The Roland TR-808 program was broadcast in Japan (Patreon)

30-minute program featuring the Roland TR-808 was broadcast on Japan's public broadcaster NHK.

https://www.nhk.or.jp/music/programs/477321.html 

An interview with Mr. Kikumoto, the circuit designer of the TR-808 and former CEO of Roland, was featured.

Here are some of the interesting episodes.

1. The world's first live performance using the TR-808 was by Yellow Magic Orchestra.
It was used in 1000 Knives composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The TR-808 used was a prototype.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w85Of8Lk3dI 

2.The TR-808 was not popular when it was first released and was discontinued within three years.

The reason for this was that it did not use PCM technology, which was popular at the time, and fell behind the trends.

3.Since Roland was a synthesizer manufacturer, they viewed PCM as a trivial technology and insisted on creating rhythm machines with analog circuitry.

4.Mr. Kikumoto stated that he is "grateful but not proud" for the 808's worldwide success. This is because the popularity of the 808 in club music was not intended.

He himself stated that the 808s "don't sound good."

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Here are my impressions.

Mr. Kikumoto is a stoic designer. He does not care what others think of the 808, but sees it in terms of his own values.