RIP: Jack Tramiel (1928-2012)
http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/tec...father-commodore-64-passes-away-age-83-690158
Jack Tramiel, the man who helped to create the Commodore 64 and shaped the world of video games that we know today, passed away Sunday, reports Forbes. He was 83.
Tramiel was born to a Jewish family in Poland. In 1939, he and his family were sent to Auschwitz. Tramiel was rescued in 1945 by the U.S. Army, but not before his father perished. Not long after, he immigrated to the United States and joined the U.S. armed forces, where he learned to repair office equipment. Upon leaving the army, he set up a small business repairing typewriters in New York City. He later relocated to Toronto, Canada, to form a bigger operation, one that would eventually produce the Commodore 64.
Commodore International was formed in 1954, and produced calculators up until the late '70s. Convinced by an engineer that personal computers would be the next thing, Tramiel's company produced the Commodore PET, which was a huge hit for the educational market. But it's the Commodore 64, introduced in 1982, that Tramiel is best known for. It offered impressive sound and graphics for its time, and coupled with it $595 price tag, was an economical alternative to other 64K computers on the market.
The Commodore 64 was part of Tramiel's mantra of creating "computers for the masses, not the classes." The competition was stiff, including Atari and Apple, but the C64 would end up becoming one of the most successful computers of its day.
http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/tec...father-commodore-64-passes-away-age-83-690158
Jack Tramiel, the man who helped to create the Commodore 64 and shaped the world of video games that we know today, passed away Sunday, reports Forbes. He was 83.
Tramiel was born to a Jewish family in Poland. In 1939, he and his family were sent to Auschwitz. Tramiel was rescued in 1945 by the U.S. Army, but not before his father perished. Not long after, he immigrated to the United States and joined the U.S. armed forces, where he learned to repair office equipment. Upon leaving the army, he set up a small business repairing typewriters in New York City. He later relocated to Toronto, Canada, to form a bigger operation, one that would eventually produce the Commodore 64.
Commodore International was formed in 1954, and produced calculators up until the late '70s. Convinced by an engineer that personal computers would be the next thing, Tramiel's company produced the Commodore PET, which was a huge hit for the educational market. But it's the Commodore 64, introduced in 1982, that Tramiel is best known for. It offered impressive sound and graphics for its time, and coupled with it $595 price tag, was an economical alternative to other 64K computers on the market.
The Commodore 64 was part of Tramiel's mantra of creating "computers for the masses, not the classes." The competition was stiff, including Atari and Apple, but the C64 would end up becoming one of the most successful computers of its day.
