the circuitry would also be made using discrete chips. [2]
After Amiga
After leaving Amiga, Glenn worked with RJ Mical and Dave Needle on the Atari Lynx (Epyx Handy) and later the 3DO game console. Glenn also worked as a contractor for Commodore, working with engineers in West Chester on the AAA chipset, which was never released. [1], [2]
References
- Spring, Adam. Remotely-Interested Podcast - RIP 16: Glenn Keller - Remotely-Interested Podcast, 2017
- Becker, Anthony. INTERVIEW | Glenn Keller - The Guru Meditation, 2017
