International Commodore

Commodore Business Machines Inc. is a company of electronics which was made famous for its electronic computers and its Micro-ordinateur S.

Beginnings of the mark

The Commodore company is in the beginning a family company directed by Jack Tramielsky, alias Jack Tramiel, and created in 1952 starting from a shop of typewriters of Bronx. Initially repairing, Tramiel founded Commodore with Toronto in 1954, at the time of the rise of the calculating machines electronic, then, with the contribution of a new associate, Jay Gould, it was directed towards microprocessing as of the origins of the phenomenon, by repurchasing several small firms of which MOS Technology, which had designed the processor 6502 developed by Chuck Peddle. As from 1976, Commodore became thus a company controlling all the chain, since research and manufacture until the distribution.

Origins of family microprocessing at Commodore

Pioneer in 1977, Commodore launched initially a machine integrated into personal use, under the denomination of Commodore FART 2001. This Personal Electronic Transactor or pun (in English) this “pet” was conceived by Chuck Peddle like a cast solid case, incorporating keyboard, screen of reduced size and cassette player, the first microcomputer ready to function as of its connection with the sector, a concept which will take again later, therefore with more power, other machines like Osborne and the portables, or first Mac: this cast solid machine and supplements was thus different from its competitors of the moment like the APPLE II or the TRS-80… which required an external tape recorder whereas that of the PET-2001, integrated, appeared particularly reliable.

Conceived around processor MOS 6502 already chosen by Apple, it was equipped with a motorized keyboard, 8 KB RAM and a BASIC Microsoft placed in 8 of its 14 KB of ROMANIAN. This last language, though limited as for its functions, was without question one of fastest with the execution of the time, making this machine ten times cheaper one potential competitor for IBM 5100.

The problem was the type of customers concerned which remained badly defined for a machine which could not be claimed general-purpose. Indeed, the FART did not have sound capacities and could not post simultaneously Majuscule S and tiny without the recourse to the complex Poke instruction.

It however had two openings towards outside: initially a port says entirely programmable “series” (since the BASIC by “Poke” or out of assembler) through a chip ACIA 6522 which will initially allow bidouiller then to see developing all kinds of interface boards and automations, then standard BUSES IEEE-488 (nearly identical to the very widespread bus HP in the laboratories) which will make it possible to connect the “intelligent” peripherals in particular the floppy disk drives integrating 2 processors MOS 6502 of the ROMANIAN (containing the management system of files) of the RAM and allowing storage capacities of 2 times 170 KB, 340 KB then 500 KB.

It was the first model of a line of highly reliable machines, in particular the line of the professional machines CBM 3000,4000,8000 (for Commodore Business Machine) which exceeded the sales of IBM in Germany until about 1983-84. This being explained by the reliability of the machines, the simplicity and flexibility of programming and speed of processors MOS 6502 and good capacities of the discs. This line disappears with the series 500,600,700 which transfer the departure of Chuck Peddle to create Sirius which became Victor … this is another history (that Chuck Peddle lived in fact at Tandon !).

Commodore VIC 20

Commodore 64: the machine of the hours of glory

The SX64 is one of the first “portables”, and color!

Commodore also launched from there a version (trans) portable, called SX 64 (integral diskette 5" 1/4 and color screen!) who was to compete with Apple on the professional market. Because of its high price and relative absence of competitive professional software, the SX 64 was a mitigated success.

The Commodore 64 or C64 had as for him many peripherals, among which it is necessary to quote its reader of Disquettes 5" 1/4, the 1541, slow and cumbersome which knew a strong diffusion in spite of its price, related to the fact that its electronic part was very elaborate (it even enabled him to function disconnected from the central processing unit). On the other hand, it was not compatible with the VIC-20.

Tramiel leaves Commodore for Atari

After having been the initiator of what will be the Amiga, Jack Tramiel leaves, with its family, Commodore, in 1984. It repurchases Atari in Warner and lance the series Atari ST to compete with the Amiga 1000 marketed by Commodore in 1985 like top-of-the-range machine (and multi-media!).

Commodore 128

Amiga: 16 bits

The adventure of PC compatibles

Parallel to this engagement in microprocessing known as family, Commodore tries to diversify as much other marks which will lose their originality there. She proposes machines PC compatibles, which will be designed by its German subsidiary company and its factory of Braunschweig. 1989 are the year of the commercial top of Commodore in Europe and especially in Germany and treats to the luxury to be the sponsor of the football team of the Bayern of Munich. The PC Commodore are able at the head to be located sales in this country. That will not save it because the battle around the compatible ones is wild by the arrival of the Asian machines and the falls of the prices.

The revival of the 8 bits

To try to exploit the seam of C64, and in particular its immense logithèque, Commodore tried to perpetuate this range by selling versions with more integrated electronics, therefore less expensive (C64 Aldi in 1987, C64G in 1989). The opening of the borders in Eastern Europe could give again, via the German market, the one second youth with the short-term machine. In same time, the Amiga range went down quickly in range. This is why a project of C65, or C64 DX, which was to incorporate a disk drive but remained one 8 bits, was abandoned since 1991.

The one time end

In 1994, in the incapacity to renegotiate the expiries of its loans, Commodore International, based in the tax shelter of the Bahamas, announced that it closed its doors. The liquidation of its national subsidiary companies lasted of the months because of structure independent of those. Seule Commodore the U.K. (Great Britain) carried out profits.

April 20th, 1995, one year later, stocks and patents of Commodore were sold at German company ESCOM for a sum from 10 to 12.5 million dollars. At the summer 1996, ESCOM it also was to cease its activities, and to thus put a term at the Commodore adventure.

External bonds

Commodore history
Commodore gallery

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