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26th out of 103 books
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34 voters
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On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore
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 maker to market its machines to the public, selling an estimated 22 million Commodore 64s. These halcyon days were tumultuous, howev...more
Hardcover, 548 pages
Published
September 1st 2006
by Variant Press
(first published September 14th 2005)
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"BUSINESS IS WARRRRRRRRR!!! WE MUST BECOME THE JAPANEEEEEZZZE!!!" -- Jack Tramiel, CEO Commodore
If I was an engineer back then, I'd happily sacrifice my life as a Commodore Warrior for "Jack-Attack" Tramiel.
Don't believe the revisionist history! Apple is, and always has been, the original evil-empire. They led a revolution? THEY LED NOTHING!!!
Read about how Commodore engineer Chuck Peddle used to school "The Woz" and "Fake St...more
If I was an engineer back then, I'd happily sacrifice my life as a Commodore Warrior for "Jack-Attack" Tramiel.
Don't believe the revisionist history! Apple is, and always has been, the original evil-empire. They led a revolution? THEY LED NOTHING!!!
Read about how Commodore engineer Chuck Peddle used to school "The Woz" and "Fake St...more
I liked this book quite a bit, but I have always had a soft spot for tech-story books, even the fantasy of the Apple story. The C64 was my first computer at around 9 and I loved it with all my heart. I wrote my college entry essays on it when my peecee broke and was accepted to all of them (errr.... both). The interesting thing to note is that Commodore gets very little credit for revolutionizing the PC industry even though it can be said that they did more for it than Apple and IBM combined....more
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The introduction to the book sets the tone, when the author laments how most of the other computer histories in books and movies get it wrong, giving too much credit to other companies like Apple for the success of the personal computing revolution. That's a valid point. But As I've started to read the first hundred pages or so, a pattern emerged. The following occurs so many times, we can call the book formulaic:
"Book xxx says that the following thing happened. But it's wrong, ...more
"Book xxx says that the following thing happened. But it's wrong, ...more
This is the story of not just Commodore, but the founding of MOS Technology which created the 6502 microprocessor.
This is a better business book than most I've read, because the author is unafraid to make clear judgement calls. When Jack Tramiel did something smart, the author says so. When someone does something dumb, he says so to. For instance, their marketing guy Tomczyk spent a long time negotiating a deal with Nintendo to have Commodore be the American company to port Nintendo...more
This is a better business book than most I've read, because the author is unafraid to make clear judgement calls. When Jack Tramiel did something smart, the author says so. When someone does something dumb, he says so to. For instance, their marketing guy Tomczyk spent a long time negotiating a deal with Nintendo to have Commodore be the American company to port Nintendo...more
This book is great. Seriously. 5 stars.
My first computer was a Commodore 64 and we also had an Amiga, so I'm probably biased. There is a lot of revising of history that eliminates Commodore from the personal computer landscape and makes everything be about PC vs. Apple. In the early and mid 80s, Commodore had a lot going for it. The Commodore 64 was the first personal computer to sell 1 million units. The Amiga was light years ahead of everything else when it came out in 1985...more
My first computer was a Commodore 64 and we also had an Amiga, so I'm probably biased. There is a lot of revising of history that eliminates Commodore from the personal computer landscape and makes everything be about PC vs. Apple. In the early and mid 80s, Commodore had a lot going for it. The Commodore 64 was the first personal computer to sell 1 million units. The Amiga was light years ahead of everything else when it came out in 1985...more
Some of the reviews I read of this book lead me to believe it would be more focused on the business side than the technology side. I was presently surprised that I felt it was 70% or greater about the technology. Having had a C=128 and using the heck out of it and having admired Amigas and their uses (but never having owned one,) my look at this book may be a bit biased.
From the technology side: for those who think they know how the personal computer space started, this book provi...more
From the technology side: for those who think they know how the personal computer space started, this book provi...more
Commodore built some of the landmark computers early in the history of the personal computer. They made the first fully integrated personal computer, the first computer to sell more than a million units, and the best-selling single model of computer ever (the Commodore 64). They were also responsible for the first multimedia computer, the Amiga, and were a mainstay of the digital arts world for over a decade.
So how did they manage to screw it all up? They could have owned the world. ...more
So how did they manage to screw it all up? They could have owned the world. ...more
Outstanding. Commodore was truly the home computer revolution, but for some reason revisionist history has decided that it was Apple. Absolutely not. This is a hell of a crazy story, reading larger-than-life like a Coen Brothers film, packed with crazy characters, deceit, epic flameouts, and never skimping on the actual technical stuff. Hell of a read!
A really fascinating and seemingly authentic look at not only the rise and fall of the biggest computer company of all-time, but also of the entire industry upto the mid nineties. Highly recommended reading for those of you who think Apple and the Jobs Messiah are the most important thing to happen to computers.
If you owned and loved a Commodore PET, VIC-20, C64, or Amiga, you have to read this book. That is all there is to it. It is the only comprehensive technical and business history of the company. The writing could be somewhat better. The author repeats himself and occasionally tells things in a strange not-quite-chronological order, but that's okay because you can tell he did his homework--many interviews with various people give multiple sides to the stories and he gets all the technical details...more
This book is an essential remedy to the current revisionist history that would have you believe Apple Computer Inc. is the only innovative computer company that mattered back then. This history of Commodore is so much more fascinating than you might think; the personalities, clashes, and little-known facts kept me turning the pages. As a Commodore fan, I always wondered, "what went wrong?" -- and this book answers that, revealing the internal politics and decision making of one of the ...more
Awesome report of a unique time in Computer Science history from people who were there.
Great history of Commodore. Fun read if you are into vintage computing.
aaaahhh...geeky nostalgia goodness! i went the route of Apple II back in the day, only hands-on exposure the competition (commodore, atari) was at K-Mart. dunno why. Apple II led to the Mac, which was extremely hard to program for (aak, Hypercard)! and was still niche. wonder what life would be like if i grew up hacking away at a commodore or atari machine. would have led to PCs rather than Macs.
anywho, good times those late 70s early to mid 80s. the technology we take for gra...more
anywho, good times those late 70s early to mid 80s. the technology we take for gra...more
If you feel like geeking out, On the Edge is captivating from beginning to end. Commodore produced the technology that was part of my first contact with computers, which explains part of my attraction to the book. Although the writing could be improved to make reading this brick a smoother experience, the quantity of information pasted in from interview material is phenomenal. Fun read, which made me boot my C64 one more time.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Commodore but didn't know to ask, from their early domination of the personal computer market (including Apple, who nearly sold out to them) to their disintegration in the 1990s. Incredibly detailed. Fascinating to me because my family owned a host of computers including the C64. My main caveat is that the book is horribly, horribly edited and that it badly needs an index.
A painstakingly thorough history of Commodore, from its early days as a calculator company all the way through the fumbling marketing of the Amiga computers. The book works better as a business case study than as a discussion of the technology, although there are some spectacular descriptions of the development of the C64 and Amiga. Recommended for anyone who owned a Commodore computer.
Great book written from the perspective of the engineers instead of just the men in suits.
If I learnt one thing it is how Apple have wrongly taken credit for many of the computer breakthrough's experienced in the 70s and 80s. Commodore beat them to most things and sold it for half the price although that kind of business helped bring about their downfall.
Excellent book.
If I learnt one thing it is how Apple have wrongly taken credit for many of the computer breakthrough's experienced in the 70s and 80s. Commodore beat them to most things and sold it for half the price although that kind of business helped bring about their downfall.
Excellent book.
This book desperately needed an editor. Despite poor editing and flaccid writing, the book is an interesting look at how a computer is made, how a great computer is made (if you consider that the C64 sold 35 million units and was wildly popular and I owned one), and how a successful company fails.
i read the earlier version of this book. this is the new, expanded edition. i can't get enough of computer nostalgia.
can't wait for the next book (the amiga years)!
can't wait for the next book (the amiga years)!
The first half of the book was unbelievably riveting. It sort of tapered off near the end, but what an amazing story!
Any of my fellow Commodore 64 lovers will enjoy this book, but watch out for the occasional foul language.....
Any of my fellow Commodore 64 lovers will enjoy this book, but watch out for the occasional foul language.....
Excellent book on how not to run a company! A nice trip down memory lane as someone who had a C64 and an Amiga. Also nice to read a computer history that isn't completely Apple or Microsoft centric.
See how bad management and over-aggressive style can destroy your legendary company.
I couldn't get through it. Interesting subject told in a most non-compelling way.
Only for Commodore alumni.
Kimmo
marked it as to-read
David Haynes
marked it as to-read
James Murphy
marked it as to-read
Eyad Sibai
marked it as to-read
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