Commodore

Commodore was founded by Jack Tramiel in 1954 as a typewriter company and moved into calculators and then home computers. The Commodore 64, released in 1982, sold somewhere between 12 and 17 million units and is often called the best-selling single computer model of all time. Its SID sound chip still has a devoted following among musicians.

In 1985 Commodore released the Amiga, which had custom graphics and sound chips and a multitasking operating system far ahead of other home computers. It was hugely popular for games and video work in Europe. Commodore went bankrupt in 1994, but both machines are very well emulated today.