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Commodore Computers John Fusaro LDR/531 May 10, 2011 Mike Alexander Commodore Computers Commodore computers were one of the first home computers a person could buy. The brand was an American computer company started in 1958 by Jack Tramiel. They originally built calculators, and after a price war with Texas Instruments, the company decided to go in a different direction. The direction they chose was the budding personal computer market. In 1976, the moved the company to California, and bought several microprocessor companies (Mortimer, 2003). By the early 1990s they had created the Commodore 64, which was the bestselling home computer of all time. At one point in the early 1990s they were manufacturing almost two Million units per year. By 1995, they were out of business. So what happened? I remember having a Commodore computer back in the early 1980s. My grandfather bought one, and we used it for playing games. The Commodore was unique for computers at the time because they were sold and marketed in chain stores along with electronic stores like Radio Shack. Also, to play games or programs the operator had to know a little BASIC programming. Little did I know at the time, but that Commodore 64 computer would go on to become the bestselling home computer of all-time, and at a mere $199, most people could afford it (Preimesberger, 2007). It seemed everyone knew BASIC programming, and wish would have continued learning computer programming. The specific organizational behavior that led to Commodore’s downfall is that they became complacent, and produced other versions of the C-64 that were not as popular, powerful, and efficient as the Commodore 64. One of them was the Amiga computer. The Amiga, a computer initially viewed as years ahead of its time, was a system that Commodore never understood how to market (Mortier, 1995). Hobbyists and gamers still use the Commodore 64 today. One of the other problems with the Amiga, and the Commodore were the peripherals (printer, floppy drives) were proprietary equipment, and were not interchangeable with Apple, or the TRS-80 from Radio Shack. These bad business decisions led to the fall of one of the best computers ever created. Tramiel failed to recognize the changing technology, and adapt his computers to the new systems. In late 2007, the Commodore brand was reinvented. The owners are trying to recreate the Commodore 64 with modern internal computer parts and boards, but in the frame of the 1990s model. Time will tell if this is another great marketing plan, and the Commodore may once again become the greatest selling computer of all time. References Mortier, S. (1995, October). A Second Chance for the Amiga. Computer Graphics World, 18(10), 52. Mortimer, R. (2003, Jan). Technical Breakdown:Why Commodore Vanished. Brand Strategy(167), 7. Retrieved from http://EbscoHost Preimesberger, C. (2007, December). IT Memory Lane. EWeek, 24(39), 8.

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