Did you know the world’s first arcade game appeared at the CNE in 1950? Created by Toronto engineer Josef Kates, “Bertie the Brain” was a computer that played tic-tac-toe with visitors. While working on the University of Toronto Electronic Computer (UTEC), one of the first computers in the world, Kates designed a component called the additron tube, to reduce the size and cost and increase reliability of this new technology. The additron tube was incorporated into Bertie the Brain as a technology showcase, challenging visitors to beat the four-metre tall machine (an almost impossible task). Once the CNE wrapped up, the popular game was dismantled, and ultimately Kates’ tube invention was never developed further due to the rise of the transistor in early computer technology. Josef Kates went on establish the country’s first computer consulting business as well as creating the world’s first computerized traffic control system with the City of Toronto in the early 1960s. Kates ...