Editing David Crane (programmer) (section)

===National Semiconductor and Atari===
[[File:Atari-800-Computer-FL.jpg|thumb|Crane assisted with building the operating system for the Atari 8-bit computers (Atari 800 pictured).]]

Following college, he moved to [[Silicon Valley]] and got his first job at [[National Semiconductor]] in 1975.{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=88}}{{sfn|Drury|2021|p=86}}{{sfn|Covert|1984|p=51}} At the company, he worked on [[linear integrated circuit]]s in order to become proficient in electronic design.{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=89}}

While playing tennis with [[Alan Miller (game designer)|Alan Miller]], he was told by his friend that Atari was looking for game programmers. After proofreading a newspaper ad his friend had made for the position, Crane wrote a resume, was interviewed the next day at 10 am and had the job by 2 pm.{{sfn|Donovan|2011}} Crane joined [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]] in the third quarter of 1977 and first began producing Arcade-inspired titles such as ''[[Outlaw (1978 video game)|Outlaw]]'' and ''[[Canyon Bomber]]'' for the [[Atari 2600|Atari VCS]] (later known as the Atari 2600).{{sfn|Donovan|2011}}{{sfn|Drury|2021|p=86}} Crane was initially unsure about programming games, but found he enjoyed microprocessor programming and game design.{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=89}} Atari began their new line of computers with the Atari 800 and required help with software development. This led to Atari having all of its game designers, including Crane, step in to work on the machine's [[operating system]].{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=89}}

In 1979, Crane and other game developers at Atari, including Miller, [[Larry Kaplan]], and [[Bob Whitehead]] received a memo indicating that their games were the most financially successful for Atari, making up $60 million of Atari's $100 million game cartridge sales in 1978.{{sfn|Donovan|2011}}{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=89}} As they were making a salary of $30,000, they asked for a raise and, according to Crane, were told by [[Ray Kassar]] that Crane was "no more important to the success of those products than the person on the assembly line who puts them together."{{sfn|Donovan|2011}}{{sfn|Hunt|2010|p=89}}