Commodore founder Jack Tramiel dead at 83

Commodore founder Jack Tramiel dead at 83

www.computerworld.com

Tramiel's Commodore International in 1982 released the Commodore 64, a home computer that became one of the most popular models of all time, selling close to 17 million units between 1982 and 1994.

Tramiel was born in Lodz, Poland, in 1928 to a Jewish family. He survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, after which he emigrated to the U.S. in 1947.

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His story is an interesting one and worth reading. His determination to bring computing to the masses is something whose future even he could not have predicted, I'm sure.

My first computer was a Commodore. Our family's learning curve on this machine was nurtured by monthly articles in Compute's Gazette, articles that taught us about peeking and poking and doing all kinds of neat things on the machine.

And when my Commodore keyboard with its limited memory became obsolete because it didn't have the ability to upgrade, its high resolution monitor served as an excellent television set for many years.

We owe a lot to this man whose stubborn insistence to bring computing to the masses no doubt played a vital role in what computers and the internet are today.

So in gratitude I will drink my next toast to you, Mr. Jack Tramiel. Rest in a well-deserved peace. Well done, Sir.

www.computerworld.com
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S & F

Bravo!

My first computer was prior to the Commodore 64 but I had one with a 300baud phone coupling modem.

Programming Basic.

*Memories!

reply to post by aboutface


Did you try the original internet when you had your commodore. I bought the add on modem. I still have the commodore 128 and all the stuff that I bought, games and all. The internet connection was so slow back in those days. Wow, I'm starting to feel old

reply to post by HermesTrismegistus

Did you get the IBM?

I also had comodore 64, my first two computer games was balyhoo and wheen of fortune lol. I was actually surprised the maker was still alive up until recently. My aunt gave me the comodore she found when cleaning her attick out, thing still worked after being up there in the dust for years and years!

Originally posted by rickymouse
reply to post by aboutface

 

Did you try the original internet when you had your commodore. I bought the add on modem. I still have the commodore 128 and all the stuff that I bought, games and all. The internet connection was so slow back in those days. Wow, I'm starting to feel old

My kids quickly connected to the "alt.(whatever)" through Freenet and taught me about the internet. I still have a Freenet volunteer t-shirt. Gawd, I'm suddenly feeling old too, haha.

Oh lawd. Not sure this is an international thing but, I just recalled how we used to have copyparties amongst friends, we brought our C-64/C-128 and Amigas to share and copy all of our cracked games way back in the mid-80s.

So many memories

reply to post by rickymouse
My first computer was the commodore pet 8k, yes top of the range that was outdated by the 32k model.

It was so simple it allowed you to tinker and learn about machine code. I still have it and dust it down on odd occasions and boy does it look prehistoric but it is nice to say hello, like visiting a mouldy old distant aunt.

RIP Jack

I was a Commodore fan myself - all the way from the VIC 20 to the Amiga CD32 - thanks for the good times

reply to post by rickymouse


Yes, I did!

I had the IBM 5100...

then

IBM 5150..w/ monitor and printer for printing off war-dialing reports!

man the memories!

Did you guys know they remade the C-64? After bankruptcy, another company bought the logo. Linky. What a beastly machine now. Looks the same, but check out the specs and price tag.

They also have emulators for Android, Frodo C64, and VICE. Just search for them at the store.

Dead but not forgotten! RIP Mr. Tramiel! And thank you!

What's that, a checksum error in line 342? Argh. Ah the memories. Yes, we are getting old.

I also had a Commodore as a first computer.

I will not so much grieve, however, as I will feel a positive kind of catharsis. Mr Tramiel contributed a lot to my existence; but at the same time, 92 years is a lifespan that we can all hope for. So I am more inclined to want to celebrate both what he gave us, and his good fortune in not only having the life that he did, but also having as much of it as he had, as well.

reply to post by Druid42

I wonder if mine can be upgraded

reply to post by HermesTrismegistus


That was over two grand or more than the commodore. Did it have the one meg hard drive?

reply to post by rickymouse


Which system?

*sorry, I've had so many.

nm I answered in PM.

woow i had one back then it was amazing at that time
does any one remember the sinclair spectrum ? it was smaller than the commodore

my first comp was the C64, I remember my very first propgram I wrote:

10 PRINT "JOE IS COOL"
20 GOTO 10
RUN


RIP Jack!!

Remember the "chicklet" keyboard of the PET, with a cassette tape built into the chassis? I lusted after the Trash-80 at Radio Shack and finally bought an Apple ][ (minus) solely because it had bigger disk drives: 116K. I still have a complete FidoNet BBS on a hardcard. Of course, I'll never find an ISA bus motherboard to run it on...

I paid $120 per 16K of memory for my first machine. My current computer memory would be $4.7 million in 1979 dollars today.

i think or feel that all old schoolers went through the commodore and amiga stage....man o man, how simple life was back then...fast forward to today, you have a dvd with gigs worth of data to play a game. Imagine in twenty years how and at what level games and data will be at.