James Peter Hoddie
Prolific Writer of all Things Computer
James Peter Hoddie
Prolific Writer of all Things Computer
James Peter Hoddie, known better as J. Peter Hoddie or just Peter Hoddie, started out on a TI-99/4A as a teenager. In 1983 he was already writing games and selling them commercially under the company name Optimus Software.
His name became known in the TI-99 community after he joined CompuServe's TI Forum and began to contribute neat little utility programs to the public domain (1985-86). Not long after, he began to show his prowess as an assembly language programmer, and an accomplished writer/contributor of articles about things TI-99 in nature.
Between 1986 and 1989 James Peter Hoddie wrote and released:
- Assembler Hack - fairware
- BitBat - public domain
- Browse - displays a directory of all text files on a disk - commercial
- DIJIT'S AVPC 80-Column Card mouse driver - public domain
- E/A#5 Loader for Extended BASIC - public domain
- Encode-It - Allows encryption of a file or entire disk, written with Jim Lohmeyer, released along with JPH Sorts - fairware
- Firstbase Utilities - For importing of data in DIS/VAR 80 format - commercial
- Font PackI and Font Pack II - commercial
- Font Writer II - commercial
- GRAM KRACKER rewrites of DM1000 and Fast-Term - public domain
- GRAM Packer - Creates your own custom menu of programs and cartridges - commercial
- Horizon RAM Disk EPROM - commercial
- JPH Assembler - commercial
- JPH Games - fairware
- MacFlix - a graphics viewer program - commercial
- MacFlix Professional - a more powerful graphics viewer program - commercial
- My-Word 80-Column Word Processor for the Geneve - commercial
- My-Word Externals for the My-Word - application - commercial
- Pre-Scan It! - Facilitates installing pre-scan features of XB - commercial
- Rave MXO1 - memory enhancement Print Spooler - commercial
- Sort Experiment - fairware
- Sort v1.01 - fairware
- XB: BUG - The only true debugger available for the Extended Basic programmer - commercial
During his tenure in the TI-99 Community, J. Peter Hoddie served as editor for the Boston Computer Society User Group Newsletter, for which he wrote a monthly column "Random Ramblings" and was a contributor to Asgard News and MICROpendium. As early as December 1985 J. Peter Hoddie was reporting on the much-rumored Myarc equivalent to the TI-99/8 computer.
The J. Peter Hoddie Music Demo at the 1986 Chicago TI Faire, where he set the audience back on their heels with his use of several TI-9/4A computers to get multiple voices on the speakers is the stuff of legend. J. Peter Hoddie was also an inspiration to other up and coming programmers in the community such as Mickey (Schmitt) Cendrowski, Mike Dodd and no doubt others.
Never above making his assembly language tools available for the good of the community, J. Peter Hoddie programs and utilities have contributed to such applications as Ken Gilliland's numerous "Disk of..." series of artist releases, Comprodine's Form Shop, Barry Traver's Genial TRAVEleR diskazines, Mark Beck's Creative Filing System and others.
In 1988 he teamed with noted c99 programmer Warren Agee to form Olympus Technologies which produced the well received FirstBase, a data base management system. J. Peter Hoddie authored the FirstBase Utilities programs that extended the data usefulness of the FirstBase program into the PC world. Along the way J. Peter Hoddie also teamed with Barry Traver to form Genial Computerware out of his home in Grafton, MA, a company which marketed software from such notables as Wayne Stith, Jerry Coffey, Mike Dodd and J. Peter Hoddie himself.
In August 1989 J. Peter Hoddie went to work for Apple Computer and moved to Menlo Park, CA where he renamed his Genial Computerware company to JP Software, operating the firm out of his apartment, eventually turning the company over to his friend, Jerry Coffey. As an Apple employee J. Peter Hoddie was the chief architect behind Apple's QuickTime© movie playing software. While at Apple, he was awarded the title of DEST (Distinguished Engineer, Scientist or Technologist) for this work and his work on Internet standards.
J. Peter Hoddie stayed with Apple until February 2000 when he left to form Generic Media in Palo Alto, CA. A long way from a TI-99/4A in Grafton, MA.
Inducted into the TI99ers Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009
