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The Commodore Series #3
Commodore: The Amiga Years
Seeking to ascertain how the Commodore Amiga, a computer now widely regarded as having been five years ahead of its competition, failed so spectacularly in the marketplace, this book takes an in-depth look at the people and personalities behind it. The often unflattering picture that emerges is one of top-level executives who had little understanding of how to market their product to the public and a company that struggled to remain relevant. Other products that Commodore produced and tried to market, such as the C128, Geos, game consoles, and the untold story of the proposed successor to the record-breaking C64—the C65—are also examined in depth. Told through firsthand interviews with company insiders, this examination of the now defunct company traces the often baffling decisions that led to the eventual demise of Commodore.
540 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
43 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Brian Bagnall
11 books19 followersBrian Bagnall is the author of numerous computer titles, including the Commodore Series.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 5, 2018
A must-read book for any Amiga or Commodore nostalgic with tons of details about the life in Los Gatos and all the engineer stuff (how the chips, the board, the mouse, etc. were designed). It also teach a lot of the (mis)management of a billion dollars company in the 80s.
Sadly the reading is crippled with constant repetitions. In fact the book keep repeating itself in two ways:
_ In the same paragraph, the author often sums up the situation ("In winter 1986, engineer Porter was working on the A500" for example), then, in the following sentence, he uses a quote from this very person saying kinda the same thing ("I remember I was busy working on the A500 prototype by that time", says Jeff Porter). So it make the reading very redundant without adding extra infos.
_ On a greater scale, lots of information is also repeated every few pages. Sometimes it helps remembering technical details, but when you read five times in 20 pages that "Rattigan made the Ranger and the A2500 teams compete with each others", it's getting boring. Part of those repetitions are because Brian Bagnall has interviewed a dozen of the historical actors. When he then quotes them about their specific work (Mical on the OS, Herd on the C128 etc.) it's all good and interesting, but too often he will quotes them about one specific event, resulting about more or less the same memories: "The 1986 layoff were hard but necessary", says X, then a few paragraphs latter: "It was hard seeing all those people getting lay off", remember Y, then, again a few paragraphs latter: "Maybe they lay off too many, but there wasn't any other option", explain Z etc. etc. (not the exact quotes, but you got the idea)
So yeah, this part is really the only downside imho. But apart from that, it's a fascinating book. I learn a lot about this times and the big story from the inside. The object itself is beautiful with a nice cover, 16 pages of colored photos (included one of Mitch!), and (at least in the the kickstarter edition) an included Agnus poster, a Miner&Morse bookmark and even two Amiga business cards with my name on it!
Sadly the reading is crippled with constant repetitions. In fact the book keep repeating itself in two ways:
_ In the same paragraph, the author often sums up the situation ("In winter 1986, engineer Porter was working on the A500" for example), then, in the following sentence, he uses a quote from this very person saying kinda the same thing ("I remember I was busy working on the A500 prototype by that time", says Jeff Porter). So it make the reading very redundant without adding extra infos.
_ On a greater scale, lots of information is also repeated every few pages. Sometimes it helps remembering technical details, but when you read five times in 20 pages that "Rattigan made the Ranger and the A2500 teams compete with each others", it's getting boring. Part of those repetitions are because Brian Bagnall has interviewed a dozen of the historical actors. When he then quotes them about their specific work (Mical on the OS, Herd on the C128 etc.) it's all good and interesting, but too often he will quotes them about one specific event, resulting about more or less the same memories: "The 1986 layoff were hard but necessary", says X, then a few paragraphs latter: "It was hard seeing all those people getting lay off", remember Y, then, again a few paragraphs latter: "Maybe they lay off too many, but there wasn't any other option", explain Z etc. etc. (not the exact quotes, but you got the idea)
So yeah, this part is really the only downside imho. But apart from that, it's a fascinating book. I learn a lot about this times and the big story from the inside. The object itself is beautiful with a nice cover, 16 pages of colored photos (included one of Mitch!), and (at least in the the kickstarter edition) an included Agnus poster, a Miner&Morse bookmark and even two Amiga business cards with my name on it!
August 22, 2018
To begin with, something to get out of the way: I’ve kind of lost track of the editions of Bagnall’s books. First there was the excellent “On the Edge – The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore”, one of my all-time favourite retro computing AND business books. Then came “Commodore: a company on the edge”, which has gone through a couple of revisions (I think), which is…? Supposedly, it’s got a bit more content like interviews with (the overrated) Kit Spencer, but why the different title?
Anyhow, “The Amiga Years” at least gives away the focus, and a follow-up within 2018 (eagerly awaiting it) will deal with Commodore’s latest years.
Brian Bagnall, according to Amazon and for those who don’t know, is the author of numerous computer titles, including Core LEGO Mindstorms, On the Edge, and Maximum LEGO NXT. He is also a frequent contributor to Old-Computers.com, an online museum dedicated to recording and preserving computer history. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
On to the book, then. A nice 504-page long read, it will satisfy most. The hardcover format is of great quality – great binding, nice dust jacket (even if it doesn’t quite fit in with the previous books) and even the paper smell is great (for the weird of us).
The writing is concise and easy to read as always with Bagnall. It’s separated into proper chapters, sub-separated into mini-topics, so you can pick it up and read for a few minutes easily without leaving something in the middle.
At least the first half must have fallen through the cracks when editing, because there are several instances of stuff repeating within a paragraph or two, or things that are transposed in their position in their text, like what happens when you’re writing something and you revise it without re-reading the whole lot. After the 50 or 60% mark though it gets better, and in any case it’s not too bad to begin with; just a pity because the otherwise excellent feel is marred by these missteps.
Bagnall begins with the Amiga story itself, focusing on the Amiga company. This is not strictly Commodore history of course, but he’s well entitled to do so as the beginnings are of great interest. The transition between the Amiga and the Commodore story is seamless and very organic and the two stories meld together beautifully.
Tons of quotes from Commodore and Amiga staff give the inside story, and this is presented beautifully.
One thing that makes the book stand out from other retro computing books is his balanced approach. I’ve seen books where only engineering is considered, and the rest of the corporate functions (especially marketing) is ommitted, if not sneered at, like there’s a chance in hell anything could go to market and succeed just because some engineers got together and designed something beautiful.
Bagnall does give engineering much focus for the first half or so of the book, but slowly the rest comes in and the result is, again, a book that is not only a great computing history book but a business book as well.
Speaking of which, it’s definitely not as good as his first book(s), where the story was much better meshed together, but still it stands heads and shoulders above other books in the genre (the awful “Atari Inc – Business is Fun” comes to mind, where the budgeting meeting is more or less described as of no consequence and pretty useless).
Towards the end of the book Bagnall seemed to me to have run out of time. Towards its end things become more hurried and the very end is a crescendo lacking much of the flair and details of the beginning – the closing ot he Los Gatos branch, for instance, barely manages to fetch a couple of pages -if that.
The photos -not too many but not too few either, separated in two glossy-paper photo sections- are, unfortunately, nothing to write home about. Just a semi-random mismash of people and machines with no real connection to the book. Having been accustomed to the beauty of Bitmap Books, where photos are closely tied to the text, these were quite a disapointment, especially considering Bagnall’s access to the people of the story. All those machines! Prototypes, variations, schematics, drawings! Why are these not in there? What a pity.
As I said before, Commodore: The Amiga Years is not as good as his first book. However this is not to say it’s not a great read (and this, coming from someone who is the opposite of a Commodore fan, having grown up with the likes of the CPC and the ST). If you’re serious about your computing history section of your library then you have to get this. If you’re a Commodore fan, you *need* to get this. If you enjoy business books, this is not fantastic, but is good nonetheless.
Can’t wait for the final tome!
Anyhow, “The Amiga Years” at least gives away the focus, and a follow-up within 2018 (eagerly awaiting it) will deal with Commodore’s latest years.
Brian Bagnall, according to Amazon and for those who don’t know, is the author of numerous computer titles, including Core LEGO Mindstorms, On the Edge, and Maximum LEGO NXT. He is also a frequent contributor to Old-Computers.com, an online museum dedicated to recording and preserving computer history. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
On to the book, then. A nice 504-page long read, it will satisfy most. The hardcover format is of great quality – great binding, nice dust jacket (even if it doesn’t quite fit in with the previous books) and even the paper smell is great (for the weird of us).
The writing is concise and easy to read as always with Bagnall. It’s separated into proper chapters, sub-separated into mini-topics, so you can pick it up and read for a few minutes easily without leaving something in the middle.
At least the first half must have fallen through the cracks when editing, because there are several instances of stuff repeating within a paragraph or two, or things that are transposed in their position in their text, like what happens when you’re writing something and you revise it without re-reading the whole lot. After the 50 or 60% mark though it gets better, and in any case it’s not too bad to begin with; just a pity because the otherwise excellent feel is marred by these missteps.
Bagnall begins with the Amiga story itself, focusing on the Amiga company. This is not strictly Commodore history of course, but he’s well entitled to do so as the beginnings are of great interest. The transition between the Amiga and the Commodore story is seamless and very organic and the two stories meld together beautifully.
Tons of quotes from Commodore and Amiga staff give the inside story, and this is presented beautifully.
One thing that makes the book stand out from other retro computing books is his balanced approach. I’ve seen books where only engineering is considered, and the rest of the corporate functions (especially marketing) is ommitted, if not sneered at, like there’s a chance in hell anything could go to market and succeed just because some engineers got together and designed something beautiful.
Bagnall does give engineering much focus for the first half or so of the book, but slowly the rest comes in and the result is, again, a book that is not only a great computing history book but a business book as well.
Speaking of which, it’s definitely not as good as his first book(s), where the story was much better meshed together, but still it stands heads and shoulders above other books in the genre (the awful “Atari Inc – Business is Fun” comes to mind, where the budgeting meeting is more or less described as of no consequence and pretty useless).
Towards the end of the book Bagnall seemed to me to have run out of time. Towards its end things become more hurried and the very end is a crescendo lacking much of the flair and details of the beginning – the closing ot he Los Gatos branch, for instance, barely manages to fetch a couple of pages -if that.
The photos -not too many but not too few either, separated in two glossy-paper photo sections- are, unfortunately, nothing to write home about. Just a semi-random mismash of people and machines with no real connection to the book. Having been accustomed to the beauty of Bitmap Books, where photos are closely tied to the text, these were quite a disapointment, especially considering Bagnall’s access to the people of the story. All those machines! Prototypes, variations, schematics, drawings! Why are these not in there? What a pity.
As I said before, Commodore: The Amiga Years is not as good as his first book. However this is not to say it’s not a great read (and this, coming from someone who is the opposite of a Commodore fan, having grown up with the likes of the CPC and the ST). If you’re serious about your computing history section of your library then you have to get this. If you’re a Commodore fan, you *need* to get this. If you enjoy business books, this is not fantastic, but is good nonetheless.
Can’t wait for the final tome!
July 24, 2018
This book leans heavily on quotes from the interviews where I'd prefer the author to have a stronger voice and distill the essence of what they are saying, delete minor inconsistencies and mistaken beliefs unless there is a point to it. But I understand why that is nearly impossible here: for every two Commodore employees interviewed there seem to be three conflicting viewpoints on what the best course of action would have been for the company to take. There were many projects given resources then canceled within a year or two, both fostering creative competition and squandering millions of dollars, and the people involved then fired or suffering lowered morale so that they would quit. The Amiga 500 was disliked by the original creators of the Amiga who wanted to make something more advanced and more expensive, but if that had happened I would have never owned one.
I skipped the first volume because it is more expensive and the Amiga is my main interest, but having read this I'll have to get it while waiting for The Final Years to come out.
More than a year after reading The Future Was Here I did finally start learning 68000 assembly and how to program the OCS chipset: https://github.com/lucasw/amiga_assembly, The Amiga Years helped with additional inspiration though is less technical- I need to re-read a few chapters from the Maher book now that I better understand the bitplanes, blitter, and copper.
I skipped the first volume because it is more expensive and the Amiga is my main interest, but having read this I'll have to get it while waiting for The Final Years to come out.
More than a year after reading The Future Was Here I did finally start learning 68000 assembly and how to program the OCS chipset: https://github.com/lucasw/amiga_assembly, The Amiga Years helped with additional inspiration though is less technical- I need to re-read a few chapters from the Maher book now that I better understand the bitplanes, blitter, and copper.
March 18, 2018
If you are a hardcore Amiga fan then, yes, this is worth a read. Among the many many many (too many) details in the book you will find interesting passages.
Just beware this book is just as much about the C64, C128 and other non-amiga products.
It covers the different products and their parts (especially chips) in ridiculous detail. 9/10 of this could have been skipped.
It spends a lot of time on people, management and company processes. Also could have skipped a lot.
It ends just when it's time to get interesting, the launch of the Amiga 500.
Just beware this book is just as much about the C64, C128 and other non-amiga products.
It covers the different products and their parts (especially chips) in ridiculous detail. 9/10 of this could have been skipped.
It spends a lot of time on people, management and company processes. Also could have skipped a lot.
It ends just when it's time to get interesting, the launch of the Amiga 500.
July 24, 2018
Daha önce Commodore - A Company at the Edge kitabıyla bizi bilgiye boğan Brian Bagnall, bu kitapta Commodore macerasının 1982-1987 yılları arasını, Amiga'ya denk düşen dönemini anlatmış. Yine çok ama çok kapsamlı araştırma yapılmış, yine çok fazla, belki de isteyeceğinizden daha fazla detay var. Bir ayımı aldı ama büyük keyif alarak okudum, sayısız şey öğrendim.
Maalesef Commodore firmasının fırtınalı yaşamı bu kitapla bitmiyor. Yazar "Commodore - The Final Years" adındaki üçüncü kitabı hazırlamakla meşgul. O kitapla birlikte öykü sonlanacak ve eşsiz bir araştırma tamamlanmış olacak.
Maalesef Commodore firmasının fırtınalı yaşamı bu kitapla bitmiyor. Yazar "Commodore - The Final Years" adındaki üçüncü kitabı hazırlamakla meşgul. O kitapla birlikte öykü sonlanacak ve eşsiz bir araştırma tamamlanmış olacak.
May 6, 2018
A really interesting and engaging book, had me gripped from the first paragraph. Only real criticism is that the narrative stops just before the Amiga 500 is launched! Should be called Commodore: The Commodore 64 - 128 Years really. At least it explains this in the preface.
Still, superbly researched and a joy to read.
Still, superbly researched and a joy to read.
February 23, 2018
Being a massive fan of the Amiga this book was a must buy for me.
This is the one that came out in June 2017 not the one pictured which is 2-3 years old.
The book covers the story of Commodore from 1984 to 1987, and details the mismanagement of what should have been a massively successful firm.
It obviously includes the buying of Amiga, as a company and eventually releasing the Amiga 1000, 500 and 2000, plus being utterly obsessed with never letting go of the C64 to the point where they were trying to find new versions of the C64 even when such a great machine as the Amiga was out there.
It's a relatively well written book, there's a few typos here and there which shouldn't happen in a professionally published book but it's not on the scale of Atari book by Goldberg and Vendel.
The book itself is a great read, my own issues are with the author who ran this (edition of the book) via a Crowfunding site, and months after it was released people are still waiting for it. Mine was a Christmas present and didn't go down too well with a few ex Amiga fans who paid a lot of money to crowdfund it and still were no nearer to receiving their copy, given my copy came via Ebay!
Secondly this book only goes up to 1987, "The Final Years" is due in 2018... Not sure I trust to author to deliver in 2018, we'll see.
This is the one that came out in June 2017 not the one pictured which is 2-3 years old.
The book covers the story of Commodore from 1984 to 1987, and details the mismanagement of what should have been a massively successful firm.
It obviously includes the buying of Amiga, as a company and eventually releasing the Amiga 1000, 500 and 2000, plus being utterly obsessed with never letting go of the C64 to the point where they were trying to find new versions of the C64 even when such a great machine as the Amiga was out there.
It's a relatively well written book, there's a few typos here and there which shouldn't happen in a professionally published book but it's not on the scale of Atari book by Goldberg and Vendel.
The book itself is a great read, my own issues are with the author who ran this (edition of the book) via a Crowfunding site, and months after it was released people are still waiting for it. Mine was a Christmas present and didn't go down too well with a few ex Amiga fans who paid a lot of money to crowdfund it and still were no nearer to receiving their copy, given my copy came via Ebay!
Secondly this book only goes up to 1987, "The Final Years" is due in 2018... Not sure I trust to author to deliver in 2018, we'll see.
April 4, 2020
An awesome account of an amazing computer
I had read previously parts of the Amiga story where Commodore purchased Amiga just as Atari was about to acquire the chipset but this book covers so much more.
I had no idea how turbulent Commodore was at the time, the financial problems, the redundancies, the in-fighting, the projects which were cancelled.
Frankly it was a miracle the Amiga 500 arrived, especially as most of the original Amiga team didn't like it. Even though it was ahead of the competition technically there was no guarantee it would be a success.
Not only this, but understanding the history of the Amiga operating system which is covered is also fascinating - at the time it was way ahead of other operating systems and can be attributed to the brilliance of a few exceptional engineers.
A fantastic read about a computer which should not be forgotten.
I had read previously parts of the Amiga story where Commodore purchased Amiga just as Atari was about to acquire the chipset but this book covers so much more.
I had no idea how turbulent Commodore was at the time, the financial problems, the redundancies, the in-fighting, the projects which were cancelled.
Frankly it was a miracle the Amiga 500 arrived, especially as most of the original Amiga team didn't like it. Even though it was ahead of the competition technically there was no guarantee it would be a success.
Not only this, but understanding the history of the Amiga operating system which is covered is also fascinating - at the time it was way ahead of other operating systems and can be attributed to the brilliance of a few exceptional engineers.
A fantastic read about a computer which should not be forgotten.
October 20, 2024
I used to really love my Amiga and spent so much time on it. This book was a nice nostalgia for me that brought back some fond memories. Bagnall did a great job scoring interviews with many of the key participants and the book is structured with lots of their stories. It is more a book of what they did and their trials & tribulations. One thing I would have appreciated is some more coverage of the actual technology and market at the time… going deeper into the bits & bolts and how the Amiga and C128 compared to the competition. Overall, I really liked the book though
March 16, 2018
Interesting topic. Points about being thorough .... to the point of the book not progressing during its ~500 pages almost at all.
September 23, 2019
Looking forward to the third installment
December 26, 2021
Perinpohjainen yrityshistoriikki. Suositus kaikille Amiga-faneille ;)
May 7, 2025
Recommended to Amiga fans to know the interesting Commodore and Amiga story. Some parts could get a little long and slow for other readers
November 16, 2023
Note: audiobook available (but not on audible)
April 18, 2016
It spends so much time on the nitty gritty technical details, it can make your eyes glaze over at times. Some of the information is helpful in understanding how the Amiga stood apart from its peers. But more often than not it seems to be so mind-numbingly technical you forget why you picked this book up in the first place.
I suppose rather than tell me how Deluxe paint was made, or how 3D rendering works at a technical level (I can find that anywhere), tell me about why, from a historical context, these programs were so ground breaking - high level.
Then, interview the creators and get their thoughts in there. Most are still alive to this day. The people who built this thing back in the day and the software for it are the most interesting potential subjects you could find, but are sorely lacking (RIP Dave Needle and Jay Miner). Not to mention all of the unbelievable lack of vision from Commodore itself.
All one has to do is crack open a few AmigaWorld magazines from 1987 - 1989, written in the U.S.A., and read the editor's notes. The angst is heard from those closely covering the scene from very early on! It was pervasive.
The most interesting aspects of the book are basically in the intro and last handful of pages.
This book, while technically informative, really missed a huge opportunity in my opinion.
I suppose rather than tell me how Deluxe paint was made, or how 3D rendering works at a technical level (I can find that anywhere), tell me about why, from a historical context, these programs were so ground breaking - high level.
Then, interview the creators and get their thoughts in there. Most are still alive to this day. The people who built this thing back in the day and the software for it are the most interesting potential subjects you could find, but are sorely lacking (RIP Dave Needle and Jay Miner). Not to mention all of the unbelievable lack of vision from Commodore itself.
All one has to do is crack open a few AmigaWorld magazines from 1987 - 1989, written in the U.S.A., and read the editor's notes. The angst is heard from those closely covering the scene from very early on! It was pervasive.
The most interesting aspects of the book are basically in the intro and last handful of pages.
This book, while technically informative, really missed a huge opportunity in my opinion.
June 5, 2013
It does give some additional insight to the early home computer years but mostly for fans of Commodore computers
Want to read
May 25, 2014I _REALLY_ wish they'd release this book!
Read
January 19, 2019It is filled with tech and history. I think that a reader would have to be quite technically oriented to have interest in all the engineering details of developing custom chips and new technology. But, for someone like me, who is interested in the nuances of specific chip construction and has owned the Amiga computer, it was very interesting to get a deep, deep behind the scenes look. Amiga owners were probably the only computer owners who knew the names of the custom chips developed for the Amiga that gave it the incredible multi-tasking and graphics abilities. So I totally geeked out on it.
It was also interesting and shocking to see how poorly run Commodore was. Poor upper-management decisions killed the Amiga. The engineers knew better how to market it than the execs.
So it was a good long read. At times, I felt it was too detailed for me too. But it was also sad, knowing how it would end. I guess what it did was told readers why it ended; why a computer that was at least five years ahead of the competition couldn’t be marketed successfully. It was a techno-tragedy.
It was also interesting and shocking to see how poorly run Commodore was. Poor upper-management decisions killed the Amiga. The engineers knew better how to market it than the execs.
So it was a good long read. At times, I felt it was too detailed for me too. But it was also sad, knowing how it would end. I guess what it did was told readers why it ended; why a computer that was at least five years ahead of the competition couldn’t be marketed successfully. It was a techno-tragedy.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews