Just received my copy of "commodore: a company on the edge"

[Pentad]

>> UPDATE 1 <<

Hello all,

I just wanted to post my initial thoughts on the book.  I own the first edition -purchased it when it was first released- so I have been excited to see the changes in the two.

Impressions:

-It was signed by Brian.  I didn't realize it was going to be so that was a surprise.  It reads:

"B. Bagnall
01-12-2010
Atari Rules!"

Just kidding about the Atari line.   :-)


-The 'book jacket' is very nicely done, very professional.

-The spine lettering and design is also attractive and nice.

-The Introduction has been updated on 10/16/2010

-The header on each page is nicely done and looks very professional

-The font they chose for the text is easily readable and attractive.

-There are many new pictures that I'm excited to look at and be able to put names to faces.

-There is an ad for the next book at the end (Looks great!)

-I didn't see the "Where are they now?" section from the last book but I could have missed it.  I really liked it because you were told where people went or if they were still with us.  Perhaps the last book will have it.  Again, I might have missed it as I just got the mail and have to rush to pick up my kids.

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and look forward to reading Brian's book.

Oh, I just finished scanning the entire book and am posting it on Usenet as I write this.  

(KIDDING!  I am just kidding! :-)  


I will update my post as I start reading it.

Thanks for all the hard work Brian!


Cheers!
-P


UPDATE 1

-I was wrong there is a "Where are they now?" section and its expanded!

-New photos are good

-I thought I read elsewhere that Brian Doherty was going to be in the book talking about GEOS but I haven't seen anything yet.

-The Kit Spencer info is great because I wondered what happened to him.  Fantastic marketing guy...Commodore removes him from power...typical...

[rvo_nl]

Thanks, but can you tell me more about this book? I seem to have missed the hype. I wanted to purchase the first edition some time ago, but could only find it second-hand for insane prices. Is there a reason to have both editions, or even the coming third version? Sorry, Im an idiot. I dont even know who this Brian is. Am I the only one?

[amigakit]

@rvo_nl

Here are more details about the book:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1010

[RMK305]

Amigakit,

Are all of your copies signed?

[Retrofan]

I'm wishing to receive mine. I've heard they are going to make a 3er book with the Amiga years.

[odin]

Thanks, but can you tell me more about this book? I seem to have missed the hype. I wanted to purchase the first edition some time ago, but could only find it second-hand for insane prices. Is there a reason to have both editions, or even the coming third version? Sorry, Im an idiot. I dont even know who this Brian is. Am I the only one?

I bought the first edition which is annoying to read at points due to the sloppy editing and spellchecking. You're welcome to borrow it should you want to read it before the new version.

The just released book covers the C= history up to 1984. The second part should cover the last 10 years. The original book covers all C= history up to it's demise, although the >1984 stuff seems to be an afterthought.

Think of the new book and upcoming book as an expanded and (hopefully) better edited version of the first book.

[dannyp1]

My book arrived in the mail today!!  Now all I need is some time to read it.

[Pentad]

It really is a very nice book.  I read a good portion last night and not only is it more 'professional' (typos and other things) but it really does add a great deal of content and context to the history.

If you have read the first book and really enjoyed it, you should consider getting this one.  It adds more the main characters you know and explains some of their actions.

Kit Spencer was really awesome at marketing so Commodore (Lane) naturally remove him from power.

Jack continues to be more ruthless.

Much more history and conflict about the Commodore 64, 1541 disk drive, etc...

I didn't know that you could network an Educator 64 and Commodore 64s together so that they could load files from the Educator 64.  Plus you could share screens, printers, etc...  Very impressive for the time so Commodore was sure to axe it after two successful trials at different schools.

I know this is an Amiga community but I started my computer life with a Commodore 64 so it will always have a special place in my heart (how geeky is that?).  Anyway, Basic 2.0 sucked but I feel better because I know *why* it sucked so bad.  :-)   The new version of the book is quite in depth about this stuff.

As I said, its quite good and to be honest, how many Commodore books do we have?  People fall over themselves writing about Apple and Commodore but not so much about Commodore...or accurate history.

-P

[persia]

Is it available for iBook?