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Author Topic: Commodork Book  (Read 1629 times)

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Offline a1200Topic starter

Commodork Book
« on: May 30, 2011, 01:36:11 PM »
I originally posted this over at aw.net but thought it might be of interest here too:

I stumbled across a book called Commodork: Sordid tales of a BBS junkie by Rob O'Hara on the Amazon Kindle store (paperback version also available). It is about a guy's journey from the late 70s' through to the 90s, using Apple, Commodore and PCs.

It doesn't feature Amigas but makes a mention of them, but the book would certainly have similarities with many of our early computing lives - BBSes, IRC, Warez, Copyfests and parties with like minded geeks (Big Bash in Peterborough comes to mind)

I have done a mini review on my blog here.

If this book sounds up-your-street, check it out. For Kindle users, it is under a pound, so not a great risk to give it a go!
Amiga A1200, 3.1 ROMs, Blizzard 1230 MKIV 128MB & FPU, 4GB DoM SSD, Workbench 3.1
 

Offline Pentad

Re: Commodork Book
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2011, 02:18:16 PM »
Yeah, I received this as a Christmas Present awhile ago.  It's a good book and brought back a great deal of memories from when I was into warez as a kid.  Swapping software, copying disks till late in the night, and the sweet, sweet sound of a USR HST connecting to a warez BBS.  

Where the author and my memories diverge is that the author stays with the Commodore 64 for much longer than I did.  In fact, way longer than the height of the Commodore 64.  He did not move into the Amiga but finally jumped into the world of DOS/Windows.

While I enjoyed his early stories and it did bring back some memories, I began to see a person with a very unhealthy obsession with warez to the detriment of the rest of his life.  His lack of direction and focus in his life turned these amusing stories into missed opportunities as the years ticked on.  

Perhaps that sounds harsh but if you read the book you will read his sprinkling of comments about how he wished he would have taken his raw talent and turned it into something more productive.

In the end, it looks like he found direction and has a family now which I'm glad.

It was a good book for as cheap as it was...

Cheers!
P
« Last Edit: May 30, 2011, 02:20:34 PM by Pentad »
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Offline eroom

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Re: Commodork Book
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2011, 02:32:16 PM »
Bought it the other day on the kindle store when i saw how cheap it was, then forgot about it, so thankyou very much for reminding me :) im off to read it now.
 

Offline RobertB

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Re: Commodork Book
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2011, 06:20:45 AM »
Quote from: Pentad;641380
While I enjoyed his early stories and it did bring back some memories, I began to see a person with a very unhealthy obsession with warez to the detriment of the rest of his life.
Since I have met Rob O'Hara at shows like the Commodore Vegas Expo and Notacon/Blockparty, I can say he is a good guy, intelligent and friendly.

I have the book, too,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex