Commodore Free 15/Commodore_Free_Issue_15_2008_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.history museum

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Here at the Computer History Museum
 (CHM) for the Impact of the C64 with
  Jack Tramiel
 By Robert Bernardo Reprinted with
 Permission from Author

[Robert Bernardo, an invited guest, was
at the December 10, 2007, Computer
History Museum event, The Impact of the
C64: a 25th Year Anniversary.  Below is
his first-hand, minute-by-minute
account of the event as it unfolded.
His account is only interrupted during
the actual talk itself, because he was
busy videotaping and taking still
photos.]

Dec 10 2007, 3:31 pm
Because the #c64friends chat is locked
out here, I'm posting on the news-
groups.  I arrived early, hours before
any of the other guests and attendees.
Bil Herd, Jeri Ellsworth, & others have
gone off to lunch (but I came in after
that & so, I missed out).  The event
room is still being set up by the CHM
staff, the room being the same 2nd
floor room used by exhibitors & vendors
at the Vintage Computer Festival. The
members' reception room is on the first
floor to the right of the entrance.

I finally finished unpacking the car &
setting up the FCUG informational
table. Just a bit of confusion as to
where to place the table, but it was
finally decided to place it on the
2nd floor, opposite to the stairs & to
the side of the refreshments area.

FCUG newsletters & applications are
spread out on the table as are framed
photos of Jim Butterfield and Jeri
Ellsworth.

Here at the refreshments area, the 400
attendees can gather for coffee and
cake. I've prepped all my cameras,
i.e., loaded the film and videotape.
I've also borrowed another Digital 8
camcorder from our treasurer.  At the
back of the event room, I spy a more
professional camcorder on tripod;
perhaps that is the one that will
broadcast the live feed to the Net.
Will report back in a little while.
Still awaiting people to show.

Dec 10 2007, 4:16 pm
Things are starting to perk up around
here now.  Steve Wozniak is wandering
around; he went to our FCUG table,
looked at the photos, and remarked that
he'd like to hear what Jeri Ellsworth
is up to.  News reporters are slowly
but surely wandering in, picking up
their presspasses, & then heading off
to the press room.  Here is a list of
the news people to come:

Ivestors Business Daily, San Jose
Mercury News, Financial Times,
ComputerWorld, Information Week, ANG
Newspapers/Tribune Tower,  Bloomberg
News, Red Herring, Bay Area News Group,
Info World, Salon.com, Gadget Games,
IDG News Service, CBS, KPIX-TV, IDC,
Associated Press, PC Gamer, eWeek, Mac
World, Mac Life, San Jose Business
Journal, and the all-encompassing,
Media
I may have missed one or two above.

My mistake -- the food for the members'
reception is to the center and left on
the first floor.  As the scents of the
fine food wafts around...

Dec 10 2007, 4:34 pm
Jack Tramiel has entered the building!
He greeted the CHM people,sat down at a
table, and is signing autographs while
photos are being taken.  Shorter than I
thought, wearing a dark sport coat,
gray slacks,and dress shirt unbuttoned
at the top...

Dec 10 2007, 4:53 pm
Darn!  Only the large group of press is
being let in to talk to Jack.I still
have to wait until 6 for the members'
reception.  Steve Wozniak and Jack are
both at the same table, happily talking
to each other. Flashes are being fired
off the press cameras.  I thought flash
photography would not be allowed.
Zooming in with my videocamera...

On Dec 10, 5:06 pm
Everybody's still in the reception
room, where no videocasting is set up.
Brian Hurley of Liquid Computing asked
Lowe, Wozniak, & Tramiel to say some
words to the press gathered there.
Because I was not allowed in, I video-
taped from the balcony railing over-
looking the reception room.  Some shaky
camera work but at least it's recorded.
Still waiting until the 6 pm magic
hour.

Dec 10 2007, 6:30 pm
The members' reception is in full
force!  Scads of people are wolfing
down the tasty treats (my dinner!).
Bil Herd, Brad Templeton, Cameron
Kaiser, Jeri Ellsworth, & TOGA member
Gordon Collins have arrived. I ate
plenty of coconut shrimp & then under
the advice of  Cameron, staked out a
spot for videotaping the event (front
row to the left). Lots of pro video
cameras here, but Valerie Alston of CHM
confirmed there is no live web-casting.
:-(  With Cameron's video gear behind
me... [The event ran from approximately
7 pm to 8:35 pm.]

Dec 11 2007, 1:05 am
After the event, Valerie Alston of CHM
confirmed that a few days from now, the
video should be able to be seen at
their website.  Of course, I was taping
furiously before (hey, I didn't get
enough to eat at the reception... I was
so busy taping) & after (hey, everybody
ate the 25th anniversary C64 cake... I
was so busy taping).  Oh, well... the
life of a videographer.

The panel discussion began a few
minutes late, but that gave everyone
time to crowd the room.  It was packed!
Family, news media, and VIPs were in
front; the rest were to the sides or in
the middle & back. I was surprised that
Steve Wozniak & Jack Tramiel were
taking friendly jabs at each other...
you know, the Commodore vs. Apple
rivalry. William Lowe admitted that the
PCjr was a mistake.  Adam Chowaniec
("sho wan nee eh" as Bil Herd told me)
was proud that the Amiga was still
ahead of PC for 10 years after the
Amiga's introduction.

The panel discussion ended after
questions were fielded from the
audience -- about 8:35 pm.  Then Adam &
Jack cut the anniversary cake, & then
it was a free-for-all as everyone
crowded around Jack, Steve, William, &
Adam.  So much noise... so many people
talking.  Everyone seemed very happy.

Next to the newsletters, photos, &
application forms, I had a brown C64 on
display at the FCUG informational
table.  When the talk ended, Jack
Tramiel started leaving, and I had to
drop all equipment, rush to the table,
grab the C64, run back (excuse me...
excuse me... coming through...
coming through...) to the conference
room.

I had that brown C64 breadbox
autographed by Jack -- "It's an honor
to meet you, Mr. Tramiel.  Would you
autograph my C64?"  Then I ran back to
the FCUG table to pick up the books
Jack Rubin wanted autographed by
Tramiel. Unfortunately, I was delayed
by curious onlookers who asked me about
the club, the Jim Butterfield and Jeri
Ellsworth photos, and the Commodores we
had in storage.  By the time, I got
back to where Jack Tramiel was, he had
left!

Bil advised to have Lenard Tramiel
autograph the books.  However, when I
pulled the books out (On the Edge & the
Home Computer Wars), Lenard and Bil
became very outspoken, saying that the
latter book was full of falsehoods,
that the author did not really have the
information, that there were errors in
the book. Lenard grudgingly autographed
the book, but both of them were more at
ease signing Bagnall's book. Right
there in front of Lenard, Bil teased
me, "What's the proper way to say the
last name?"  I said, "Tra mel".

I found Amiga engineer, Dale Luck; FCUG
member, Bill Ward; FCUG/TOGA member,
Mitch Zollinger; and Vintage Computer
Festival organizer, Sellam Ismail. I
tried to tape Dale and Bil Herd's
conversation, but with so much noise, I
didn't think my results were very good.
Brian Bagnall  was there; he thanked me
for my efforts, and we talked about a
2nd edition of his book, On the Edge:
the Spectacular Rise and Fall of
Commodore.

If he could get a first-person account
from Jack in the next few days while
he's in town, perhaps that 2nd edition
would come to light.  Bil Herd asked
how many copies were sold of the book,
& Brian replied 8,000. Dale met up with
Adam for the first time in years and
talked a bit.

Bil talked with Jack (well... before
the panel discussion), and at Bil's
urging, I took several still shots of
him with Jack.  Free posters of the
25th anniversary of the C64 were handed
out, and many of those were autographed
by the guest speakers.  Cameron Kaiser
had a PET book autographed by Jack.

About an hour later, the CHM people
were telling us they'd have to shut the
doors.  I started packing up my
equipment and closing down the FCUG
table. Meanwhile, Bil Herd, Lenard
Tramiel, Jeri Ellsworth, and others
snuck over to the Visible Storage Area
(of computers) and closed the door.
What secrets were they discussing?
Were they starting up some kind of
party? Valerie assured me that they
wouldn't stay long, because the museum
was closing.  I put everything into the
car and went back to drop off the cart
the museum loaned to me.  The secretive
group were just coming out of the
Storage Area, & several departed, just
leaving me,

Bil, Jeri, and Jeri's friend, Ken
Summeril (sp?).  Though Bil wanted to
crash because of severe jet lag, he
still had enough energy for what Ken, a
CHM person, wanted to show us. Ken
brought us into the other half of the
museum, the areas not seen by the
public.  Plenty of catalogued and
uncatalogued computer and gaming gear
sitting on shelves!  Analog computers,
mainframe boxes, computers like the
Coleco Adam (with box) and Apples, game
systems like the Colecovision (and a
Vectrex hiding  Somewhere Ken informed
me).  He showed us the C= area, and I
saw shiny PETs  Sitting there.

"Don't touch," he warned. Bil asked
whether there were ram expanders in the
museum storage, and Ken said no. I
said, "Ram  Expansion Units"; Bil
corrected me, "That name was used after
I had left."  Bil half-seriously
(half-jokingly?) asked whether the
museum would want a loan of the
Commodore LCD computer he had. Jeri
remarked that Commodore nerds would
come far & wide to see that machine. I
said that it should be protected by
bulletproof glass & guarded by a laser
beam alarm  system. Bil said the price
of such an item was now $30K. I said,
"Bil, I thought at VCF East you said it
was $20K".  He said that after everyone
found out about it, the price had gone
up. ;-) And on we joked.

Finally, at about 10:30 we left the
museum, Bil shaking my hand, Jeri
leaving with her Christmas gifts, and
everybody going back to their place for
the night. Now I'm here at the Econo
Lodge in Gilroy for a few hours of
sleep before I have to hit the road for
the 3-hour drive directly back to
school.

On Dec 11, 9:07 am
I was surprised at how Jack enjoyed the
limelight; he was relaxed, engaging,
and confident.  He was surrounded by
family, friends, industry types,
admirers, and fans.  He was greeted by
so many people... some he hadn't seen
in a long time.  In that event room of
400 attendees, the feeling was that of
a great class reunion.

A side note... when the panel
discussion ended, there was  Resounding
applause for Tramiel, Wozniak, Lowe,
Chowaniec, and host Markoff.  As Bil
Herd mentioned to me, only some of the
stories were scratched; there were many
more not told. If only the guests could
have gone on... :-)

 Truly
  Robert Bernardo