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u
Chronological History
of Commodore
from PC News C= Gallery
C= History
by Ian Matthews
(used with permission)
Commodore pioneered and
popularized so much of the technology
we use today. Commodore Business
Machines was a juggernaut in the late
1970's and early 1980's. Commodore's
history is rich with interesting
stories and fascinating facts.
Reproduced with permission from
Larry of portcommodore.com
Prehistory:
Around age 15, Jack Tramiel (then
named Idek Tramielski) and his parents
were shipped with other Jews from
Lodz, Poland to Auschwitz in 1939,
though his father perished he and his
mother survived the months till
Auschwitz' fall in 1944.
1948
After emigrating to America, Jack
Tramiel enlisted and served four years
in the U.S. Army. At Fort Dix Jack
showed a talent for unjamming
typewriters.
1952
When Tramiel left the army, he
started work at a typewriter repair
shop and then later set up his own
typewriter repair business in the
Bronx. To supplement his income, he
also moonlighted as a cab driver.
1955 - the "Birth of Commodore"
Jack moves to Toronto, Canada, and
founds Commodore International
Limited, with a deal with
Czechoslovakia to assemble typewriters
in Canada. (Why Commodore? Because
Tramiel wanted a name with a military
ring and because higher ranks, such as
General and Admiral, were already
taken.) To help fund his business, he
gets Financier C. Powell Morgan, the
head of the Atlantic Acceptance
Company to back his business.
1962
Commodore stock goes public at
$2.50 a share. By now they manufacture
typewriters and adding machines.
1965
Atlantic goes bankrupt and C.
Powell Morgan is indicted for "his
defiance of all accepted business
principles" and acts of "rapacious and
unprincipled manipulation." by the
Canadian government amid charges of
fraudulent financial statements, dummy
companies, and propped stock prices.
Tramiel was considered suspect as
well, but was never charged.
1966
To keep the struggling Commodore
afloat, Jack gave partial control
(17%) of Commodore to a new investor,
Irving Gould for $400,000.
1972 (circa)
After looking for a new market and
finding one, Commodore starts selling
the first pocket calculator using a
Bowmar LED Display and a Texas
Instruments Integrated Circuit.
1975
The Chip manufacturers themselves
enter the lucrative electronic
calculator market, including Texas
Instruments. Their calculators retail
for less than Commodore can assemble
them and Tramiel is stuck with a
massive inventory. Commodore went from
$60 million in sales to $5 million in
losses.
[June] Chuck Peddle designs the 6502
Microprocessor for MOS Technologies.
Styled after the Motorola 6800, the
6502 changes the microprocessor market
overnight by selling at ony $25 per
individual unit (previously the lowest
price was about $150 for an 8-bit
microprocessor).
1976
Commodore sets up shop in Palo
Alto, California. MOS Technologies
releases the KIM-1 Microprocessor
Trainer, a single board computer,
retailing for $245.
[October] In order to stop being the
"middle man" Commodore purchases MOS
Techologies for $800,000 as well as
Frontier, a Los Angeles manufacturer
of CMOS chips, and MDSA, a LCD maker.
Chuck peddle convinces Jack Tramiel
that the next market is with computers
and Jack says to build one.
1977 - A "PET" is Born!
[January] Commodore's Chuck Peddle
shows the first PET to Radio Shack,
hoping to have Radio Shack sell it. At
the West Coast Computer Faire,
Commodore unveils the Commodore PET
microcomputer. That year the Apple ][
and TRS-80 are also unveiled. Unlike
many companies, Commodore is able to
start world wide distribution in
months instead of years. In order to
to gauge demand, Commodore runs
newspaper ads that offer a six-week
delivery on a computer priced at $599
(with which Tramiel thought he could
still make a profit). The result was
encouraging: some $3 million.
1978
Chuck Peddle leaves Commodore to
work for Apple Computer and within
months returns to Commodore.
1979
Commodore relocates from Palo Alto
to a bigger manufacturing site in
Santa Clara, California.
Commodore releases the upgraded PET
2001 series, with business and
non-business version sporting a
larger keyboard, expandability to 32k
and an improved (bug fixed) BASIC
which includes disk support.
Commodore finally releases the
Commodore printers 2022 and 2023, up
to this point many user had to wait
or look for alternatives.
1980
The CBM 8000 computer is released,
supporting an 80 column display on a
12" monitor, business keyboard,
built-in peizo speaker. The computer
also uses the new BASIC 4.0 operating
system that adds disk commands to
BASIC.
1981 - Say hello to "VIC"
The PET/CBM 4000 computer series
is unveiled, which also use the 12"
display in 40 columns, built-in
speakers and the 4.0 BASIC ROMs, but
keep their graphics/business style
keyboards.
In conjunction with Waterloo
University, Commodore introduces the
SuperPET, a souped up 96k 8000 series
PET sporting both a 6502 and a 6809
processor. The 6809 mode allows
loading in disk based languages and
interfacing via a true RS-232 port to
larger mini and mainframe computers
for programming and language
development.
Commodore unveils the Commodore VIC-20
aka "the Friendly Computer" the first
color microcomputer to sell for under
$300 (299.95). Features include a 5k
RAM (3.5k for BASIC programs)
expandable to 32k, a 22 col x 23 row
8/16 color display capable of
hi-resolution graphics, and a joystick
interface. During its life, production
peaks at 9,000 units per day.
Bally Midway licenses Commodore to
manufacture its arcade games into
cartridges for the VIC-20.
Engineers at C=MOS develope the
"ultimate" sound and video chips for
video games. However, video game sales
are in a slump, so in October, Jack
Tramiel orders a new, mass-market
64 Kilobyte computer to be ready for
the Consumer Electronics Show in
January. (Gulp!)
1982 - A whole new computer line
Commodore unveils the Commodore 64
at the January Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Powered by
a 6510 processor with 64KB of RAM plus
16KB of ROM, the C-64 has unique,
integrated sound and graphics
capabilities. The operating system is
based on Basic 2.0, which Commodore
bought outright from Microsoft for the
PET. Suggested Retail Price: $599.95
Commodore introduces the VIC Modem, a
300 baud cartridge modem for $110.
Commodore introduces the 16K SuperVIC
Commodore Business Machines Inc.
introduces the Commodore Max Machine
to the European market. It has
16-color 40x25 screen capability, for
US$180.
By the end of 1982,
Company Computer # Shipped
Apple Apple IIs 600,000
Timex Timex/Sinclair 600,000
Texas
Instruments TI 99/4 575,000
Commodore VIC-20 750,000
1983
The price of the C-64 drops to
$200, making it the least expensive
and soon the best selling computer of
all time. Sales are estimated
somewhere between 17 and 27 million
units.
Commodore Business Machines introduces
the B128 microcomputer. It features
128KB RAM, 40KB ROM, 6509 CPU,
5.25-inch floppy drive, 3-voice sound
chip, cartridge slot, and an 80-column
green screen, for $1700.
Commodore Business Machines introduces
the P128 microcomputer. It features
128KB RAM, TV connector, 40x25
16-color display, and 320x200
graphics, for $1000.
Commodore Business Machines introduces
the BX256 16-bit multiprocessor
professional microcomputer. It
includes 256KB RAM, Intel 8088 for
CP/M-86, 6509 CPU, 80-column B/W
monitor, built-in dual disk drives,
and 3-voice sound for $3000.
Jack Tramiel resigns from Commodore
Business Machines, but later takes his
position back.
Chuck Peddle's Victor Computer
Corporation releases the Victor 9000.
Compared to the other MS-DOS 8088
computers, its features were very
advanced.
[January] Commodore's sales of
VIC-20s reaches 1,000,000 units.
[January] Commodore introduces the
SX-64, the first color portable
computer. Weight is 10.5 kg (23
pounds), and incorporated a 5-inch
color monitor and one or two 5.25