http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...X9S_story.html
I'm certain many of you were influenced greatly by the computers Mr. Tramiel produced- PET, Vic20, C64, Atari 8 bit and ST.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tramiel
The 80's was a great time to start learning about and using computers.
The culture of the "alternative" machines (non-DOS/Apple) of the 80's was very FOSS-like, probably explaining my affinity for those machines and FOSS OS's now.
IMO, Jack deserves FAR more credit and better place in computing history than Mr. Jobs, for while Jobs' forte was trendy, stylish hardware design and the Fisher Pricing of user interfaces for the privileged, Jack produced "computers for the masses, not the classes".
Jack enabled far more of us to jumpstart our interest in computing/IT than would have been possible had all computers been pricey items for "the classes".
...And Jobs' upbringing? Adopted with working class parents? Pfft. Jack survived Auschwitz and Dr. Mengele fercrissakes!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
Jack then founded Commodore in the 50's, culminating in the Vic20/C64 successes, then left Commodore to buy Atari. He enhanced the 8 bit line and developed the first "color Mac for the masses", the Atari ST, the first 16 bit computer with mouse and desktop GUI affordable to everyone.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/9/293...k-tramiel-dies
I feel sorry for young people now, given their lack of historical perspective, and the misdirected admiration they bestow upon the wrong heroes, with mass media partly to blame.
I'm certain many of you were influenced greatly by the computers Mr. Tramiel produced- PET, Vic20, C64, Atari 8 bit and ST.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tramiel
The 80's was a great time to start learning about and using computers.
The culture of the "alternative" machines (non-DOS/Apple) of the 80's was very FOSS-like, probably explaining my affinity for those machines and FOSS OS's now.
IMO, Jack deserves FAR more credit and better place in computing history than Mr. Jobs, for while Jobs' forte was trendy, stylish hardware design and the Fisher Pricing of user interfaces for the privileged, Jack produced "computers for the masses, not the classes".
Jack enabled far more of us to jumpstart our interest in computing/IT than would have been possible had all computers been pricey items for "the classes".
...And Jobs' upbringing? Adopted with working class parents? Pfft. Jack survived Auschwitz and Dr. Mengele fercrissakes!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
Quote:
"Tramiel was born as Jacek Trzmiel in Łódź, Poland, into a Jewish family.
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 his family was transported by German occupiers to the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, where he worked in a garment factory. When the ghettos were liquidated his family was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was examined by Dr. Mengele and selected for a work party, after which he and his father were sent to the labor camp Ahlem near Hanover, while his mother remained at Auschwitz. Like many other inmates, his father was reported to have died of typhus in the work camp; however, Tramiel believed he was killed by an injection of gasoline. Tramiel was rescued from the labor camp in April 1945 by the 84th Infantry Division.
In November 1947, Tramiel emigrated to the United States. He soon joined the U.S. Army, where he learned how to repair office equipment, including typewriters."
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 his family was transported by German occupiers to the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, where he worked in a garment factory. When the ghettos were liquidated his family was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was examined by Dr. Mengele and selected for a work party, after which he and his father were sent to the labor camp Ahlem near Hanover, while his mother remained at Auschwitz. Like many other inmates, his father was reported to have died of typhus in the work camp; however, Tramiel believed he was killed by an injection of gasoline. Tramiel was rescued from the labor camp in April 1945 by the 84th Infantry Division.
In November 1947, Tramiel emigrated to the United States. He soon joined the U.S. Army, where he learned how to repair office equipment, including typewriters."
Jack then founded Commodore in the 50's, culminating in the Vic20/C64 successes, then left Commodore to buy Atari. He enhanced the 8 bit line and developed the first "color Mac for the masses", the Atari ST, the first 16 bit computer with mouse and desktop GUI affordable to everyone.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/9/293...k-tramiel-dies
I feel sorry for young people now, given their lack of historical perspective, and the misdirected admiration they bestow upon the wrong heroes, with mass media partly to blame.
. Thank you, Mr. Tramiel.
