Barry Altman

Last updated
Barry S. Altman
Born1948or1949 [1]
USA
Died (aged 63) [2]
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s) Entrepreneur, CEO
Known forFounded Commodore USA in 2010 and announced the Commodore 64x in partnership with Disney. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Barry S. Altman was the founder and CEO of Commodore USA from 2010 until his death in late 2012. Prior to founding Commodore USA, Barry worked for over 20 years in the satellite and communications industry. [7] [8] During his time at Commodore USA, the Commodore 64x was announced and put up for pre-sales. [9] [10] [11] On December 8, 2012, Barry died from a prolonged battle with cancer. [1]

Contents

Early life

Barry Altman co-owned a telecommunications business called Cabletech in the 1970s and 1980s. [12] [13] Barry was first introduced to computers through Cabletech in the 1980s, using Commodore 64s due to their generally low price and simplicity. [14] In 1991, Barry sold Cabletech, retired, and moved to Florida. [15] In June 2004, Barry founded Homecraft, an importer and distributor of home furniture. [16] [17]

Commodore USA

On March 26, 2010, Barry Altman founded Commodore USA. [18] Commodore USA's first consumer product was a re-branded Cybernet Systems all-in-one keyboard PC. [15] In 2011, Commodore USA began prototyping and injection molding an exact replica of the original Commodore 64, which was shortly thereafter noticed by the vice president of Disney, who wanted to set up a joint marketing venture between the Commodore 64x and TRON: Legacy. [15] [14] According to Barry in an interview, Commodore USA received an unexpected amount of publicity and pre-orders for the Commodore 64x after the release of such advertisements, resulting in their credit card terminal even overheating on several occasions.

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References

  1. 1 2 Perlow, Jason (2013-01-17). "Barry Altman, CEO of Commodore USA, passes at age 63". ZDNet. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  2. ↑ "Memorial event - Barry Altman". www.legacy.com. 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  3. ↑ Sauer, Abe (2011-04-07). "Disney Helps Reboot Commodore and Amiga Brands". Brandchannel.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  4. ↑ "Disney Marketing Tie-In Brings Commodore 64 Out Of Retirement". PSFK. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Commodore USA - Commodore USA is proud to announce their..." Facebook. 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  6. ↑ "Commodore USA's all new C64 finds a friend in Tron on the road to availability". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  7. ↑ "Commodore USA". 2012-09-19. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  8. ↑ Perlow, Jason (2012-08-25). "The rebirth of Commodore USA (Podcast)". ZDNet. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  9. ↑ The New Commodore 64, Updated With Its Old Exterior By Nick BILTON - The New York Times 2011-04-06 archive from bits.blogs.nytimes.com
  10. ↑ "Commodore USA puts the new C64 up for pre-sales, unveils far-less-retrotastic VIC-Slim". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  11. ↑ "Commodore USA goes Extreme, stuffs a 2.2GHz quad-core i7 into its C64x". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  12. ↑ "Home Satellite Marketing" (JPG). Anticusa.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  13. ↑ Network World. 1986-10-06. p. 17. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  14. 1 2 CEO USA Interview PDF (32 pages) 2012-04-16 archive from www.discreetfx.com
  15. 1 2 3 "Sound file" (MP3). Cdn11.castfire.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  16. ↑ "Homecraft, LLC". Bizearch.com. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  17. ↑ "Electronic Articles of Organisation : Homecraft, LLC". Search.sunbiz.org. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  18. ↑ "Electronic Articles of Organisation : Commodore USA, LLC". Search.sunbiz.org. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
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