The History of Commodore Pt 2

TCW Podcast Episode 245 - The History of Commodore Pt 2 Commodore’s shift from calculators to computers began with the PET, which found success in Europe as a business machine. After seeing the ZX80 in Britain, Jack Tramiel pushed for an affordable home computer, leading to the VIC-20. Guided by marketing manager Michael S. Tomczyk, Commodore promoted the VIC-20 as “the friendly computer” with William Shatner as spokesman. It first launched in Japan before reaching the United States and Europe, becoming a hit worldwide. Building on that success, Commodore released the C64, featuring the powerful SID sound chip and far more memory than its competitors. Marketed again under Tomczyk’s direction at a price under six hundred dollars, the C64 became one of the best-selling computers of all time, driving Commodore’s revenue past a billion dollars and securing its place in computing history. TCW 2025 Livestream: TCW 165 - Allied Leisure: TCW 172 - The Computer Price Wars Part 1: TCW 173 - The Computer Price Wars Part 2: TCW 174 - The Computer Price Wars Part 3: TCW 130 - Uncle Clive's Radionics: TCW 131 - Sir Clive of ZX: KIM-1 Computer: The 8-Bit Guy - Commodore PET: The 8-Bit Guy - Commodore VIC-20: The 8-Bit Guy - Commodore C64: Commodore VIC-20 Commercials: Wiliam Shatner VIC-20 Commercials: Commodore 64 Commercials: New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month! TCW Email: feedback@theycreateworlds.com Twitter: @tcwpodcast Patreon: Alex's Video Game History Blog: Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: Copyright: Attribution:

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The History of Commodore Pt 2 is an episode from They Create Worlds by Alex Smith, and Jeffrey Daum.

This episode is 96:33 long.

This episode was published on Nov 1, 2025.

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