Jack Tramiel, one of the PC industry’s major pioneers, has died.
He was born in 1928 and, after surviving imprisonment in
Auschwitz and another concentration camp during World War II,
first established the Commodore name in business in 1953. His
most successful endeavor, and one of the most successful in the
history of computing, was the legendary Commodore 64, one of the
very first computers built, as Tramiel would later put it, “for
the masses, not the classes.” He was 83. The legacy of Commodore
lives on to this day, mainly in how this breakthrough device
popularized the idea of a home computer. The C64, introduced in
1982, will certainly be remembered fondly by many readers of
this website, as well as the Vic-20 and other less iconic
devices. After he left Commodore, Tramiel purchased Atari in
1984, though its most influential devices were already behind
it. Commodore, too, would go on to smaller successes like the
Amiga series. There will soon surely be more comprehensive and
relevant examinations of Tra