Search results
Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home computer industry in the 1970s ...
- 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States 19380
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas).
- US$595 (equivalent to $1,800 in 2022)
- Commodore Business Machines (CBM)
- August 1982; 41 years ago
Commodore International was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home computer industry in the 1970s to early 1990s.
- Early Years
- Commodore
- Atari
- Later Years
- Further Reading
- External Links
Tramiel was born as Idek Trzmiel (some sources also list Juda Trzmiel, Jacek Trzmiel, or Idek Tramielski) into a Jewishfamily, the son of Abram Josef Trzmiel and Rifka Bentkowska. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 his family was transported by German occupiers to the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, where he worked in a garment factory. When the gh...
Typewriters and calculators
In 1953, while working as a taxi driver, Tramiel bought a shop in the Bronx to repair office machinery, securing a $25,000 loan for the business from a U.S. Army entitlement. He named it Commodore Portable Typewriter. Tramiel wanted a military-style name for his company, but names such as Admiral and General were already taken, so he settled on the Commodore name. In 1956, Tramiel signed a deal with Czechoslovakian typewriter manufacturer Zbrojovka Brno NP to assemble and sell their typewrite...
Home computers
Peddle responded with the Commodore PET, based on his company's MOS Technology 6502 processor. It was first shown, privately, at the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show in 1977, and soon the company was receiving 50 calls a day from dealers wanting to sell the computer. The PET became a success—especially in the education field, where its all-in-onedesign was a major advantage. Much of their success with the PET came from the business decision to sell directly to large customers, instead of sel...
Departure
Gould had controlled the company since 1966. He and Tramiel often argued, but Gould usually let Tramiel run Commodore by himself. Tramiel was considered by many to be a micromanager who did not believe in budgets; he wanted to approve every expense greater than $1,000, which meant that operations stopped when Tramiel went on vacation. His management style made it difficult for Commodore to hire and keep executives, but was effective. Adam Osbornewrote in 1981: Tramiel angrily left a January 1...
After a short break from the computer industry, he formed a new company named Tramel Technology, Ltd., in order to design and sell a next-generation home computer.The company was named "Tramel" to help ensure that it would be pronounced correctly (i.e., "tra – mel" instead of "tra – meal"). In July 1984, Tramel Technology bought the Consumer Divisi...
Michael Tomczykrecalled that when Tramiel asked the German government for financial incentives for Commodore to take over a factory, Tramiel was a co-founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was opened in 1993. He was among many other survivors of the Ahlem labor camp who tracked down U.S. Army veteran Vernon Tott, who was amon...
The Home Computer Wars: An Insider's Account of Commodore and Jack Tramiel by Michael Tomczyk, Compute, 1984, ISBN 0-942386-75-2On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore by Brian Bagnall, Variant Press, 2005, ISBN 0-9738649-0-71985 episode of The Computer Chroniclesfeaturing an extended interview with TramielCommodore International Ltd. Address: 1200 Wilson Drive. West Chester, Pennsylvania. 19380-4231. United States. Telephone: (215) 431-9100. Fax: (215) 431-9465. Statistics: Public Company. Incorporated: 1958 as Commodore Portable Typewriter Co., Ltd. Employees: 4,500. Sales: &Dollar;887 million. Stock Exchanges: New York.
People also ask
Who founded Commodore International?
What does Commodore International stand for?
Where is Commodore based?
Is Commodore still a company?
May 2, 2019 · Learn about the rise and fall of Commodore, the company that created the PET, VIC-20, and C64 computers. Find out how Commodore influenced the tech industry and the retro gaming market.
2 days ago · Commodore, the commonly used name for Commodore International, was a US electronics company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania which played a vital role in the development of the home–personal computer industry in the 1980s. The company is also known under the name of its R&D operation, Commodore Business Machines (CBM).