Commodore

Overview

Commodore began in 1954 as a Toronto typewriter repair shop. Forty years later, it had produced the best-selling home computer in history, pioneered multimedia computing, and then collapsed into bankruptcy. In between, Commodore made the machines that defined a generation of programmers, gamers, and demoscene artists.

Fast facts

Founded: 1954 by Jack Tramiel, a Holocaust survivor who started repairing typewriters in the Bronx.
Calculator wars: in the 1970s, Commodore battled Texas Instruments. When TI threatened chip supplies, Tramiel bought MOS Technology outright.
MOS acquisition (1976): brought in the 6502 processor and engineers like Bob Yannes (SID) and Al Charpentier (VIC-II).
The big three: PET (1977), VIC-20 (1980), Commodore 64 (1982).
Tramiel’s exit (1984): founder Jack Tramiel resigned and immediately took over Atari.
Amiga acquisition (1984): Commodore bought Amiga Corporation from under Atari’s nose, gaining Jay Miner’s revolutionary chipset.
Bankruptcy (1994): mismanagement, missed opportunities, and market shifts ended the company.

The Commodore 64

Released in 1982 at $595 (later dropping dramatically), the C64 became the best-selling single computer model ever:

Hardware: 6510 CPU, VIC-II graphics, SID sound—custom chips that gave the C64 capabilities rivals couldn’t match at the price.
Software: thousands of games, from bedroom productions to arcade conversions.
Longevity: remained in production until 1994, over a decade on the market.
Cultural impact: the UK bedroom coder scene, demoscene, and chiptune music all trace roots to the C64.

The Amiga

When Commodore acquired Amiga Corporation in 1984, they gained a machine years ahead of its time:

Custom chipset: Agnus, Denise, and Paula handled graphics, blitting, and audio while the 68000 CPU multitasked.
Amiga 1000 (1985): the original, with Jay Miner’s paw print (via his dog Mitchy) on the motherboard.
Amiga 500 (1987): the affordable model that brought Amiga to the masses.
Creative tool: video production, animation, music tracking—the Amiga did it all before PCs caught up.

Jack Tramiel’s philosophy

Tramiel’s motto—“computers for the masses, not the classes”—drove Commodore’s aggressive pricing. He believed in vertical integration, owning chip fabrication to control costs. This strategy made the VIC-20 the first computer to sell a million units and the C64 affordable enough to become ubiquitous.

The decline

After Tramiel left, Commodore struggled:

Marketing failures: the Amiga was positioned confusingly, neither business machine nor pure games console.
Missed transitions: slow to adapt to CD-ROM, Windows, and changing markets.
Leadership chaos: revolving-door management couldn’t match Tramiel’s vision or drive.

Legacy

Commodore’s machines launched careers, created communities, and proved that powerful computing could be affordable. The C64 and Amiga remain among the most emulated and celebrated platforms, with active development communities producing new software decades later.

Computers for the masses, not the classes