Jack Tramiel Interview (1985)

[TookMe20min2findThis]

Ok, I'm done with this interview, let's get the hell out of here.

[Alaska1925]

Kill this guy, he ruined Atari!!!

[blott1978]

I say we organize a raid and recover those missing Swordquest treasures from this fat fuck.

[eViLJ666]

the sword .. hand it over !!!

[MarkTheMorose]

Commodore 4 Plus? Tony lets the side down.

[Ziplock9000]

The market was NEVER dominated by the Mac in the UK then. Do they mean the US?

[DogFather0808]

Wow, this makes me feel old. I remember '84-85 very well. Tramiel was gunning for Apple with the "Jackintosh." By then I had already moved up to an IBM-XT, then an IBM-AT and didn't look back. For 27 years I stayed loyal to the IBM & compatible (now Microsoft) world. It was the right decision for what I had to do.

But things have CHANGED! On 8/2/2010 I bought an iPad. On 2/12/11 I bought an iPhone. I'm typing this on an iMac that I purchased on March 31, 2011.

[L4D2Hunter2010]

WE WANT THE SWORD!!!

[conradojavier]

GIVE ME THE SWORD YOU COMMOWHORE!!!!!!(sorry for the Pun)

[Inkki89]

RETURN THE FUCKIN TREASURES ASSHOLE!!!! PLEASE Atari make the final chapter SWORDQUEST Airworld! Let players try to win what is rightfully theirs!!! >:( Jack is a greedy bastard! I bet he buyed the Atari company because he wanted to own the 3 treasures!!! I wish he goes to a worse place than hell*!!!!

[conradojavier]

@Inkki89 Released Air World for XBLA & PSN.

[bazfanv2]

He was in a rush to see how much money he had made in the 10 minutes he spent talking to the interviewer.

[KOROSOR]

You, English "Youtubers" can only smile and make laugh, because you can't invent anything! And if someone does, especially from east europe - you smile ;) But remember, thx to people like Tramiel you don;t have to for example wait hours carrying your fat asses in the bank instead you can make a fast bank money transfer.. next time if your going to make jokes of great people - think twice, if you got brain.

[KOROSOR]

Again "Polish Can do" as we say. Yes, Tramiel was a Polish.

[teramasz]

@KOROSOR he is Polish

[paulspydar]

one of my fondest machines was my Atari 1040 STFM , great for games & of course music useing the classic Cuebase... still does a good job today hooked up to my Roland hardware..All though I dont really use it anymore,

[OGRMaster]

This guy destroyed both ATARI and COMMODORE.

[snake2006]

@OGRMaster

He didn't destroy Commodore. He made it a success, and if he would have stayed on with Commodore instead of getting booted out by greedy motherfuckers, Commodore would still be around today and so would the Amiga. Atari was already destroyed when he got it. He just kept it going for longer than it should have. Ray Kassar destroyed Atari.

Commodore was destroyed by people after Jack who didn't have a clue how to run the company properly.

[snake2006]

@OGRMaster

Oh and the President of Commodore after Jack was known for embezzling the money from the company as well.

[KaitainCPS]

@OGRMaster

He certainly didn't destroy Commodore.

[kuntosjedebil]

lol, i love the last second of the video where he is laughing behind Tramiel's back like if he said "what a retard" :)

[wheelman1324]

PRICK!

[laffer35]

Nice, computer with built in music. I'll have to ask for that next time I buy a computer.

[TardisOfDoctorWho]

GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!GIVE ME THAT

[101FIRE101]

Give me the Crown of Life!

[gooddarkjedi]

jack. he was one of the most immoral people in history of videogames. he bought stuf from companys and then didnt pay so they went to bankcorupsy and he bought them and forgave the depts.

[krzyslavv]

HE IS POLISH :D

[potsy5656]

Racist Fat Fuck Jew, GIVE ME THE SWORD!

[potsy5656]

What a racist Jew.

[MrSteamboatWillie]

Where is the sword, Jack!

[ThaSkylineSucks]

this guy was a douchebag

[blueyeswhitedragon2]

I see now I am not the only one to look for the sword quest treasure

[1990chrism]

Id rather go for the Atari. at least you haven't got to use a shitty little monochrome monitor!

[BoverTheDrummer]

im gonna find where this guy lives.... i will...

[summer20105707]

The worst thing that ever happened to Commodore was losing Tramiel. Horrible

[1990chrism]

Why the hell were them aweful things so popular who wants to play video games on a 7inch monochrome monitor and also strain their eyes when reading on screen text.

[richardmaudsley77]

@1990chrism You don't get eye stain reading stuff on the NINE inch monitor. the DPI is actually even lower than a modern computer, so why would you? stuff is LARGER on that screen.

[1990chrism]

@richardmaudsley77 So the fact that its shit on one way makes it good in another is what you're saying, yeah I suppose your right then but this still doesn't stop it from being small and monochrome when other computers of the time where colour, bigger and where a lot more versatile graphically. Apple targeted this product at the average person but seem to have forgotten the fact that average people like to play computer games.

[richardmaudsley77]

@1990chrism Wow, you just completely mis-understood every single word I said. You're not too good with computers, are you?

For one, it's a 9 inch screen. Second, a higher resolution screen would make things look smaller. And third, I'd say this was just about the computer with the best graphical capabilities in 1984 for real work (not games). Other systems had frankly bizarre limitations, like having to share colours in a 2x2 pixel area.

[1990chrism]

@richardmaudsley77 I understood exactly what you said which is my point, apple severely limited the versatility of this product by designing it the way they did. Of course things would look fucking smaller if a higher resolution was used, I never said anything to the contrary, I simply meant to point out the fact that by forcing the user to have a monitor that comes built into the computer a lower screen resolution would have had to be used in order seriously limiting the workable space.

[1990chrism]

@richardmaudsley77 and the fact that they installed a monochrome monitor limits the capability's even further if this was marketed as just a business computer I could understand why they designed it the way they did, but what I they tried to market to the average user e.g. home users in which case this system is defiantly not fit for purpose.

[patrickc1193]

I don't get it: why did Anne Frank have die during the Holocaust when this asshole, Jack Tramiel got to live? HE SHOULD BURN IN HELL!

[madcapoperator]

@patrickc1193 No offence to miss frank but would she have founded Commodore? Exactly...

[KaitainCPS]

@patrickc1193

wtf, dude?

[patrickc1193]

@KaitainCPS He ruined ATARI and made people's lives miserable.

[conradojavier]

@patrickc1193 He's THE Reason Nintendo stoled Atari's Thunder.

[conradojavier]

@patrickc1193 He's THE Reason why Nintendo got all the Fame & Glory.

[stupidninjamonkies50]

Jack Tramiel should give people a chance to win the other Swordquest treasures.

Like have Atari release Airworld and start other contests.

[conradojavier]

@stupidninjamonkies50 Atari should released Airworld on XBLA & PSN.

[Bandeto]

Give the fans what they want!

SWORDQUEST'S treasures belong to us! lol

[pickupcorn]

Does anybody out there know if John Fagans (old/ex commodore software engineer) is still around? He sent me an email a couple of years ago and it got stuck in my spam folder and eventually got deleted. I wanted to reply but can't find his email address. If he sees this or anybody out there knows him please ask him to email me at the address on my web page again. Thanks. P.B.

[lemonlateralus]

jack tramiel is evil evil evil

[pickupcorn]

@lemonlateralus Did you know him personally? Did you work for Commondore computers during the late 1970's? Do you remember a software engineer who used to work there named John Fagans?

[KaitainCPS]

@pickupcorn

Feagans, I think...?

[Skimaskkass]

You don't dis the MSX!!! Metal Gear forever! But great systems though.

[Psytheslasher]

GIVE ME THAT SWORDQUEST TREASURE!!

[Bandeto]

@Psytheslasher

So true, lol.

[ethansharkV2]

@Psytheslasher the kingdom of nerdom depends on it!

[conradojavier]

@Psytheslasher SCREW THE NINTENDO CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD EDITION, THOSE ARE THE REAL HOLY GRAIL OF VIDEO GAMES!!!!

[tdc6502]

6:49 mouse touch ;):)

[EvilPinkBunnyRabbits]

Macintosh 128K OWNED! :D I love that computer :)

[mariuslangenberg2]

but don't say that music composing was all that left.

Don't forget Arkey, the 10.000 dollar architect program! And also much better bookkeeping program (I forget the name).

You can't deny, the Amiga was for the gamers, and the ST was a more serious machine.

And word processing? Look too long to a commodore monitor, typing long text, and you are left with headache.

Atari, with the SM124 and SM125 had a rocksolid monochrome monitor, perfect for wordprocessing!

However 12 inch was too small.

[MadCommodore]

Well looking at white background and black fonts like ALL word processors show on 90% on the screen looking at this on an Amiga 640x512 interlaced hi-res screen is no worse than watching TV lol n00b

[KaitainCPS]

@mariuslangenberg2

"You can't deny, the Amiga was for the gamers, and the ST was a more serious machine."

That suggests that the ST was a more capable machine outside of games. It wasn't. There was pretty much nothing the ST could do that the Amiga couldn't do better, barring a very small CPU disadvantage if the custom chips weren't brought into play. The ST's single advantage over the Amiga was built-in midi ports, which is why it became a favourite of musicians.

[KaitainCPS]

@mariuslangenberg2

Eventually, Cubase users became the one surviving bastion of ST users, because the Amiga overtook the ST in sales and eroded its market.

The ST was a nice machine, but it was in effect a cheaper, rushed version of the Amiga without the custom chips that made the Amiga THE greatest ever home computer of the 2D-dominated era.

[mariuslangenberg2]

But believe me, I am not a fool. Better sound and graphics, that was not a mistake of Atari. Because it allowed them to make a much more cheaper machine!

Ok, with this single drive instead of the 720k drive, they saved a 50 or 100 dollar more maybe? But THAT I consider it a marketing mistake, because like I said, Atari had also double sided versions, but because there were also 360k drives, software developers almost only made games on 360k disks, making this double sided drive almost useless!

[mariuslangenberg2]

me a fool?

hm.. as I look at your nickname, I suppose you was one one this kids I was talking about.

And never grew up.

Ok, the Amiga had more pluspoints. The better colours, yes. That was a very good plus too. But that I already mentioned meself.

[TookMe20min2findThis]

Look how he abruptly walks away at the end of the interview. The host's reaction is priceless. This is Jack Tramiel at his best...!!

[mariuslangenberg2]

by the way, it was very funny these days, most kids had the much more populair commodore that time and off course all were laughing at my Atari. It was a gamemachine they said.

Really funny, because the ONLY thing I ever saw what they were doing on the commodore was games, even on the Amiga!

The Atari was much more intresting for the more serious people, not only for musicians, but for example, also for architects!

The Amiga had better colors though, so the drawing program was slightly better.

[MadCommodore]

Erm a few extra colours? Dpaint was the king of all pixel art packages. Art Effect 2 was as good as Photoshop 2. Wordworth and Final Writer were better than Microsoft word, Pagestream and Pagesetter was a good package for DTP. XCAD 2000 was also industry standard for CAD. All that left the ST was music composing.

[P5BDeluxeWiFi]

and only that because it had a built in midi interface otherwise it would have failed really badly.

[KaitainCPS]

@MadCommodore

Agreed.

[KaitainCPS]

@mariuslangenberg2

Of course most Amiga owners were using it for games. Most people were using most home computers for games, and the Amiga was the most capable machine under a thousands dollars. That games players gradually drifted away from the ST to the Amiga was not a sign of the "seriousness" of the ST, but rather the fact that it simply wasn't as good as the Amiga technically. Lots of people sold their STs and bought Amigas.

[mariuslangenberg2]

It was just like the mistake to start with the single sided 360K drives instead of the double side 720K drives which, for example Amiga had.

That's why the Amiga had usualy better games, because most games used the full 720 kb. While software developers made most games for the Atari on single sided disks, so it would work on ALL Atari models., even long time after Atari abonded the 360k models.

[MadCommodore]

OMG you think THAT is why the games were better haha fool. Try 4 channel 8bit sampled sound, blitter, copper, hardware sprites, hardware scrolling, 3500+ more colours, 15 more colours on screen than even the ST's highest resolution of 640x400.

I think the disk size had FA to do with the quality of the games.

[mariuslangenberg2]

I had almost every Atari model which ever came out, starting with Atari 800xl, to Mega ST2. The next model was bound to be the TT. But that model was delayed and delayed, and when finally arrived, they decided to stick to the 720kb drive instead of the 1,44mb drive, what was the original plane. It made me decide to switch to a PC, for the very first time.

In my eyes, it was a big mistake.

[dvamateur]

Yeah, Jack Tramiel's story is unbelievable. The father of Commodore, and the father of Atari ST in the same person. No need to say more. Anyway, I love the design of the ST/XE line. They look really beautiful.  I used to have a 1040ST, and the reason I wanted the ST over Amiaga, was the styling. Superficial of me maybe, but it made my purchase decission. As Jack Tramiel says, the 65XE is the 800XL, It's the same machine. The 65XE looks much better. Jack Tramiel has great taste, I think

[KaitainCPS]

@dvamateur

Consider also that the Amiga's ancestry was essentially Atari. Jay Miner and his team were ex-Atari. Commodore bought ought the small Amiga company and it became their greatest ever machine. But there was little connection between that and the Commodore 64. (Many of the 64's most significant engineers had already left Commodore.)

[mjp29mjp29]

Got to Wikipedia and read about Jack Tramiel

His life is a remarkable story

For my comment: My life using Commodore and Atari computers and consoles is owed much to him.

[leshager]

"i dont believe the japanese ever made it in the computer business (snicker)"

LOL and it was in 1985 that nintendo buried commadore and atari...woooshiiiii!!

[retronostalgic]

Unfortunately the ST eventually turned into a white elephant as the Amiga trounced it.

[imperialpod]

I think you'll find that the ST urinated on the amiga for professional musicians due to its midi capability AND Cubase!

The amiga was nowhere in comparison it that regard!

[Commodorian]

They should have included it in the Amiga, it really is an inexpensive piece of hardware that can be built by any hobbiest. There were various 3rd party products that provided MIDI support for the Amiga via the serial port but the Atari already had the edge over the Amiga with better music software.

[rtcobb75]

Actually, that single advantage (for a niche group anyway) was short-lived. A 3rd party MIDI adapter was later released for the Amiga.

[Sanosuke004]

I still remember the MIDIMaze game that Xanth Corporation made back in the day. ;) Very fond memories.

[xenepp]

Wasn't he awful at being interviewed!

[Foebane72]

Did you see the interviewer smiling (almost laughing) at something when Tramiel got up at the very end?

[xenepp]

He looked absolutely shocked! He must have passed some gas, that or insulted him!

[Foebane72]

The Atari 8-bit is fine, but the ST sucks in all ways.

[xenepp]

Wrong!

[Foebane72]

No, I'M right. ANY computer, in fact, designed by Jay Miner, is better than one cobbled together with off-the-shelf parts.

[xenepp]

I couldn't give a pile of pants what it's made of, the ST had a good amount of games and applications and they were all highly enjoyable and productive. Why do you think some music studios STILL use Atari machine exclusively?

Allow me to reiterate.. Wrong!! :p

[Foebane72]

Ah, yes, the MIDI port. But how can they still be using Ataris NOW, in 2008? The last Atari came out in the mid-90s, and computers only last so long before they break down, and no-one's around to repair them. You sure you're correct?

[xenepp]

Yep, there's probably not that many that do but the fact that ANY do is testament to how well they run. I know of at least 3 and I've not visited that many, though admittedly, two are Falcons. I've got three STs myself, two I've owned since the late 80s and one STE I purchased recently, all work without a hitch.

[Foebane72]

I gather you don't like the Amiga, then? I had a best friend who was also an ST owner who would taunt me about my "Crappy Amiga" ;)

[xenepp]

Quite the opposite. I had a Miggy 500 too back in the day. Much later than the ST but almost as loved. Many a night was spent tracking on Octamed. If only I'd kept my disks! Still got that A500 and an A500+. In all honesty, a vastly superior machine to the ST, aside from MIDI capabilities, but then it came later on. Have you seen the Minimig yet?

[Foebane72]

Oh! I'm glad to hear you liked the Amiga at least nearly as much as the ST, unlike my friend. But I do not actually know what the "Minimig" is... yet. I'll look it up and get back to you.

[Foebane72]

Yeah, Xenepp, I finally found out more about the Minimig. Sounds like an interesting idea, but I doubt it will compete against the latest PCs.

[Jumpseri]

Look for Natami, It will be compiting against PCs.

[redmartian]

I like how he gets up and promptly walks off stage.  Must of had a hot date! :)

[VasilijmadeinUSRR]

Jack Tramiel from Poland:D:D

[rainxxxx]

the sid chip was better than the st's chip.

[ViciousAlienKlown]

Atari wasa formed by Nolan Bushnell, not Jack Tramiel. The best days for Atari were in the Bushnell days and the company was a lot creative at this time. Tramiel cut costs and just about everything else. I loved the Atari Lynx and the Jaguar but the usual cost cutting and Atari's bad reputation with distributers killed Atari. The Tramiels aren't liked at all by Atari fans.

[blade004]

The same thing happened with Commodore in the end with Medhi Ali, David Pleasance and a whole host of others that drove Commodore into the ground. Atari & Commodore, 2 of finest computer manufacturers ever, both destroyed by incompetence.

[AtariHacker]

Back in those days, they had stuff lined up for him to do, and no doubt, he was off to an Atari Convention, if we had a date/time when this was made. I am sure we could find out where he was going, Possible German Computer Show?

[ViciousAlienKlown]

Jack Tramiel was knowledgable in the computer market so he shoud have stayed away from video game consoles. They never really knew how to beat Nintendo and Sega.

[rainxxxx]

atari was there before sega and nintendo were, thats how atari became famous

[samuelmaddever]

dude sega used to make pinball machines before atari was founded.

[rainxxxx]

i dont care about pinball machines

[imperialpod]

Thats not game consoles though, Atari was the 1st big boy in terms of games consoles, not sega or nintendo!

[wvoutlaw2002]

The Jackintosh.

[wengin]

The Tramiels are unique. I worked for Atari a while ago and they had a very unique, family style of running the company. But they were visionaries and changed the computer world by that time.

[horsie111]

yeah, I think he was surprised Jack Tramiel got up and walked off before the presenter had finished!

[kimosaaaabe]

not sure...jack looked in a hurry to get away :-)

[HaligonianType1]

@kimosaaaabe Have you read On The Edge - The Spectacular Rise and Fall Of Commodore yet? Great read man, I highly recommend it. It's very raw as well. You would think where it is about etchnology, etc, it would be very sterile and cold, but there is alot of colorful language, drama and scandal. Hah... Especially from Jack Tramiel.

[ComradeZX]

@kimosaaaabe  the host pissed himself with laughter if you watch closely too. he was thinkin about what an idiot he is at gettin interviewed.

[Neon360]

Just curious as to why he smiled and sorta looked like he was laughing at the very end when Jack was walking away.... hmm. Nice video, thanks!

[Mierscheid]

I guess, because it's not usual to leave the studio after an interview. The handshake usualy was given for the spectators to mark the end of the interview.

[falkor95]

wow Commodore and Atari were so closely related :I NEVER KNEW and I loved both anyway!!! awesome interview, thank you kimosaaaabe, terrific vid :-)