Classicamiga Forum Retro Edition
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Thread: On the Edge - New Computer Book
Castelle 15:43 20th May 2008
Hi all,

Took delivery today of a fantastic new book.

On The Edge: The spectacular rise and fall of Commodore by Brian Bignall.

On the cover is a picture of the classic Commodore 64 -- anyway, it says this inside the dust jacket...

Between 1976 and 1994, Commodore had astounding success in the nascent personal computer business. Amid the chaos and infighting, Commodore was able to achieve some remarkable industry firsts. They were the first major company to show a personal computer, even before Apple and Radio Shack. They sold a million computers before anyone else. No single computer has sold more than the Commodore 64. The first true multimedia computer, the Amiga, came from Commodore. Yet with all these milestones, Commodore receives almost no credit as a pioneer.

Commodore was one of the only companies with the ability to make silicon, and the results were obvious. They had more creativity, more colour, and more character than the competition. While Apple and IBM charged exorbitant prices, Commodore was able to reach the masses with affordable computers while remaining profitable.

The Commodore 64 cut a path of destruction through the early industry, knocking Tandy, Texas Instruments, Sinclair, and Atari out of the computer business and badly hurting Apple and even IBM. While other companies received more press, Commodore sold more computers.

Yet Commodore never reached a comfortable position. They were always on the verge of blinding success or abysmal failure. Commodore's Volatile founder, Jack Tramiel, lived on the edge, and he made sure his employees lived there too.

You can order it online here for US residents : http://www.variantpress.com/books/on-the-edge

And you can order it from Amazon for UK residents :
http://www.amazon.co.uk
[Reply]
AlexJ 15:46 20th May 2008
http://forum.classicamiga.com/showthread.php?t=172
[Reply]
Castelle 11:12 21st May 2008
Ahh well...

It's a good plug for Commodore as we don't see much of it these days
[Reply]
Harrison 14:38 21st May 2008
I've still not managed to get a copy of this book yet. (Site Donation? )

I definitely will when I get chance though as it is a special piece of history being documented.
[Reply]
Castelle 09:06 4th June 2008
Originally Posted by Harrison:
I've still not managed to get a copy of this book yet. (Site Donation? )
There you go Harrison

Just a thank you for helping me secure the Blizzard card and running such a fantastic forum and the wonderful Amibay !!

Long live the Amiga scene...

Live long and prosper

Oh yes !

Castelle
[Reply]
Puni/Void 13:01 4th June 2008
@Castelle

Congratulations with the turbo-card! Which Blizzard model did you get?
[Reply]
Castelle 16:17 4th June 2008
Originally Posted by P G:
Which Blizzard model did you get?
Observe my signature PG
[Reply]
Puni/Void 16:20 4th June 2008
Signature has now been observed.

Must say you've gotten an excellent card there. Got the same one myself and I'm very happy with it. Have fun with the card mate!
[Reply]
Castelle 01:29 5th June 2008
Originally Posted by P G:
Signature has now been observed.

Must say you've gotten an excellent card there. Got the same one myself and I'm very happy with it. Have fun with the card mate!
Hi PG,

Thanks for your words of support I used to have a Blizzard 1260 when I had my Commodore A1200. I was always having to disable it as most games wouldn't run !! nowadays I have a Amiga Technologies A1200 so having the 1230 is a joy but I have to say that even though the 1260 was a beast (and then some) It really did get too hot for a desktop A1200...

Heat-wise with this little baby?

Nah, just have to get some bigger feet to fit the 128MB RAM as its angled being a double sided SIMM...

Question, do you know if they are any single sided 70 pin EDO RAM out there?

Might be stabbing in the dark or be lucky to get an 128 MB single sided SIMM !!!

[Reply]
Harrison 01:39 5th June 2008
You can definitely get 32MB single sized, and maybe 64MB, but I'm not sure about 128MB. Those were quite rare and a large size at the time when 72pin EDO ram was popular.
[Reply]
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