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Brian Bagnall

Commodore: A Company on the Edge Hardcover – 15 Dec. 2010

by Brian Bagnall (Author)

138 ratings

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Filled with first-hand accounts of ambition, greed, and inspired engineering, this history of the personal computer revolution takes readers inside the cutthroat world of Commodore. Before Apple, IBM, or Dell, Commodore was the first computer manufacturer to market its machines to the public, selling an estimated 22 million Commodore 64s. Those halcyon days were tumultuous, however, owing to the expectations and unsparing tactics of founder Jack Tramiel. Engineers and managers with the company between 1976 and 1994 share their memories of the groundbreaking moments, soaring business highs, and stunning employee turnover that came with being on top in the early days of the microcomputer industry. This updated second edition includes additional interviews and first-hand material from major Commodore figures like marketing guru Kit Spencer, chip designer Bill Mensch, and Commodore co-founder Manfred Kapp.

Print length

548 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Variant Press
Publication date

15 Dec. 2010
Dimensions

15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

0973864966
ISBN-13

978-0973864960
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Product description

About the Author

Brian Bagnall is the author of numerous computer titles, including"Core LEGO Mindstorms," "On the Edge," and "Maximum LEGO NXT." He is also a frequent contributor to Old-Computers.com, an online museum dedicated to recording and preserving computer history. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba."

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Variant Press; 2nd Revised edition (15 Dec. 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 548 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0973864966
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0973864960
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.56 x 22.86 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 655,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,055 in Amazon Online Shopping
- 1,277 in Company Histories
- 4,996 in Business & Economic History

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138 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		68%
4 star		19%
3 star		11%
2 star		2%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Mr. T. Haddrell

Yes, it is different to the 1st Edition. And definitely worth getting!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2012

Verified Purchase

Having been a long time Commodore user I was most curious what drove this company. And utilimately what killed it.

When the first edition came out I was most curious and bought and read it. It was great! A true eye opener.

So, when this second edition came out I wondered if it was worth getting. Was there anything different? Well the answer to both questions is "Yes!". It is most definitely worth getting.

This second edition puts into context what Commodore were doing in relation to the rest of the industry. Playing with Digital Cameras in the early 80's. What competitors were doing at the time when the C64 came out.

Well written, great insites, and good stories from the people who were there at the time.

Worth getting even if you have the first edition.

2 people found this helpful

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Chris A

Worth paying for, a good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2019

Verified Purchase

This book covers quite a few things I didn't know about.

Describes what happened in the day to day life of those famous names while they worked for Commodore. There's a lot of detail and it's not too technical.

The pace of life for the engineers is conveyed well. As is the attitude Jack and the employees had for each other.

The author doesn't fall into the trap of "worshipping" the famous people he writes about (good).

The story ends suddenly, feeling like there will be more in the next chapter. But there's no more chapters you have to buy a follow-up book (bad). This book would be improved by having the whole story in one volume.

So all that was going on behind closed doors while I was zapping aliens on my VIC 20...

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A. Ross

GREAT READ. If you are in a technical field and grew up in the 80's during the home computer era ... BUY IT. You won't regret

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2014

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Extremely good book. Brought back soooo many memories for me (being a child of the 80's computer era).
Told a very interesting tale about Chuck Peddle, and provided more info on MOS than I had seen elsewhere from sources such as the IEEE Spectrum design case history series on C64, Atari VCS etc.
The descriptions of the layout engineers on the table with their socks on with razor blades in hand modifying the layout mask makes me want to dig up my old university VLSI course notes and build an 8 bitter by hand.

My only gripe is ... what about the rest of the Commodore story ... what about Amiga? So much to tell about that.

Guess will have to wait of that book ...

One person found this helpful

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A. dunipace

I adore the book. However....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought the original edition and must have ready it at least six times. As my copy is getting a bit tatty it seemed the ideal opportunity to upgrade to a kindle version.

As has been stated by other reviewers, this is a very different book from the first edition. Bagnall finishes with Jack Tramiel leaving commodore, excluding the creation of the C128 and the Amiga years.

Trust me, you will really enjoy this book.

This version appears to have more input from Kit Spencer, giving greater insight. I look forward to the second volume.

There are several things, however, that prevent me from giving it five stars:

In the introduction he mentions revisionist rewriting history to exclude commodore from the early days of the computer industry. However, Bagnall makes reference to Sinclair's "junk computer" and states in a later chapter "Despite the similar look and price, the ZX Spectrum dominated over the C116 in the UK. However, the C64 continued its domination of the ZX Spectrum, making the C116 redundant."

I am not aware of the C116 ever being released in the UK. It was the C16. Also, as someone who worked in retail at the time my recollection is that the C64 and spectrum both sold roughly 50/50 in the UK, with the spectrum possibly selling more. The spectrum sold over 5 million units (excluding a huge number of clone machines)in it's 10 years life.

It is understandable that this book is written with a North American point of view, but I worry that an uninformed reader would believe Sinclair were a small footnote in the computer industry. Where did the UK stats come from?

But as I said, great book!

3 people found this helpful

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S. Houghton

Amazing detailed and absolutely fascinating!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2016

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This is one amazing read. I've learned so much about my favourite company growing up and about all the heroes and villains that both made it and broke it!

I really hope Brian is able to release all the interviews at some point because some of these guys are living history and it's a great thing to have their stories out there.

I've just pre-ordered the Amiga Years follow-up and I'm so looking forward to it coming out!

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Dean Stansfield

Real history for the masses

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2013

Verified Purchase

A detailed history of pre-Amiga Commodore
A lot has been written before but this has an element of real fact drama.
Lacks a few more pictures but almost beyond fault.
I lived through all of this watching first hand the rise and simple use your imagination joy thats mostly been lost in the big budget industry thats become of my now past;favourite pastime.
Read it and learn apple this will happen to you

Get the Amiga years

One person found this helpful

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C. O'Neill

An 80s icon, as dramatic as Dallas!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2014

Verified Purchase

I found the book to be well written and did leave me feeling confident that it had been well researched with many quotes coming from key people in the history of Commodore. Having had a C64c as a kid and spending (way too many) hours playing games and trying a little but of programming I have great memories if the machine itself and this was a great way to find out about a true pioneer in the early days of microcomputers. It's great to be able to go through a book like this and see Commodore attributed with many early advancements that today I think people just assume was Apple! It has left me really wanting more though, as the book takes you up to the departure of the company founder and stops before where I personally have even more fond memories, the Amiga. I believe a somewhat stalled sequel relating to the Amiga years is floating about by the author but is yet to see the light of day and it's been stated that the project is currently parked. Fingers crossed the excellent book will see its sequel, as in many ways this is only half the story!

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Commodore: A Company on the Edge Hardcover – 15 Dec. 2010

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About the author

Brian Bagnall

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