Editing Chuck Peddle

{{Short description|American electrical engineer (1937–2019)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Chuck Peddle
| image         = Chuck Peddle (cropped).jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Peddle in 2013
| birth_name    = Charles Ingerham Peddle
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1937|11|25}}
| birth_place   = [[Bangor, Maine]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2019|12|15|1937|11|25}}<ref name="NYT 2019" />
| death_place   = [[Santa Cruz, California]], U.S.
| other_names   = Chuck Peddle
| education     = [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]]; [[University of Maine]]
| occupation    = [[Electrical engineer]]
| years_active  = 1970–2015
| known_for     = {{plainlist|
* [[Personal computer]] pioneer
* [[Sirius Systems Technology]] founder}}
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
* [[MOS Technology 6502|6502 microprocessor]]
* [[KIM-1]] [[single-board computer]]
* [[Commodore PET]]}}
}}

'''Charles Ingerham Peddle'''<ref>{{cite web |last=Peddle |first=Charles Ingerham |display-authors=et al |title=Integrated circuit microprocessor with parallel binary adder having on-the-fly correction to provide decimal results |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3991307A/ |id=US 3991307 |date=1976}}</ref> (November 25, 1937 – December 15, 2019)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.team6502.org/ |title=Team 6502 |website=Team 6502}}</ref> was an American [[electrical engineer]] best known as the main designer of the [[MOS Technology 6502]] microprocessor, the {{Nowrap|[[KIM-1]]}} [[single-board computer]], and its successor, the [[Commodore PET]] [[personal computer]], both based on the 6502.<ref name="NYT 2019">{{cite news |last=Metz |first=Cade |title=Chuck Peddle Dies at 82; His $25 Chip Helped Start the PC Age |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/technology/chuck-peddle-dead.html|date=24 December 2019|accessdate=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref name=Byte>{{cite web |url=http://www.commodore.ca/gallery/magazines/misc/chuck_peddle-byte-november_1982_sm.pdf |title=Chuck Peddle Byte Interview |publisher=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |last=Peddle |first=Chuck |date=March 20, 2015 |title=An Interview With Chuck Peddle: Charismatic Chipmaking Coryphaeus |medium=audio |url=https://theamphour.com/241-an-interview-with-chuck-peddle-charismatic-chipmaking-coryphaeus/ |access-date= |format= |location= |publisher=The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast |id= |isbn= |oclc= |ref=}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |last=Fairbairn |first=Doug |last2=Diamond |first2=Stephen |date=June 12, 2014 |title=Video interview with Chuck Peddle |medium=video |url=https://sceneworld.org/blog/2014/06/29/video-interview-with-chuck-peddle/ |website=Scene World |access-date= |format= |location=Mountain View, California |publisher=Computer History Museum |id= |isbn= |oclc= |ref=}}</ref>

==Biography==
Peddle was born in [[Bangor, Maine]], [[United States]] on November 25, 1937. He worked in a [[radio station]] while in high school.<ref name=Byte/>

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.<ref name=Byte/>

In 1973, Peddle worked at [[Motorola]] on developing the [[Motorola 6800|6800]] processor.<ref name=Byte/>

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 [[MOS Technology 65xx|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|PET]], [[VIC-20]], [[Atari 8-bit computers]], [[arcade video game]]s, [[Oric computers]], and the [[BBC Micro]].<ref name=Byte/><ref name=History>{{Cite web |url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1982/chuck-peddle/ |title=Chuck Peddle |website=The Centre for Computing History}}</ref>  The [[Atari 2600]] uses the closely related [[MOS Technology 6507|6507]] CPU, the [[Commodore 64]] uses the also closely related derivative [[MOS Technology 6510|6510]], and the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] uses a [[Ricoh 2A03|custom ASIC]] which includes an altered 6502 core (with the decimal mode deleted).

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.<ref name=History/>

==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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/25-microchips-that-shook-the-world |title=25 Microchips That Shook the World |website=[[IEEE Spectrum]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://apple2history.org/2011/01/10/digging-into-the-6502/ |title=Digging Into The 6502 |website=Apple II History |publisher=WordPress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wdc65xx.com/in-memoriam-of-chuck-peddle/ |title=In Memoriam of Charles "Chuck" Peddle |last=Mensch |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Mensch |website=[[Western Design Center]] |date=2019-12-20}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Group coded recording]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Bagnall |first=Brian |date=2005 |title=On the Edge, The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore |location=Winnipeg |publisher=Variant Press |isbn=0-9738649-0-7}}

==External links==
* [http://www.commodore.ca/commodore-history/the-legendary-chuck-peddle-inventor-of-the-personal-computer/ The Legendary Chuck Peddle, Inventor of the Personal Computer]
* [https://sceneworld.org/blog/2014/06/29/video-interview-with-chuck-peddle/ Video: Interview with Chuck Peddle for ''Scene World Magazine'' (2014)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcLpLPE-aPs Video: An Interview with Chuck Peddle (The Amp Hour #241)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcLpLPE-aPs Video: Oral History of Chuck Peddle (Interviewed by Doug Fairbairn and Stephen Diamond on 2014-06-12 in Mountain View, CA)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBnmJhEOdC8&list=PL787CF7AB516F49B5 Video: VCF East 4.0: History of Commodore, Pt 1: Chuck Peddle (2007)]

{{MOS CPU}}
{{Commodore International}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peddle, Chuck}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:American electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Commodore people]]
[[Category:Computer hardware engineers]]
[[Category:Motorola employees]]
[[Category:People from Bangor, Maine]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Maine]]
[[Category:University of Maine alumni]]