Kitz Forum
Announcements => News Articles => Topic started by: AdrianH on April 11, 2012, 08:33:19 AM
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Commodore Inventor Dies (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304587704577333950117639594.html?mod=rss_most_viewed_day_europe?mod=WSJEurope_article_forsub)
Jack Tramiel introduced the Commodore 64, an early home computer that some people consider the best-selling personal computer of all time.
The founder of Commodore International died Sunday at age 83 at his home in Monte Sereno, California
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Probably the last of the old-style computer pioneers. Not a nice man, but definitely visionary.
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>> Not a nice man
I worked for Jack in the early 70s, when we launched the PET, VIC20 and the Greenline calculators in Europe. Many thought of him as "not very nice", but those of us who worked for him found him to be very supportive. We built devices in Eaglescliffe on the outskirts of Teesside.
My young son was taken seriously ill during a visit from Jack to the factory and, as Jack heard about it, he marched into my office and said, "What are you doing here? As of now, you have family leave of indeterminate length". A couple of days later, he came to visit in the hospital and brought with him all sorts of non-Commodore goodies for my son. He was definitely a ruthless businessman, but a softie at heart and his product was top-class and excellent value for money.
If you research Jack's family life, you will find a tale of extreme suffering and loss of close family members.
RIP a big and good man.
Colin
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I admit that all I really knew about him was the 'ruthless businessman' aspect. But you've certainly revealed a different side to him there.
I used to be an Atari user, originally with the 8-bit 800XL and then with the 16-bit ST. During JT's tenure as owner of Atari he did some great things with that line of computers, but when he handed it over to his son it all fell apart.
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I have fond memories of Commodore equipment -- some of the early scientific calculators and of the hobbyist / home computers.
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I also used to have a Commodore 64 computer back in the 80's
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I still have an Atari 800 complete with a couple or three cartridges.
One is the assembly language cartridge. I cut my programming teeth on that one. I learnt a lot about the 6502 processor.
I actually had a look at that machine a while back and wondered how on earth did I type on the thing.
Having said that I learnt to touch type on an old Remington typewriter, one needed fingers like hammer heads on those. How the dainty typists managed it day in and day out and still have such a soft touch. :swoon:
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I also used to have a Commodore 64 computer back in the 80's
I still have my VIC-20 and expansion memory (expanded to 27K!!!!!) as well as a docking bay. Last night, I powered it up and ran a few programs I did in Basic. About 2am my wife switched it off - some 6 hours after I had switched it on. I was so engrossed in it!
Colin