Subj : Re: Jack Tramiel
To   : Tristan Miller
From : Simon Geddes
Date : Fri Jan 31 2020 12:30 pm

 Re: Re: Jack Tramiel
 By: Tristan Miller to Simon Geddes on Thu Jan 30 2020 01:32 pm

> > That really came across in the book I was reading. Most of Commodore
> > thought they should concetrate on high-end PET-level machines, but Jack
> > drove the
> plan
> > and ambition to do the Vic as a low-cost computer for all. I'm not sure ,
> > but
> I
> > feel this was partly motivated by a sense of public purpose.
>
>
> I haven't read The Home Computer Wars, but that's not at all the
> impression I got of Tramiel from reading Brian Bagnall's "On the Edge:
> The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore" (or whatever it happened to
> be called at the time -- the author seems to change the title of the
> book with every edition).  Anyways, from that book it was pretty clear
> that Tramiel was driven purely by profit and egotism, not any higher
> social purpose.  After reading the book (and watching the "Commodore
> Story" documentary) I came away with a much less favourable impression
> of Tramiel than I had had previously.

I've read "On the Edge" too - a fantastic book. I think part of this difference might be down to one taking a wide view of Commodore history (including the large part of post-Jack Commodore, where Jack became essentially the enemy), while the other was a more "contemperaneous" account. It's clear the author Michael Tomczyk was part of Jack's famous inner circle, so no doubt his impression was coloured. But perhaps Brian Bagnall's view of Jack was coloured by his own role in Commodore's failure. Who knows. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle.