| Obituaries customarily focus on the deceased's
accomplishments, not the unpleasant details of the demise.
That's especially true when the demise hints strongly of
self-neglect tantamount to suicide, and nobody can find a
note that offers some final explanation. There will be no such note from Commodore, and it would take a book to explain why this once-great computer company lies cold on its deathbed. But Commodore deserves a eulogy, because its role as an industry pioneer has been largely forgotten or ignored by revisionist historians who claim that everything started with Apple or IBM. Commodore's passing also recalls an era when conformity to standards wasn't the yardstick by which all innovation was measured. In the 1970s and early 1980s, when Commodore peaked as a billion-dollar company, the young computer industry wasn't dominated by standards that dictated design parameters. Engineers had much more latitude to explore new directions. Users tended to be hobbyists who prized the latest technology over backward compatibility. As a result, the market tolerated a wild proliferation of computers based on many different processors, architectures, and operating systems. Commodore was at the forefront of this revolution. In 1977, the first three consumer-ready personal computers appeared: the Apple II, the Tandy TRS-80, and the Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor). Chuck Peddle, who designed the PET, isn't as famous as Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, the founders of Apple. But his distinctive computer with a built-in monitor, tape drive, and trapezoidal case was a bargain at $795. It established Commodore as a major player. The soul of Commodore was Jack Tramiel, an Auschwitz survivor who founded the company as a typewriter-repair service in 1954. Tramiel was an aggressive businessman who did not shy away from price wars with unwary competitors. His slogan was "computers for the masses, not the classes." In what may be Commodore's most lasting legacy, Tramiel drove his engineers to make computers that anyone could afford. This was years before PC clones arrived. More than anyone else, Tramiel is responsible for our expectation that computer technology should keep getting cheaper and better. While shortsighted critics kept asking what these machines were good for, Commodore introduced millions of people to personal computing. Today, I keep running into those earliest adopters at leading technology companies. Commodore's VIC-20, introduced in 1981, was the first color computer that cost under $300. VIC-20 production hit 9000 units per day — a run rate that's enviable now, and was phenomenal back then. Next came the Commodore 64 (1982), almost certainly the best-selling computer model of all time. Ex-Commodorian Andy Finkel estimates that sales totaled between 17 and 22 million units. That's more than all the Macs put together, and it dwarfs IBM's top-selling systems, the PC and the AT. Commodore made significant technological contributions as well. The 64 was the first computer with a synthesizer chip (the Sound Interface Device, designed by Bob Yannes). The SX-64 (1983) was the first color portable, and the Plus/4 (1984) had integrated software in ROM. But Commodore's high point was the Amiga 1000 (1985). The Amiga was so far ahead of its time that almost nobody — including Commodore's marketing department — could fully articulate what it was all about. Today, it's obvious the Amiga was the first multimedia computer, but in those days it was derided as a game machine because few people grasped the importance of advanced graphics, sound, and video. Nine years later, vendors are still struggling to make systems that work like 1985 Amigas. At a time when PC users thought 16-color EGA was hot stuff, the Amiga could display 4096 colors and had custom chips for accelerated video. It had built-in video outputs for TVs and VCRs, still a pricey option on most of today's systems. It had four-voice, sampled stereo sound and was the first computer with built-in speech synthesis and text-to-speech conversion. And it's still the only system that can display multiple screens at different resolutions on a single monitor. Even more amazing was the Amiga's operating system, which was designed by Carl Sassenrath. From the outset, it had preemptive multitasking, messaging, scripting, a GUI, and multitasking command-line consoles. Today's Windows and Mac users are still waiting for some of those features. On top of that, it ran on a $1200 machine with only 256 KB of RAM. We may never see another breakthrough computer like the Amiga. I value my software investment as much as anyone, but I realize it comes at a price. Technology that breaks clean with the past is increasingly rare, and rogue companies like Commodore that thrived in the frontier days just don't seem to fit anymore. Photograph: Commodore 64 Photograph: Amiga 1000 Photograph: Commodore VIC-20 Photograph: Commodore PET Photograph: Commodore 64C Photograph: Amiga 2000 Tom R. Halfhill is a BYTE senior news editor based in San Mateo, California. You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at thalfhill@bix.com. Letters / October 1994Commodore — Thanks for the MemoriesWhen my father bought our family a Commodore 64 (which I maintain is still the greatest personal computer ever produced), my life changed completely. I tore into it with a vengeance, and because of it, I will probably be involved with computer science as a career. The first computer I bought for myself was an Amiga 1000, which I still have. Tom R. Halfhill's commentary "R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994" (August) has inspired me to pull out my old system and hook it up once more. I can only say that it is a shame that the marketing division of Commodore didn't advertise more aggressively. Perhaps then we wouldn't have the tragedy of the world's greatest personal-computer producer going out of business. Casey Connor Columbus, OH My first stride into programming was with a VIC-20. I dutifully stretched that machine to its 3-KB limit, writing what I thought were personal-productivity tools and file management programs. Of course, I was 10 years old at the time. When I finally moved up to the Commodore 128, I thought that I had hit the big time. I credit Commodore with my love of computers. Were it not for a computer that was accessible to a kid with less than $200, I might not have gone beyond the aging Apple computers collecting dust at my junior high school. As I type away on my Macintosh PowerBook, I can honestly say that I miss Commodore's quirky little VIC-20, with its jumbo-size characters and boxy keyboard. Rest in peace. John Logan Boise, ID Tom R. Halfhill's eulogy for Commodore ("R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994," August) was all the more poignant, because in the past, BYTE has never adequately covered Commodore products. Search your files for a comprehensive, timely review of the Commodore 64; you won't find it, because it was never written. Perhaps Halfhill's commentary would be different if BYTE had given Commodore more evenhanded treatment. Rob Stengel Princeton, NJ Magazines don't have the power to change the direction of the market or to save companies from their own destruction. Commodore collapsed because of poor management, ineffective marketing, and the reluctance of users to buy anything that doesn't conform to established standards — not for lack of magazine coverage. In fact, from the earliest days, Commodore attracted plenty of coverage. BYTE published several timely articles on Commodore's most significant accomplishments (particularly on the Amiga), and there were many Commodore-specific magazines as well. In 1983, I helped launch the most successful of those magazines (Compute!'s Gazette), which quickly zoomed to more than 300,000 readers. But that magazine doesn't exist anymore. BYTE will continue to cover alternative platforms to the extent that they are launching pads for significant new technology. To devote major coverage to those platforms, however, would risk putting us in the same boat as the magazines that sink with those platforms. — Tom R. Halfhill I had to write and commend you on your excellent obituary of Commodore International (August). I still use an Amiga and have found it gives me a leg up on more advanced general operating systems, such as NetWare and Unix. I am currently a LAN administrator for the University of Wisconsin and would not have dreamed of getting to my present position had I not learned so much from Jay Miner and Commodore. Finally, thank you for including coverage of the Amiga in BYTE, especially in the early days. There were two multipart series on the kernel alone! I bought a secondhand bridgeboard without documentation, and a BYTE article on the bridgeboard told me enough to get it working. I feel I need to apologize for some of my fellow Amigans who attacked every magazine that did not do regular monthly praise of the machines. The industry as a whole went in another direction, and you had to follow. John Holt Madison, WI Shortly after I wrote my obituary, the Commodore community suffered another tragic loss — the death of Jay Miner in a Silicon Valley hospital. Miner was a brilliant engineer who played major roles in designing two computers that were ahead of their times: the Amiga (1985) and the Atari 800 (1979). He will be missed. — Tom R. Halfhill Commodore's death may very well be the best thing that ever happened to the Amiga, as no doubt some other company will realize the hidden treasure and give the machines the recognition they so richly deserve. Seeing a full-screen, 24-bit animation playing at 30 frames per second on an Amiga 4000 equipped with a Personal Animation Recorder from Digital Processing Systems is guaranteed to make any proponent of Windows animation or QuickTime suffer a violent hemorrhage. Commodore may be dead, but expect the Amiga to rise phoenix-like from its ashes. Michael A. Prostka Address unknown The August commentary "R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994" was an accurate, well-thought-out professional piece of journalism (something Commodore and the Amiga have lacked for a long time). As the past owner of an Amiga 1000, 2000, and currently 3000, I was almost moved to tears as I read the article. You pointed out "firsts" that I've told friends and colleagues about for a long time. It seems it is always the Amiga users who point out these achievements, while the company failed to articulate the true meaning of the Amiga and relay this to the masses. I sincerely hope the Amiga finds a new home before it's too late. Nat Bowman Redmond, WA At least two companies and a group of former Commodore managers are interested in acquiring what's left of Commodore, but I fear the Amiga is doomed no matter what happens. Motorola's 68060 is probably the last generation in the 680x0 line, and the task of adapting the Amiga's custom chips, operating system, and software base to another CPU architecture would be difficult and expensive. — Tom R. Halfhill Thank you for the kind words you wrote for an underrated computer company. It's surprising enough to see the Amiga mentioned in a magazine like BYTE, but pretty darn cool to actually see nice things said about it. Two of the first PCs I ever used were the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) and the VIC-20, but until your article, I had forgotten they were related to the 4000 on my desk at home. Geoff Mark Pasadena, CA Copyright 1994-1998 BYTE |