Boredom Leads to Great Things 46
from his allowance he had in a savings account. He also got
a financial contribution from his father to afford the first
computer to sell over one million units: the Commodore
VIC-20. “I thought it was like the most awesome thing
I’ve ever seen,” Elon said.^324 He had earlier used the less
advanced Atari computer.^258
The computer created a new type of world where Elon
could sit in a world of his own. “Every man and woman
should play the noblest games and be of another mind from
what they are at present,” the Greek philosopher, Plato,
said. Playing a game is a way to live a dream. You are only
judged by your performance – not by your sex, origin, or
appearance. And Elon loved to play games on his computer.
Before it became common to have computers in the
home, the gamers flocked to the arcades, where they played
games likeSpace Invaders,Asteroids,Donkey Kong, and
Pac-Man. In Japan, they suffered a shortage of hundred-yen
coins because they were stuck in the arcade machines or in
the pockets of the fanatic players. “I don’t drink, I don’t
smoke, I don’t do drugs. I play video games which I think
is a far superior addiction than any of those other ones,”
an arcade gamer said. “Those games challenged eye-hand
coordination, mind-body coordination, fast reaction time,
comprehensive thinking, on a level that modern games
don’t.”^369
Elon, who liked these arcade games, tried to start his
own arcade company together with his brother. “It was a
very compelling proposition when you’re thirteen and you
love video games,” Elon said.^71 They found a building, they