Jack Tramiel , of its true name Idek Tramielski (born in 1928 with Łódź in Poland), is an American business man who founded Commodore International in 1954 before taking the head of Atari in 1984.

D' Auschwitz in New York

Born in Poland in 1928 in an Jewish family, it is off-set with his parents in the Ghetto of Łódź before being transferred to the concentration camp from Auschwitz then in the camp from work from Ahlem-Hannover where his/her father finds death. It is released by the American army in April 1945.

In November 1947, Tramiel emigrates with the the United States where it engages in the army. He learns how to repair the office equipment and in particular the typewriters. In 1953, whereas he works as taxi driver with New York, he buys a shop of breakdown service in the Bronx and re-elects it Commodore Portable Typewriter. It practices the importation of typewriters then Europe. In 1955, to circumvent the administrative constraints, it founds with Toronto, the Canada, the company Commodore Business Machines.

During the Years 1960, Japanese competition leads Tramiel to seek new activities for its company. On the councils of his principal investor, the Canadian Irving Gould, it visits the Japan to find a means of fighting local industries, and returns with new ideas.

Commodore, computers and computers

In 1970, it starts to direct its company towards the production of Calculatrice S electronic while being supplied in components near Texas Instruments. But in 1975, Texas Instruments launches out on the market with products at unbeatable prices which lead to the bankruptcy the majority of the competitors. Commodore escapes from it from little. But Tramiel must find a new supplier of components, leaves to repurchase it. It will be MOS Technology, the company which developed the processor 6502 which is announced like a phenomenal success. In 1976, MOS Technology becomes a department of Commodore.

Chuck Peddle, the originator of the 6502, succeeds in convincing Tramiel which the computers will be soon exceeded by the Micro-ordinateur S. It shows him a prototype which will become the Commodore FART 2001. Sold 599 dollars, this model will meet a great success, especially in the schools. After the departure of Peddle in 1980, Tramiel charges its teams with making evolve/move her microcomputer, which will give rise to the Commodore VIC-20, also reaching records of sale to him. In 1982, a version improved of the product makes its appearance: it is the Commodore 64 (or C64), which will be the personal computer more sold with the world with nearly 22 million distributed units. The success of Commodore rests then on the optimization of the production costs. The company records two years later a turnover of a billion dollar.

When Texas Instruments launches out in its turn on the market of the microcomputer, Tramiel foresees the possibility of being avenged. It launches out in a price war while bringing back the price of C64 to 199 dollars. The sales explode, but the profits found quickly. At the end of 1983, the board of directors of Commodore, thrown into a panic, decides to separate from this adventurous leader.

The Atari adventure

Joined by part of its former team, Tramiel counter-attacks by creating a new business, Tramel Technologies, Ltd., to develop a computer able to compete with the Japanese products. Whereas it prospects to repurchase a production center and of distribution for its products, it learns that Warner Communications seeks to sell its subsidiary company of video games Atari, in great financial problems. July 3rd, 1984, Tramel Technologies repurchases division general public of Atari (which produced the range of the computers Atari 400/800/XL and the video games Atari, but not the plays of arcade) and places at the key positions its sons Garry and Sam, then Leonard.

Atari then freezes all the projects decided by Warner, lowers the price of all the products and lays off 90% of the personnel. Engineers de Commodore join the new team, which leads their employer to prosecute them for flight of industrial secrecies. Leonard Tramiel discovers whereas Atari was negotiating the resumption of the company Amiga, created by the old ones of Atari, which had developed a computer 16 bits with capacities Multimédia. But at the time when Jack Tramiel signed the repurchase of Atari, the leaders of Commodore had come into contact with Amiga, which needed a financial support to develop its range of computers. Tramiel engages then of the legal proceedings against Amiga and Commodore for illicit agreement. The lawsuit will be held only in 1987, time for the two manufacturers to launch their new ranges of computers, and will show the payment of allowances in favor of Atari.

At the end of 1985, Jack Tramiel presents the model which must symbolize the revival of Atari, the Atari ST. It benefits from it for launching new versions of models XL at handsome price, the Atari XE (XL Enhanced). At the end of the Years 1980, Jack Tramiel decides to slow down its activities and entrusts the responsibilities for Atari to his/her Sam son. The company launches in 1989 the first video Game console portable to color screen, the Atari Lynx. But it does not succeed in being essential vis-a-vis the Game Boy of Nintendo. In 1992, Atari gives up the manufacture of its microcomputers 8 bits and leaves the year following a new game console, the Jaguar, equipped with components in 64 bits.

In 1995, Sam Tramiel is victim of a Heart attack which obliges his/her Jack father to take again the management of the firm. Confronted with colossal losses, it then decides to resell the company with the manufacturer of hard drives Jugi Tandon Storage, of which it becomes one of the administrators. In 1998, JTS goes bankrupt and yields Atari to the manufacturer of toys Hasbro. The mark will be finally sold in 2001 with the French company Infogrames which takes the name of Atari in May 2003.

Today with the retirement, Jack Tramiel lives in California with his Helen wife, whom he married in 1947 shortly after his arrival in the United States.

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