The web reacts to Jack Tramiel’s death

Last Updated on August 1, 2017 by Dave Farquhar

Numerous tributes appeared today as word of Commodore founder Jack Tramiel’s death spread.

Jack Tramiel in 2007. Photo credit: Alex Handy/Flickr

“In the valley, legacy is not always about building companies to last. Here, companies madly push technology forward… But those who started the now-faded giants have nothing to apologize for. It’s how the future is built. Though I never met Tramiel, he doesn’t strike me as the sort to apologize much, anyway.” — The San Jose Mercury News

“Many games of today employ an 8-bit, retro vibe, and even though many of today’s younger gamers may not know who Jack Tramiel is, his legacy lives on in every pixel and byte of sound produced to this very day.” —MSNBC

“Commodore was one of the first important PC companies, and Tramiel, in his own idiosyncratic manner, played a vital role in getting the PC revolution underway. He may have been less representative of the conventional stereotypes about computer entrepreneurs than anyone else who ever headed a major computer company.” — Harry McCracken, Time Magazine

McCracken, it should be noted, covered Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s.
But this comment on Slashdot is the one I like best:

“He bore no ill will towards IBM, Apple, or any of the other competitors. It was all business; life is too short for animosity on any level. As the fortunes of CBM varied through time, that philosophy made it easier for him to stand aside and let history take its course.”

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