Commodore--Thanks for the Memories

When my father bought our family a Commodore 64 (which I maintain is still the greatest personal computer ever produced), my life changed completely. I tore into it with a vengeance, and because of it, I will probably be involved with computer science as a career.

The first computer I bought for myself was an Amiga 1000, which I still have. Tom R. Halfhill's commentary ``R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994'' (August) has inspired me to pull out my old system and hook it up once more. I can only say that it is a shame that the marketing division of Commodore didn't advertise more aggressively. Perhaps then we wouldn't have the tragedy of the world's greatest personal-computer producer going out of business.

Casey Connor

Columbus, OH

My first stride into programming was with a VIC-20. I dutifully stretched th at machine to its 3-KB limit, writing what I thought were personal-productivity tools and file management programs. Of course, I was 10 years old at the time. When I finally moved up to the Commodore 128, I thought that I had hit the big time. I credit Commodore with my love of computers. Were it not for a computer that was accessible to a kid with less than $200, I might not have gone beyond the aging Apple computers collecting dust at my junior high school. As I type away on my Macintosh PowerBook, I can honestly say that I miss Commodore's quirky little VIC-20, with its jumbo-size characters and boxy keyboard. Rest in peace.

John Logan

Boise, ID

Tom R. Halfhill's eulogy for Commodore (``R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994,'' August) was all the more poignant, because in the past, BYTE has never adequately covered Commodore products. Search your files for a comprehensive, timely review of the Commodore 64; you won't find it, because it was never written. Perhaps Halfhill's commentary would be different if BYTE had given Commodore more evenhanded treatment.

Rob Stengel

Princeton, NJ

Magazines don't have the power to change the direction of the market or to save companies from their own destruction. Commodore collapsed because of poor management, ineffective marketing, and the reluctance of users to buy anything that doesn't conform to established standards--not for lack of magazine coverage. In fact, from the earliest days, Commodore attracted plenty of coverage. BYTE published several timely articles on Commodore's most significant accomplishments (particularly on the Amiga), and there were many Commodore-specific magazines as well. In 1983, I helped launch the most successful of those magazines (Compute!'s Gazette), which quickly zoomed to more than 300,000 readers. But that magazine doesn't exist anymore.

BYTE will continue to cover alternative platforms to the extent that they are launching pads for significant new technology. To devote major coverage to those platforms, however, wo uld risk putting us in the same boat as the magazines that sink with those platforms.

--Tom R. Halfhill

I had to write and commend you on your excellent obituary of Commodore International (August). I still use an Amiga and have found it gives me a leg up on more advanced general operating systems, such as NetWare and Unix. I am currently a LAN administrator for the University of Wisconsin and would not have dreamed of getting to my present position had I not learned so much from Jay Miner and Commodore. Finally, thank you for including coverage of the Amiga in BYTE, especially in the early days. There were two multipart series on the kernel alone! I bought a secondhand bridgeboard without documentation, and a BYTE article on the bridgeboard told me enough to get it working. I feel I need to apologize for some of my fellow Amigans who attacked every magazine that did not do regular monthly praise of the machines. The industry as a whole went in another direction, and you had to follow.

John Holt

Madison, WI

Shortly after I wrote my obituary, the Commodore community suffered another tragic loss--the death of Jay Miner in a Silicon Valley hospital. Miner was a brilliant engineer who played major roles in designing two computers that were ahead of their times: the Amiga (1985) and the Atari 800 (1979). He will be missed.

--Tom R. Halfhill

Commodore's death may very well be the best thing that ever happened to the Amiga, as no doubt some other company will realize the hidden treasure and give the machines the recognition they so richly deserve. Seeing a full-screen, 24-bit animation playing at 30 frames per second on an Amiga 4000 equipped with a Personal Animation Recorder from Digital Processing Systems is guaranteed to make any proponent of Windows animation or QuickTime suffer a violent hemorrhage. Commodore may be dead, but expect the Amiga to rise phoenix-like from its ashes.

Michael A. Prostka

Address unknown

The August commentary ``R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994'' w as an accurate, well-thought-out professional piece of journalism (something Commodore and the Amiga have lacked for a long time). As the past owner of an Amiga 1000, 2000, and currently 3000, I was almost moved to tears as I read the article. You pointed out ``firsts'' that I've told friends and colleagues about for a long time. It seems it is always the Amiga users who point out these achievements, while the company failed to articulate the true meaning of the Amiga and relay this to the masses. I sincerely hope the Amiga finds a new home before it's too late.

Nat Bowman

Redmond, WA

At least two companies and a group of former Commodore managers are interested in acquiring what's left of Commodore, but I fear the Amiga is doomed no matter what happens. Motorola's 68060 is probably the last generation in the 680x0 line, and the task of adapting the Amiga's custom chips, operating system, and software base to another CPU architecture would be difficult and expensive.

--Tom R. Halfhill

Thank you for the kind words you wrote for an underrated computer company. It's surprising enough to see the Amiga mentioned in a magazine like BYTE, but pretty darn cool to actually see nice things said about it. Two of the first PCs I ever used were the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) and the VIC-20, but until your article, I had forgotten they were related to the 4000 on my desk at home.

Geoff Mark

Pasadena, CA