Brian Bagnall’s “Commodore: A Company On the Edge” covers the history of the PET, VIC-20, and C64. There was no master plan that anyone could stick to for more

Brian Bagnall’s “Commodore: A Company On the Edge” covers the history of the PET, VIC-20, and C64. There was no master plan that anyone could stick to for more than six months (the management stories are horrifying) and the C64 was a last minute whiptogether. They didn’t have enough time to add the better BASIC that they’d already developed on another project, so it shipped with the same lousy BASIC as the VIC-20 had. If you fondly remember Commodore from those days, the book is worth reading. It made me appreciate how much was achieved despite an inadequate CEO and board.