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Peddle remembered for computer career and kindness

Chuck Peddle had a major impact on starting the computer revolution, especially the rapid spread of affordable personal computers.

Chuck Peddle’s sister remembers her older brother as “very smart”, a kid who did well in Augusta schools despite working three jobs to help the family, and who was so good in math that he frustrated some teachers by finding ways different from theirs to reach the correct answers.

After graduating from the University of Maine with an engineering degree, Peddle headed out to start a career that led to his being hailed as the “father of the personal computer”. 

After working for GE and Motorola, Peddle headed a design team that in 1982 created a microprocessor ghat revolutionized the computer industry. Dean Dana Humphrey of the UM College of Engineering says the new microprocessor chip was far cheaper than others on the market and allowed computers to be made for more affordable prices. 

Peddle’s sister, Marti Furber, says the v-chip was soon adopted for the Apple II and the Commodore personal computer. With new choices and better prices,  personal computer sales began to grow, and spread worldwide. And while leaders like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made billions of dollars, Marti Furber says her brother never reached those financial heights.

“He never had an interest in the software. That was up to Bill Gates and those people, not his interest,” Furber said.

“His interest was how do you keep making this better?”

She says Peddle continued working on his designs and ideas until shortly before his death earlier this month, the result of a late diagnosis of cancer. He was 82.

Dean Humphrey says Chuck Peddle had a major impact on starting the computer revolution, especially the rapid spread of affordable personal computers.

“And today every time we use a personal computer, every time we use a gaming system, we should think about the fundamental work done by Chuck Peddle, and his foundation made those devices possible.”

For the family, the legacy is more personal and humanitarian.

"He was good to people,” said younger brother Doug, “and he was kind.”

At a UMaine awards ceremony honoring Peddle last spring, his kindness was in full display. As the audience applauded Peddle asked them to stop and remain standing while he spoke of the humanitarian work done by another honoree, a member of the group Doctors Without Borders. He praised the group’s courage, helping people in peril from terrorist groups, and urged the audience to support them.

Marti Furber said it was a typical show of compassion from her older brother, and a legacy she feels as important as having been part of that circle of pioneers who launched the personal computer.

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