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Computer pioneer Jack Tramiel passes away

Computer pioneer Jack Tramiel passes away

THE computer pioneer Jack Tramiel has passed away. He was 83.

Mr. Tramiel was the founder of Commodore computers and is regarded as having been one of the key pioneers in the development of personal computers.

Born in Poland, Mr. Tramiel was a survivor of Auschwitz where his parents were both murdered. Following the war he moved to New York to begin a new life.

After a spell in the US Army, during which time he learned how to repair office equipment, Mr. Tramiel set up a typewriter repair company. He then moved to Toronto to establish Commodore Business Machines which eventually became a stockmarket-listed manufacturer of office equipment.

By the 1970s the company was a successful manufacturer of calculators, but this side of the business was undermined when a supplier decided to produce their own calculators.

Mr. Tramiel reacted by buying a microchip manufacturer and began looking at the prospect of manufacturing computers. At first he considered buying a fledgling computer company in California by the name of Apple. However, when Apple’s Steve Jobs put a price tag of $100,000 on the business Mr. Tramiel decided that Commodore would go it alone. 

The firm’s first computer, the Commodore PET, was launched in January 1977 — and became the first mass-produced home computer since it was on the market months before Apple.

The VIC-20 and the Commodore 64 were to follow with the company enjoying massive sales. 

But a fall-out with a business partner saw Mr. Tramiel being ousted in January 1984 from company he had founded. However, he bounced back within months after buying the computer and game console divisions of Atari. 

Despite enjoying early success with his range of Atari ST computers, the firm eventually saw sales being outstripped by Windows-based machines. Stiff competition in the computer games console market also took their toll on Atari's market position.  Mr. Tramiel decided to sell the business and retire in 1996.

Mr. Tramiel is survived by his wife Helen and their three sons, Sam, Gary and Leonard.

To view an interview with Jack Tramiel, click here.

 

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