Jack Tramiel passed away - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

10 Apr 2012

----- Original Message:
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:18:16 -0400
From: Keith Monahan <keithvz at verizon.net>
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Jack Tramiel passed away
Message-ID: <4F834408.8020104 at verizon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 4/9/2012 3:35 PM, David Riley wrote:
...
  On Apr 9, 2012, at 3:06 PM, Keith Monahan wrote:

> On 4/9/2012 2:29 PM, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
>> That's a shame. His impact on computing is frequently forgotten these
>> days.
>
> It should probably be noted that Jack was a pretty ruthless business man 
----- Reply:
Umm, why "should it be noted," especially a few days after his death?

Whether it's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Jack Tramiel, why do some people feel
the need to insult and criticize (especially immediately after their death
in the case of the latter two) these people who did what they had to in
order to survive and be competitive and make the huge contributions that
they did to the field which is a hobby and a vocation for most of us?

Being "nice" doesn't usually succeed in a cutthroat field like computer
hardware and software; I don't think I'd call Jack "ruthless" but
perhaps
his time in a concentration camp did give him a stronger sense of what it
takes to survive than some people.

...
 > and made decisions that were contrary to a stable
and reliable machine
> and accessories. 
I don't know; all my PETs, VIC20s and all except one C64 are still working
as well as when they were new; other than C64 power packs and PALs
overheating, what decisions resulted in unreliable and unstable machines and
accessories? The drive interface issue you mention was precisely the result
of a compromise to make it reliable and stable (albeit slow).

...
 > I hope I'm remembering correctly, but I think
the 1541 was a victim of
> Jack Tramiel's rush-to-market engineering. 
Again, I don't know if Jack was personally responsible, but yes, getting new
product "out there" before the competition has always been crucially
important and yes, sometimes decisions are made that have repercussions long
afterwards due to backward compatibility issues (640Kb oughta be enough for
everyone...)

In any case, the VIC20/1541 issue created an opportunity for numerous
third-parties to market speed-up solutions.

Let's give Jack the respect and credit he deserves and let him rest in
peace.

m