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Brian Bagnall is an author whose books on Commodore chronicle the life of this once storied computer company. The first book, “Commodore, A Company on the Edge”, tells the story of how this company converted from a calculator empire to one that supplied millions of consumers with their first computer system, the Commodore 64.
Ken Rimple talks with Brian about the books, how he approached interviewing his subjects, and how Commodore changed the computer landscape.
Brian’s Commodore Books
If you like reading about the history of computers, this is a highly detailed and thorough set of books. You’ll get a real feel for how the company worked
from the political, technological and business dimensions. Brian is also an excellent storyteller and threaded the hundreds (likely thousands) of conversations
into a good set of stories.
- Commodore – A Company on the Edge (ISBN-13 978-0973864960)
- Commodore – The Amiga Years -(ISBN-13 978-0994031020)
- Commodore – the Final Years – book kickstarter campaign
Show Notes
Brian started by mentioning Accidental Empires by Robert S. Cringely, the book that focused mostly on Apple, his former employer.
[The Western Design Center](http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/)
Watch a Jack attack. Not the same experience as a true Jack Tremiel attack, but inspired by them!
Live the C64 for real in a browser. [C64 Online Emulator].
(disclaimer: A Chariot consultant, Rod Biresch, is the nephew of Bill Mensch, the creator of the
Western Design Center and who worked on Chuck
Peddle’s team at MOS Technology that invented and laid out the 6502 chip and other designs. Bill
Mensch recently spoke at IOT Fusion).