On the Edge The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore by Brian Bagnall review by Zube (zube@stat.colostate.edu) Created: Feb 6, 2007 Updated: Mar 10, 2007 http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/commodore.txt I enjoy reading about what went on behind-the-scenes at tech companies and in this respect Mr. Bagnall does not disappoint. About half the book is very interesting. Seeing Commodore through the eyes of the people who were there is worth the $20 cover charge (oh, that's awful) and a few bits of video game history that I was not aware of are uncovered, so double points there. Specifically, the origin of bank switching, the development of Atari's _My First Computer_ and the high price and low amount of software for the Lynx all make an appearance. Also, since my knowledge of computer history is minimal, I found this a good place to start learning about it. So, I like the book. But, like most things, it could have been better. The typical errors are in there too: typos, hyperbole, factual errors, a willingness to portray jerks we like/admire/fear/respect as tough and shrewd but those we don't as just jerks. The last part of the book is the least interesting, as the collapse is essentially "two people ran it into the ground." Perhaps it's just as well; watching a company wither and die isn't much fun. Sadly, the two worst characteristics of the book are: 1) Sins of Omission, both large and small. a) Large: We are presented with a one page summary (page ix) that covers Jack Tramiel's early life, the creation of Commodore, the purchase of Commodore in 1966 by Irving Gould and Commodore's move into the calculator market. The Large Sin runs from the other room, barking and slobbering, and tackles the reader to the ground with a full jump: "The company quickly grew until a scandal rocked the Canadian financial scene, with Commodore at the center. After an embarrassing public inquiry, Commodore was finished; or so it seemed." In _Winnie the Pooh_, when Christopher Robin is explaining to his father about Pooh Bear's name, he says: "He's Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don't you know what 'ther' means?" His father replies: "'Ah, yes, now I do,' I said quickly; and I hope you do too because it is all the explanation you are going to get." To rectify this omission, I did a small bit of research. You can find the result at: http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/commodore2.txt Also, there is no index. Sheesh. b) Small: Why, oh, why must authors leave out information? For example: (p. 29) He [Chuck Peddle] completed the design and showed it at the National Computer Conference. It was the first pinball game to use a microprocessor. What was the name of the game? (p. 208) ... Atari sued Magnavox, which had produced a Pac-Man clone for their Odyssey game console. This was K.C. Munchkin! for those of you reading along. There are many examples of this kind in the book, so with hair in hand: ** A plea to all authors, not just Mr. Bagnall. Please please please do not do this. I do not expect a full explanation of an offhand comment, but I do expect *direct pointers* for anything you do mention or an admission that you don't know. To not include a direct pointer either means that you don't know and don't want to admit it, you don't care or you are lazy. There is no excuse for any of these. I want to know specifics, not generalities. If you aren't going to put specifics in a *history* book, for crying out loud, where are you going to put them? ** The worst bit of the book is: 2) The Triumph of Mitchy Instead of including additional useful information (you know, like the stuff listed above), let's instead talk about Jay Miner's dog, Mitchy. Mitchy not only gets a picture in the book, but also more column inches than many other topics (p. 400): "She would sit on Jay's lap, and Jay would draw gates, and he would look down at Mitchy and Mitchy would shake her head. Jay would erase it and draw it upside down, and try it a different way and look down and Mitchy would pant. He did design by dog." Ok, the author wishes to make the point that Jay Miner, a brilliant designer, kept a dog for company and that the two were close. Fine, fine. It adds color and perhaps Mitchy was the real reason behind the technical superiority of the Amiga. Now, could we please shut up about the dog? No, we can't. On p. 424, Mitchy returns as an official member of the Commodore-Amiga development team. On p. 428, both Bil Herd and R.J Mical chime in about the dog. On p. 442, the dog's paw print is on the plastic mold for the Amiga. This particular strain of inanity continues throughout the book. For example: (p. 360) "A _Margaritas_ bartender amused patrons by stopping a fan blade with is tongue. He later became semi-famous after winning _Stupid Human Tricks_ on _Late Night with David Letterman_." Oh yes. And Chuck Peddle married "a voluptuous blonde," (p. 8.) and on and on and on. IMHO, this stuff subtracts, but I'm willing to tolerate it *if* all relevant information is presented. Leaving out the name of the pinball machine Peddle worked on while including this tripe is inexcusable. In short, I like the book. I'd like it a little more if the nonsense were turned down a little and I'd like it a lot more if the nonsense were turned down a lot.