His wife and friends are all passed on. So he invents. Meet Ralph Baer, the 'Father of Video Games.'
Ralph Baer's family immigrated to the United States in 1938, when it was clear the direction that Germany, his country of birth, was heading.
If you've ever played a console video game at home, thank this guy.
Check out this story of Ralph Baer, a pioneer of electronic gaming, from "PBS Inventors."
<span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span>Ralph Baer's family immigrated to the United States in 1938, when it was clear the direction that Germany, his country of birth, was heading.
They were a Jewish family in a country that was about to murder and imprison all the Jewish people who could be found.
Baer's family escaped just two months before Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), the beginning of the Holocaust.
They chose New York City as a place to flourish.
♬ ♪ It's up to YOU, New York, New York. Bahmp bahmp badda bumph. ♫♩Image via public domain.
Baer worked in a factory until he saw an ad for classes in the electronics field, which was a new frontier at the time.
It lit him up — pun intended — and he worked various jobs in that field, ending up at a defense contractor where he developed electronic systems for military applications.
"Wow! All those circuits and moving parts, and it writes in cursive! I'mma get my phone out and post this to ... oh, wait. It's 1940."
Out of that fertile breeding ground of ideas sprang the first modern home video game console system.
Called a “brown box" because of the brown duct tape he and his crew wrapped it in, it was the prototype for the Magnavox Odyssey game system, first released in 1972.
The original Magnavox Odyssey. Homer and cyclops not included. Image in public domain.
He actually had the idea for a home game system in 1951, but the company he worked for at the time didn't bite at all. (Kinda like the record company that told the early Beatles: “Thanks for the demo. We'll call you. No, really we will.")
That very same year, the "Pong" standalone arcade gaming system — think bars and bowling alleys — hit the market, made by another company. (Pop quiz: Who made "Pong" and turned it into a household name? Hint: rhymes with Qatari.)
In effect, "Pong" was conquering the arcade while Magnavox was winning the home market. Atari didn't even try to capture the home market for three more years.
Baer continued to invent throughout his life.
Baer had over 150 patents at the time of his death in 2014, including for electronic greeting cards and tracking systems for submarines.
Beyond his visionary contributions to video games, he also helped develop several other well-known games in other formats, such as Simon, Super Simon, and Maniac. Remember the Simon game?
"Well you know my name is Simon, and the things I draw" ... sorry. Wrong Simon. Image in public domain.
In 2004, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology "for his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games, which spawned related uses, applications, and mega-industries in both the entertainment and education realms."
People asked him why he wanted to keep inventing, keep creating, at age 90. His response was simple.
He explained that his wife and all of his friends had passed on. "What am I going to do?"
Indeed, Ralph.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."