Customer Reviews

On the Edge: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I was personally involved (and mentioned in the book), even as insider I didn't know the whole story of Commodore. I think Brian did a fantastic job of telling this story, so often left out of the personal computer histories that are, as one might imagine, only told by the winners. It's easy to get the story of Steve Wozniak building the Apple I in a garage, and he did some brilliant things.. but consider, when Chuck Peddle started building a computer, he didn't start with chips, he started with "sand".

Brian's coverage of my era at Commodore (the last 11.5 years) was spot on, and he did a good job of tracking down the people involved. And illustrating that things like this, Engineering, are creative endeavors; as such, the specific people involve matter, and matter big.

While clearly of interest to Commodore and Amiga fans, I think this is essential reading for anyone interested in the whole story of the dawn of the personal computer revolution.

The final few pages get a little poetic; the real end was a rather protracted mess. The "logical" end was essentially when Brian describes it, the layoffs shortly before the "after hours" bankruptcy declaration on April 30, 1994... I made a video about that (Google "Deathbed Vigil", tragically not available through Amazon) which was my attempt to tell the story of why it ended, and maybe who we were in Engineering in those days. 13 years later, I'm glad that's out there, but I think the story of our successes are the ones I'd like to remember... the best reason to look back is to help you look forward with a better eye.

I'm almost in tears reading this book in all its 561 pages of Commodore-Amiga glory. Now if only there was another one like it covering Radio Shack, all would be well! It's truly stunning the way the paths of Amiga, Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Digital Research, Microsoft, MOS Technology, Motorola and yes, Radio Shack, intertwined in this rich stew of opportunism, arrogance, incompetence and employee stealing. Go ahead, read this one along with Andy Hertzfeld's "Revolution in The Valley" and reflect for a moment on the amount of revisionist mythmaking machinery that has grown up around the House that Cringely Built. Unlike many other books, Bagnall doesn't skimp on the technical details here either - the story of MOS Technology and the 6502 is almost deserving of its own book!

-Dallas Hodgson, Deluxe Paint (AGA series) co-developer

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book and I don't usually like to read. I grew up on Commodore, had a VIC-20, C64, C128, and a couple of Amigas. It was really hard to put this book down. Great information. It brought back a lot of memories. I forgot about the Commodore 16 and even Amiga 600 and 1200!

Also, read this book to know why the 1541 drive was so slow or why your VIC-20 may have been purposely made defective. And why did they have to stop selling Amigas for months because an engineer put a message in the ROM.

This is also a great business book and would make a good study in a college business class. There's a lot of wisdom in the book when it comes to decisions made right and decisions screwed up. Commodore management could have made some much better decisions, instead there seems to have been a lot of incompetence. They lost a lot of good engineers because of it.

My only criticism is that I wish there were more photos of the people, hardware, and places talked about - especially at the beginning of the book. The end of the book has more photos.

AS one of the people personally involved at Commodore and "the birth of The Microcomputer Industry" I was very impressed at the level of detail that Brian Bagnall has been able to get into this book and with also with his level of accuracy. As a Commodore insider I naturally found the book a fascinating read but also believe it is interesting to anyone who would like to know more about the birth of the microcomputer industry. It gets certain revisionist thinking on the role of the early micro pioneers into a good perspective. To anyone who had an early Commodore Computer (and 20 million had a Commodore 64) it will also give some interesting insights into some of the features that went into those early micros and why. It is also an interesting human business history of what can go right and wrong in a fast moving company.

Brian Bagnall has packed incredible detailed information in this book which spans the history of Commodore from the early days of transitioning from calculators to microcomputers to the glory days of the Commodore 64 and all the way into 1994 when the company went bust. It's almost too much for those of us interested in the early, often forgotten days, before the IBM PC.

Commodore, during the Chuck Peddle era, was a force that brought many people into personal computing. Speaking of Peddle, it's clear that the author got extensive interviews with the man who created the 6502 processor AND created the Commodore PET microcomputer. I found the stories about just how they made those early chips, doing a physical layout of the whole thing, to be fascinating. I had a chance to hear a talk by Chuck Peddle in which he told some of the same stories that are in this book, about how loads of the early chips simply did not work. In 1975, a 30% chip yield (the number that actually worked) was considered good. When Peddle was with MOS Technology, he and his attractive wife Shirley presided over a barrel of chips at the Wescon show in San Francisco (actually in a hotel suite, where people were directed from the show). Having a barrel of chips made it look like they could produce them in quantity. The dirty little secret was that only the ones at the top of the barrel actually worked!

The year 1977 was a turning point for personal computing, with three important microcomputers appearing on the market (Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore PET), giving computer enthusiasts a choice beside building their own from a kit. This book reveals that John Roach from Radio Shack took a look at a prototype PET and Commodore honchos hoped he might buy it, but the legendary Jack Trameil was obsessed with getting a big order for calculators from Roach, and Radio Shack developed their own product, the TRS-80.

For another look at this period, see my book Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution. Tandy Corporation, parent of Radio Shack, introduced the TRS-80 Model I in August of 1977, just after the PET, and the TRS-80 family of microcomputers had a great run, with follow-on Model III and Model 4, but these, like the Commodore products, faded away into computer history. Radio Shack, of course, did not go out of business, but they did stop making computers when it became apparent that the market had changed. Radio Shack was, to some extent, a victim of its "shlock image" (as the cover of InfoWorld once declared). Once the business world saw the power of small computers, there was a stampede to adopt the technology. But they wanted to do business with a serious partner, not with companies whose main customers had been hobbyists and geeks. Commodore, like Tandy, had an image problem.

The author did a lot of interviews with people who worked at Commodore, but he did not talk to Jack Trameil, who no doubt might see a few things differently. The book was almost too long, with lots of details about projects and products that never saw the light of day. It does not concentrate on any one person or era, but takes you through the whole history. I'm not sure I can agree with the book's subtitle, "The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore." The early years of microcomputing saw many companies rise and fall. There's no doubt that Commodore was an important player, but their importance declined along with their most impressive product, the Commodore 64. The fact that they went out of business is not remarkable; once the IBM PC and its clones took over the marketplace, there wasn't much future for any company that did not follow their lead.

I enjoyed the stories about Jack Tramiel and his "Jack Attacks" and the incredible tale of the "PET Jet," the executive airplane so beloved of favored employees until one day when it went down in flames, with those aboard barely escaping with their lives. These kind of interesting stories about the people, their habits of sleeping at the office and lack of hygiene, and the their single-minded dedication to their work are what make this book good reading.

This book is a geat contribution to computer history, and there's a need for more books about the early era of microcomputing, which many people today know nothing about. Did IBM invent personal computing? Of course not! You have to look to the roots in the Altair, in the Homebrew Computer Club and in the Radio Shack stores back in 1977, where people who knew nothing about computers could walk into the store and see a real computer on a table and could type a few lines of BASIC and fill the screen with their name. Sounds corny, but lots of people got hooked, paid $600 and took home a TRS-80 and learned to program (including my husband David Welsh, who authored the Lazy Writer word processor which we sold worldwide back in the late 70s and early 80s). The same tale can be told about buying a VIC-20 or an Apple or a Commodore 64 and finding a whole new world of computing. That's the story David and I tell in our book; see more stories at microcomputerpioneers.com. I challenge anyone with ties to that era to preserve their stories and write their own book.

Today, we labor under a popular mythology that Apple invented the personal computer industry. It's untrue. Commodore, in fact, was the first major company to show a personal computer -- even before Apple or Radio Shack. It was the first company to ship a million computers, and the Commodore 64 remains the top-selling personal computer model ever made.

Under Chuck Peddle, their MOS Technologies division created and marketed the 6502 microprocessor. This chip - the first microprocessor affordable to hobbyists at $25 - enabled the Apple II, and powered the majority of other companies' home computer and game systems of the 1980s. You'll certainly recognize a few examples: Apple I/II/III, Atari 400/800, Atari 2600/5200/7800, BBC Acorn, and the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Commodore's Amiga defined the modern consumer multimedia computer, long before Apple's marketing machine added the term to the public lexicon. Commodore's major industry accomplishments are so extensive that they're impossible to adequately characterize here. Nonetheless, these accomplishments are unknown to most people today, fallen victim to an industry whose history has been rewritten by the victors.

For example, TNT's popular "Pirates of Silicon Valley" largely ignores Commodore. In its depiction of the seminal West Coast Computer Faire, the Apple booth is flocked by attendees, with all other booths deserted. In contrast with the historical record, Byte Magazine did not even deem Apple's booth worth a single mention in their July 1977 coverage of this event. Another TV series, "Triumph of the Nerds", omits Commodore entirely.

All of this -- and much more -- is chronicled in Brian Bagnall's book. It's (generally) meticulously researched and engagingly written. It tells the stories that I've only dreamed of reading, as Commodore's history and profound impact on the evolution of the computer industry has been tragically neglected by the mainstream press.

Perhaps due to this neglect, On the Edge is also clearly self-published; its typography is amateurish, and the book badly needed a copy editor. Most pages have typographic errors, especially with apostrophes. It also suffers from a paucity of quality photos. In several other cases, I know from years of volunteer experience at the Computer History Museum (and firsthand employment at Apple!) that the author is misstating the historical record, often by quoting sources without fact-checking them.

Nonetheless, this book is such a treasure that I can't give it any less than five full stars. Perhaps one day a major publisher will give the subject the attention and polish it deserves.

The Commodore 64 was the first computer that really got me excited about programming and games. I later owned a Commodore 128, and my best friend later had an Amiga 500. Our school at the time had a couple VIC-20s, a ton of C64s, and even a Plus/4, so I had exposure to most of the mainstream US machines. I used their cassettes, cartridges and all three major 5 1/4 US disk drives for the 8 bit machines.

This book brings back a lot of memories, and for that reason, I really enjoyed it.

HOWEVER. The editing in this book is abysmal. It really reads as though chapters were repositioned right before printing, with reference to things introduced later in the book, quoting someone by first name without introducting them until later, repeating quasi-important information several times, restating quoted material, failing to tie in material, failing to explain things until MUCH later etc.

The first 1/3 of the book should be titled "Chuck Peddle loves to drop the f-bomb". :) The remaining VIC-20, C64 and C128 bits should be titled "a disorganized bunch of quotes from big egos".

Sure, you can't blame Brian for what his interviewees said, but I would have expected him to add some real value above and beyond that. Sure, he adds some tidbits, but it seems lacking. The overuse of quotations makes it hard to tell fact from opinion, so he could had added some clarification there. Once in a while, Brian uses a footnote to clarify a quote, but it could have been better worked in to tell a solid story.

Oh, and where are the pictures? If any book is dying for pictures, this is one. The little thumbnails in the chapter headings don't count. This needed pictures of each of the players mentioned, as well as screenshots of some of the items discussed. I know you can get some of those.

The Amiga sections also get fairly short coverage. That was no big deal for me, but if you're primarily looking for 16 bit coverage, look elsewhere.

So, get the book because you fell in love with your Commodore 64, and overlook the absolutely terrible structure and editing. You'll be swearing at yourself while reading it, but in the end, you'll still enjoy what you read. If this book ever gets revised, I hope Brian changes the organization and reworks the text to tell a story with real flow - not just a bunch of interview notes.

Pete

The expression "back in the day" loses meaning when it comes to computers. For some, "back in the day" means Java 1.3, or Perl 4, or a PC running at less than 1 GHz. For me, "back in the day" means a world without personal computers. "On the Edge", the story of Commodore, is a great telling of how the personal computer got built "back in the day."

Probably the most thoroughly enjoyable part about "On the Edge" is the unvarnished portrayal of the engineers and executives. Chuck Peddle, Bil Herd, Irv Gould, and Jack Tramiel are profane, urgent men, men who wanted to build machines, to build empires. Their story is told with great candor and detail. It's astounding to think that computer chips and machines were once built quite literally by hand. It's astounding to think that Commodore could have become today's personal computer, were it not for the harsh and self-destructive business practices of Gould and Tramiel.

Along the way of Commodore's great rise and fall were the famous companies that stand before us today: Microsoft, IBM, and Apple. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are in this book too, playing minor roles as the personal computer market began to shake itself out. Commodore was tantalizing close to being one of those companies, and in the end, this book makes a strong case for their important role in helping found the personal computer industry.

Brian Bagnall's style is very accessible, and it's easy to read the 500-plus pages very quickly. He deserves high praise for telling the story, and positioning the Commodore as one of computers that ushered in the personal computer.

Finally, many years after Commodore bankruptcy in 1994, comes a book describing almost everything about this famous company.
You will learn how they moved from the calculator business (started in 1955) to the computer business with the first computer, PET 2001 in 1977, and then created 3 huge seller computers like VIC-20 (1980), C64 (1982) and the Amiga (1985) (and some flop computers like Max Machine, Plus4, C16).
Interviews with former employees (Chuck Peddle, Al Charpentier, Bob Yannes, Dave Haynie, Bil Herd, Leonard Tramiel and more) give an idea about the work environment at Commodore with a tough boss like Jack Tramiel (Auschwitz lager survivor) surviving to his famous "Jack Attack"!
Recommended to anybody that wants to learn an amazing part of computer history from the point of view of one of the companies that made it with Apple, Atari and IBM.

It is interesting that in the midst of all the video and history of the personal computer the impact that Commodore Business Machines had on the PC industry is forgotten. Microsoft, Apple, IBM, etc, were players, but so were Atari, Radio Shack, Commodore. This book I think nicely tells the forgotten story of Commodore and it's relationship with the PC companies we all know, love, and hate today. It starts with MOS and the birth of the PC (Commodore PET) and then moves foward to the Amiga and the death of the company. It also doesn't fail to tell stories of Apple, IBM, Atari, Microsoft, and others. I fully recommend this book to augment the history telling of the birth of the PC which many other chronicles fail to cover.