Back into the Storm: A Design Engineer's Story of Commodore Computers in the 1980s by Bil Herd and Margaret Morabito
Published: July 27, 2021
Number of pages: 302
Available in paperback or Kindle editions
Back in 1986, when I was just a teenager in junior high school, I finally saved up enough money to buy a Commodore 128. I had owned a Commodore 64 for several years, but I was elated to finally get the latest Commodore 8 bit computer and delve into it. Because we lived in a small, rural town, we had to make an hour long trip into the big city to actually purchase the computer. The whole experience was awesome, and I spent a long time poring over my new computer and all the new software and books that came with it. I actually still have that very computer to this day - although I haven't pulled it out and used it for quite some time now - since I find using Vice so convenient. Anyway, I knew who Bil Herd was, and when I recently saw this book I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because it was a fun read!
Bil Herd was the principal engineer on the Commodore Plus/4, C16/116, other Commodore computers based on the TED chip, and also the venerable Commodore 128. This was in the early to mid 1980s, after the 64 had already become a best seller and Jack Tramiel was just about to depart from the company. This book is co-authored by Margaret Morabito, who was a technical editor for RUN magazine for many years and seems to only be the technical editor for this book as well.
This book is basically about Herd's time at Commodore. He starts by telling how he got hired there, and then spends most of the book talking about his roles on the TED computers and the Commodore 128. Along the way he tells a lot of interesting and funny stories about work life at Commodore. Although I thought the part about the TED computers was interesting, my favorite part was about the 128. He tells many stories about how middle managers made his life difficult, all the technical problems that had to be overcome, what CES was like, and all the fun they had and practical jokes they did at Commodore.
Overall it was really cool to read about my favorite 8 bit computer, the 128, and hear all the stories of how things actually happened at Commodore. There were a few parts of the book where the stories about bad managers and stupid pranks got a little bit old, but that was a small price to pay to hear about all the other cool things.
If you are someone who is (or was) into Commodore 8 bit computers then you may want to give this book a try. There are some parts that are quite technical, however, so be aware of that. If you are interested in purchasing this book you can get either the paperback or Kindle edition. I read it on the Kindle and thought it was great.
Back into the Storm: A Design Engineer's Story of Commodore Computers in the 1980s by Bil Herd and Margaret Morabito Enjoy,
-Rusty
