Jack Tramiel, Creator of the Commodore

en.wikipedia.org

3 pointsgavanwoolery2 comments

Like many of my generation (born 81), I owe my beginning to the Commodore (64). While other kids were getting Nintendos and Sega Master Systems, my family was relatively broke at the time, but my Uncle (a programmer) donated his Commodore 64 to us when I was 4.

I would one day like to purchase and resurrect the brand as a non-profit organization and new type of computer system. One can dream. :)

Also, for those who don't already know, a trivial XOR patent may have contributed to the death of the Commodore Amiga:

http://xcssa.org/pipermail/xcssa/2005-February/002587.html

I can't remember the exact source, but it was a history of Jack and Commodore, and it said that he alienated almost all of his suppliers by some shady practices including not paying bills.

He may well have become very successful by being so aggressive in the early days of his business, but once he moved into a specialist technology area with limited suppliers that kind of practice didn't help him.

Perhaps it can serve as a lesson in that you can play hard ball and your suppliers will still deal with you, but if you play and cheat they might decide you're not worth the hassle as you don't pay anyway.

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