Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

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RETRO

ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019

Tramiel was onahigh,
and the ruthlessefficiency
of his approachto business
was admiredby many.The
Commodore 64 went up
against theAtari 8-bit 400,
the Atari 800 and Apple II in
the US, while competing
against the likesof the ZX
Spectrum andeventually the
Amstrad CPC in Europe.
Commodore was putting its
machine intodepartment stores
and aggressively pricingto such
an extent that its initial on-sale
cost of $595 fell by $200 within
two months andby $300 the
following year,with some retailers
going as low as $199.Certainly in
the US, it was hardforrivals to
compete, and theeffects were so
great that TI ended up beingforced outof
the home computer business (along with
Mattel and Timex Corporation)–something
that Tramiel relished.
“Weneed to build computersforthe
masses, not the classes,”hes aid at the time,
and he would do all he couldto get the costof
manufacturingto its lowest possible point. He
would put immense pressure on his engineers
and task them with lookingforcheaper ways
to createcomponents. If somethingfelt
extravagant, he’d order itto be removed.
He didn’t particularly carefordesign.
Timemagazine said he was the ‘anti-Steve
Jobs’,which is apt given the horrendous
breadbin designof the VIC-20 and C64.
Tramiel didn’t skimp on talent, however:
many of those engineers were at thetop
of their game.
So toowas the marketing department,
which, withTramiel’s full blessing, soughtto
put oneover on the competition. “See what
happened when we putaCommodore
business computer in the same room with
an Apple,” one advert stated, promoting
the short-lived Commodore CBM in

1983. “Commodore atethe Apple.”
      It was typicalof acompany
      headedby aman whose
      bombastic spiel was great
      press fodder.
      “Business is like sex.
      Youhavetobeinvolved,”
      he once said. “It turns
      me on any timeIcan

take aproduct costing thousandsof dollars

and Ican sell itforhundreds.”

He enjoyed what he saw as serving society

while satisfying his ego,and he becameever

more confident. If the Japanese had impacted

his business before,hew as ready this time.

“The Japanese are coming, so we will

become the Japanese,” he quipped. He also

said there were three principles in business:

“hard work, hard work and hard work.”

He lovedto be in control. Any expenses

that exceeded $1,000 hadto be passedby

him, and he also played hardball with dealers.

But amajor falling-out with Gould saw him

suddenly resign from Commodore,ending his

roles as president, chiefexecutive and director.

“Personal reasons prevent my continuing

on afull-time basis with Commodore,” he said

in astatement, withasource tellingThe New

York Times:“It was aproblemover along

period of time and it finally cameto ahead.”

FAMILYTIES

It was understood thatTramiel’s one-man

approachto management was making it

difficultforCommodoreto recruit and retain

executives, and that was seen asamajor

issue,even though the company was at

an all-time high. Rumours abounded that

Tramiel wantedto install his eldest son, Sam,

as president, with his other sons Gary and

Leonard given high-ranking financial and

software roles respectively.This desireto

createaTramiel dynasty was strong enough

forhim to quit rather than compromise.

Given he was 56 years old, he could have

retired. But afterathree-month cruise,he

soughtaway back. He createdanew company

called Tramel Technology (missing out the ‘i’ in

his name) and lookedto work onanew 16-bit

machine that would beat Commodore’s

proposed Amiga. He then noted thatWarner

Brothers, which had boughtAtari in 1976, was

having trouble with its crumbling subsidiary,

given it had reportedayearly lossof $538.6m.

Tramiel, whose price-cuttingefforts as well

as the videogame crashof

1983 had caused such

problems atAtari,

stepped in withacomplex

offer,which sawWarner

receive no cash but

$240m in long-term notes

and warrantsfora32%

interest in the new venture –

effectivelyastring of IOUs.

Warner retained the coin-op

games division and the

rs

so

ER SHOPPERER SHOPPER||DECEMBER 2019DECDECEMBEMBER 2019

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steppe

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reat

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Warner

games divisi

➡Jack Tramiel ordered
the launchof Atari’s 8-bit
XE computers when hetook
over,aimed at extending the lifeoft he XL
series while targeting the eastern European market

➡The priceof the computer was
promoted as much as the innards,
with Commodore stressingvalue
formoney

➡Jack Tramiel ensured Commodore

computers were pitched against

rivals such as Apple