Back Into the Storm by Bil Herd, Margaret Morabito

[Robert Bernardo]

"Back Into the Storm: A Design Engineer's Story of Commodore Computers in the 1980s" has been released! Written by CBM engineer Bil Herd and Margaret Morabito, Back Into the Storm delves into Bil and the "Animals'" work on the Commodore TED series (C16, Plus/4, etc.) and on the Commodore 128.
For more information and to order the paperback book or Kindle version, go to

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BDF92F4

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group -
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
Nov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/class

[Jeff Gaines]

On 29/07/2021 in message

Post by Robert Bernardo
"Back Into the Storm: A Design Engineer's Story of Commodore Computers in
the 1980s" has been released! Written by CBM engineer Bil Herd and
Margaret Morabito, Back Into the Storm delves into Bil and the "Animals'"
work on the Commodore TED series (C16, Plus/4, etc.) and on the Commodore
128.
For more information and to order the paperback book or Kindle version, go to
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09BDF92F4

My first computer was a Vic 20, do you know if that is mentioned, can't
see it in the blurb.

[Anssi Saari]

Post by Jeff Gaines
My first computer was a Vic 20, do you know if that is mentioned,
can't see it in the blurb.

I guess it might be mentioned but the Vic came out in 1981 and Bil Herd
joined Commodore some time later than that (1982?) so I'd assume he
didn't work on the Vic at all.

[Robert Bernardo]

...the Vic came out in 1981 and Bil Herd
joined Commodore some time later than that (1982?) so I'd assume he
didn't work on the Vic at all.

Bil joined CBM in 1983, a couple of years after the VIC-20 was introduced.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group -
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
Nov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/class

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Anssi Saari

Post by Jeff Gaines
My first computer was a Vic 20, do you know if that is mentioned,
can't see it in the blurb.

I guess it might be mentioned but the Vic came out in 1981 and Bil Herd
joined Commodore some time later than that (1982?) so I'd assume he
didn't work on the Vic at all.

OK, thanks :-)

I no longer have the Vic 20 but I remember somewhere near the beginning of
the manual it said something along the lines "it doesn't matter what keys
you press you cannot damage the computer". Good mantra for computing
although pressing the "Break" key on the BBC Micro didn't damage the
machine it completely screwed anything you hadn't saved!

[Anssi Saari]

Post by Jeff Gaines
I no longer have the Vic 20 but I remember somewhere near the
beginning of the manual it said something along the lines "it doesn't
matter what keys you press you cannot damage the computer". Good
mantra for computing although pressing the "Break" key on the BBC
Micro didn't damage the machine it completely screwed anything you
hadn't saved!

Yes, I remember that too from the old Vic-20 manual. Anyways, if you're
interested in the Vic-20 history then Brian Bagnall's Commodore: A
Company On The Edge covers the era when the Vic was created.

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Anssi Saari

Post by Jeff Gaines
I no longer have the Vic 20 but I remember somewhere near the
beginning of the manual it said something along the lines "it doesn't
matter what keys you press you cannot damage the computer". Good
mantra for computing although pressing the "Break" key on the BBC
Micro didn't damage the machine it completely screwed anything you
hadn't saved!

Yes, I remember that too from the old Vic-20 manual. Anyways, if you're
interested in the Vic-20 history then Brian Bagnall's Commodore: A
Company On The Edge covers the era when the Vic was created.

Thank you :-)

[Robert Bernardo]

I’ve just scanned the book, and I discovered it to be surprisingly enjoyable and easy to read! No stuffy pronouncements! Just an informative story of the days that Bil Herd was with Commodore. After listening to Bil speak at various engagements and in various videos, I found that the book filled in areas that were not covered in the past.

Below is a page listing of what the book emphasizes (not including the handy-dandy glossary at the book’s end):

Jack Tramiel – p. 12-15

TED computers (116, C16, Plus/4, 264, 364) – p. 20-49, 63-64, 72-74, 79-90, 93-94, 97-108, 116-119, 127

VIC-20 – p. 92

Commodore LCD – p. 119-126, 229, 254-255

C128 – p. 126-254, 257, 267-269

Amiga – p. 257

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group – http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network – http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
Nov. 6-7 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 – http://www.portcommodore.com/class

[Robert Bernardo]

A Hackaday review of the book is at

https://hackaday.com/2021/09/08/books-you-should-read-bil-herds-back-into-the-storm/

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
Nov. 5-6 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2021 - http://www.portcommodore.com/class