RobertB Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 (edited) Michael Tomcyzk of Commodore Business Machines tells about the VIC-20, Jack Tramiel, William Shatner, and more in a new interview. See https://talesfromthecollection.com/2021/10/19/michael-tomczyk-commodore/#h-commodore-and-william-shatner Truly, Robert Bernardo Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan Nov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 - http://www.portcommodore.com/class Edited October 21, 2021 by RobertB 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Leonard & Bil Herd disagree with Tomcyzk's recollection of his involvement in the design of the Vic 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 One of the perks of being part of the Facebook group Commodore International History Society is to see the exchange between these people. Even just standing by the sidelines and watch gives me a lot of realizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Too bad i'm not on FB. Would love to get a glimpse though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I have seen Bil Herd speak over the years and I really don't care for the man. Not taking away from his contributions, but as a person I think he is a pretty condescending prick. Please pardon the language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Interesting... I was kind of thinking Tomcyzk seems pretty full of himself. Bill nor Leonard seem to agree with his recollection on the initial design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 On 10/21/2021 at 2:08 AM, RobertB said: Michael Tomcyzk of Commodore Business Machines tells about the VIC-20, Jack Tramiel, William Shatner, and more in a new interview. See https://talesfromthecollection.com/2021/10/19/michael-tomczyk-commodore/#h-commodore-and-william-shatner Truly, Robert Bernardo Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan Nov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 - http://www.portcommodore.com/class Appreciate you sharing. Definitely will check this out for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 4 minutes ago, eebuckeye said: Interesting... I was kind of thinking Tomcyzk seems pretty full of himself. Bill nor Leonard seem to agree with his recollection on the initial design. I can bet a lot of memories are hazy over the decades. Disagreeing is fine...I guess it's just the way he does it in my eyes. Stuff like "believe nothing he says". I am not sure if that is fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Agreed.. I didn't hear Bill say "believe nothing he says" which is pretty harsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 6 hours ago, eightbit said: I have seen Bil Herd speak over the years and I really don't care for the man. Not taking away from his contributions, but as a person I think he is a pretty condescending prick. Please pardon the language. I think he can be very sarcastic and that's just his personality, nothing wrong with that. I can't recall any presentations he made where he was condescending or patronising anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 1 minute ago, shoestring said: I think he can be very sarcastic and that's just his personality, nothing wrong with that. I can't recall any presentations he made where he was condescending or patronising anyone. Maybe it is just his sarcasm that rubs me the wrong way....I dunno. Again, not taking away from his work and contributions. Leonard however I really like hearing. He's an extremely smart guy and seems to be a really nice person in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 It was Leonard who said 'believe nothing Michael Tomcyzk says ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 (edited) 23 hours ago, shoestring said: It was Leonard who said 'believe nothing Michael Tomcyzk says ' I had to rewatch it twice. You are absolutely right. The camera was away when it was said, and I swear that sounded like Bil. Still doesn't change my thoughts about Bil in general Well, in that case, I'd have to put the blame on Leonard. Not that I believe everything Michael says, but I find it very hard to believe that everything he tells people is BS. I really like Leonard so it is kind of surprising to see him ding someone else who worked in the industry like that. Something must have happened between those guys at some point. Edited October 27, 2021 by eightbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Not to take away from the work he did at Commodore but he was just the Marketing guy / Product Manager and Jack's assistant. He would have provided some input regarding the Vic 20s features being the product manager. But most of the credit I would assume would go to Yannes and Bob Russell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 Anyone who worked on this machine at that time at Commodore I like to hear stories from. At the time all of these guys worked there and worked on these products I can bet not many of them ever thought they would have a "fan base" decades later clamoring for any morsel of information relating to these products. Pretty amazing. My company is one that has been in the graphics card business since Nvidia purchased 3DFX has produced and sold so many video cards....many that now can be considered "vintage". I wonder if one day someone will ask me for stories....although I doubt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 12 hours ago, eightbit said: Anyone who worked on this machine at that time at Commodore I like to hear stories from. At the time all of these guys worked there and worked on these products I can bet not many of them ever thought they would have a "fan base" decades later clamoring for any morsel of information relating to these products. Pretty amazing. My company is one that has been in the graphics card business since Nvidia purchased 3DFX has produced and sold so many video cards....many that now can be considered "vintage". I wonder if one day someone will ask me for stories....although I doubt it Hey, I wouldn't mind hearing some stories. The mid to late 90s were an amazing and crazy time for graphics cards. Sure you have some pretty good ones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 On 10/22/2021 at 4:11 AM, shoestring said: Too bad i'm not on FB. It is on again. Tomczyk's latest YT video spurred Leonard to raise his arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 Where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted December 1, 2021 Share Posted December 1, 2021 The CIHS group on FB, though so far you're not missing any important piece of history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 19 hours ago, carlsson said: It is on again. Tomczyk's latest YT video spurred Leonard to raise his arm. The group is private and I am not on Facebook, I don't think I am missing out on much. I would expect Leonard to repeat what he said during their ( Bil & Leonards ) presentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoestring Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 On 12/1/2021 at 6:21 PM, carlsson said: It is on again. Tomczyk's latest YT video spurred Leonard to raise his arm. Check out the comments section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Ouch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 Leonard Tramiel and John Feagans have their own blog since a couple of weeks ago. In the latest post, Leonard talks about the VIC and makes a mention about Michael Tomczyk: https://vintagecomputerstories.blogspot.com/2021/12/my-introduction-to-vic.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 And here comes the big punch to the face: https://vintagecomputerstories.blogspot.com/2022/01/jack-tramiel-and-mike-tomczyk.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Well, one thing I will say is that Tomczyk has been saying the same thing for years in almost any interview I have read and/or heard. Now, whether it is true or not that I cannot say, especially if Leonard Tramiel is disputing it. However, there might be some possibility that Leonard Tramiel may not know everything as he is even said he was away at times for college and/or other personal matters. Perhaps some of the discrepancy can be chalked up to their perceptions and/or perspectives being different. Has anyone else tried to discredit Tomczyk's accounts at Commodore besides Leonard Tramiel? Just wondering as that could help put some of this debate to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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