THE HOME COMPUTER WARS Michael S. Tomczyk
THE HOME COMPUTER WARS Michael S. Tomczyk An Insider's Account of Commodore and Jack Tramiel This book is dedicated to all the people who said I'd never make it, because they're the ones who made me try the hardest. MST ---------------------------------- Contents Acknowledgments ix Chapter One 1979: Welcome to the War 1 Chapter Two Foreign Wars: The Japanese Are Coming 25 Chapter Three Captain Jack and the Temple of Doom 57 Chapter Four The Walrus and the Carpenter 73 Chapter Five Chicago CES: The War Starts Here 101 Chapter Six Crossing the Delaware 119 Chapter Seven Grace Under Pressure: The Real Story of the VIC-20 159 Chapter Eight Commodorians: The "Force" Was with Us 209 Chapter Nine Winning the War & The Last Days of Pompeii 253 Chapter Ten The New Atarians 290 ----------------------------- Acknowledgments This book is based on my own recollections, impressions, and viewpoint. Those who helped fill in the facts and helped me recall some of the stories and conversations have my sincere thanks. If I inadvertently left out anyone's contribution, my sincere apologies. And the following people I'm pleased to be able to thank publicly here: My wife Kim Tuyen, for making me feel like a genius when I felt like a shlub; my mother, Mrs. Dorothy Davis, for giving up her singing career so I could be a writer; my aunt, Mrs. E. A. Thomas, for helping me keep my perspective. Kit and Lesley Spencer, who encouraged me to write this story; and to special Commodorians John Feagans, Lee Schreiber, Tony Tokai, Don Richard, Harald Speyer, Dick Sanford, Greg Pratt, Rich Wiggins, Tom Hyltin, Gail Wellington, Yashi Terakura, Chuck Peddle, Jim Baclimann, Eli Kenan, Jo Marinello, Pat Jones, and Sig Hartmann.
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