In August of 1982, a seminal home computer first appeared in the marketplace, though at the time you could be forgiven for thinking it was nothing all that special. It was far from being the first machine of its kind (the Tandy TRS-80, sold exclusively through Radio Shack, was that), nor was it the cheapest (the Timex-Sinclair 1000 managed that trick despite being pathetically underpowered). However, long after its contemporaries had faded into digital obscurity, this unassuming little “breadbox” would go on to sell more units than any other device in its class (a distinction it continues to hold to this day!), and become one of the icons of “geek culture.”

I refer, of course, to the Commodore 64, which this month celebrates its first quarter-century of existence.

In the evolution of the personal computer, perhaps no other machine has become so celebrated. (The only possible rival it would have is the Apple II line, and even there the C64 had the advantage of being less expensive and, thus, in more actual homes than the Apple, which was primarily an at-school computer for many of us.) For the majority of an entire generation, it was the “gateway drug” to the world of computer science, with many people in the industry today citing it as the first machine they learned to program.

As with most older tech, the C64’s statistics seem decidedly anemic today: An 8-bit 6510 microprocessor (an “enhanced” version of the legendary 6502) running at a mere 1.07 MHz, with 64K of memory (from whence comes the name of the machine). Graphically, it features only 16 colors at most, and a maximum resolution of 320×200… but only if you sacrifice 14 of the 16 colors to get there. Programs were stored in one of three media: Cartridges, cassette tape, or 5.25” diskette. The floppy drive purred along at a blazing 300 bytes per second, and was by far the largest of the three media types, holding a massive 170K per side (divided into 664 256-byte “blocks”). To put these numbers into perspective, it would take approximately twenty minutes to do a complete disk-to-disk copy! (And people today complain when Windows takes longer than thirty seconds to boot…)

“So,” I hear the young’uns out there saying, “what can you possibly do with a computer like that?” Well… as it happens, quite a bit. Programs available for the C64 ran the full gamut from word processing (PaperClip, SpeedScript, The Quick Brown Fox, Bank Street Writer) to spreadsheets (Visi-Calc, MaxiPlan) to database managers (The Manager) to desktop-publishing suites (Timeworks Publisher) to graphics software (Koala Paint, Advanced OCP Art Studio). You can even acquire a complete Macintosh-inspired GUI, called GEOS (Graphical Environment Operating System), which has its own impressive suite of application software (geoWrite, geoPaint, geoCalc, geoPublish, geoThis, and geoThat). that quite frankly rivaled anything the theoretically more capable Mac could do at the time! It was even possible to use the C64 as a basic video titler/editor, with proper connections. It was truly a computer that was only as limited as your imagination… provided you had the skill to pull it off.

Then, of course, there were the games. Ah yes, the games. At a time when the cutting edge of IBM gameplay was represented by four-color CGA and PC-beeper “music,” C64 gamers could enjoy rich and colorful environments with full soundtracks, the latter courtesy of the legendary SID chip. To show you what I mean, here are some comparative screenshots – on the left are the contemporary PC versions of popular games from the early- to mid-’80s, with the C64 version on the right:

Now, if you’re a kid in the ’80s, which would you rather play? And these games don’t even push the 64 to its limits! To see what you can really do with a mere 16 colors and 160×100 resolution, here are two screenshots from a pair of the most graphically-impressive games on the platform:

But as eye-catching as C64 graphics were for their day, it is perhaps its music that is better remembered today. The SID (Sound Interface Device) chip, allowing for complex three-voice polyphonic music. It was the most advanced music generator of the day, and even today it is known and respected in the field of electronic music. You can even find Internet radio stations that play nothing but music that was created on a SID chip by programmers! If you’ve never heard C64 music before, you will be amazed at the complex electronic melodies that could be made with it.

Alas, as with all 8-bit computers, eventually the C64 succumbed to age and advancing technology (and the sheer incompetence of Commodore management, but that’s another story for another time). Unlike most old computers, however, the C64 still enjoys a dedicated cult following to this very day among hobbyists. There are even hardware add-ons that allow you to increase the C64’s memory to a full megabyte, speed it up to 20 MHz, and add hard drives that are immense by C64 standards (it is theoretically possible to fit every program ever written for the C64 on a hard drive just 500MB in size!). With an Ethernet adapter (also available), you can even hook it up to the Internet and browse the Web, get e-mail, even chat in IM programs! As always, if you have the ability and the willingness to learn, the possibilities are endless.

It may no longer be the premier home computer, but there are still many out there who “adore their 64s,” and continue to use them despite a cultural climate that keeps insisting that nothing less than the “latest and greatest” will do. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever written a virus for the C64, nor has anyone managed to use one to propagate spyware or spam. And while you’ll never be able to watch movies or listen to MP3s on the humble “Commie,” you can still do most of the essential computer-related tasks using one, if you have the time and patience (and trust me – as you get older, you do get patient) and are willing to do without modern conveniences to get your job done. I know of at least one small store in my area that was still using a C64 and a copy of The Manager to keep track of its customer database… when I inquired about it, the owner’s reply was along the lines of “Why not, if it works for me?”

Besides, it’s just plain fun to use one of these old machines.

So on the eve of its 25^th birthday, we here at Retro-Active World Headquarters and WotG salute the Commodore 64… The Computer That Would Not Die.

If you liked that, try...

1. Guitar Hero, Commodore 64 Style
2. Jim Butterfield, 1936-2007
3. THIS is a VIC-20?!
4. Retro-Active: Computers That Never Made It
5. Retro-Active: Impossible Mission

3 Comments »

1. 
   Firlefanz
   August 7, 2007 at 2:45 am

   How does this compare to the Atari 1040? (Because that’s what I used as a kid, rather than a C64.)

   [Reply]

   Devin de Gruyl Reply:
   August 7th, 2007 at 7:58 am

   You can’t really compare the two. The 1040 ST was a 16-bit computer, and thus represents a later generation of computer technology than the 8-bit C64. It was a more advanced machine in every respect.

   The fair comparison would be with the Atari’s own 8-bit computer line (the 400/800/XL/XE series). I will admit, though, I’m not the most unbiased person to ask that; I’ve been a Commodore mark for most of my life, even though I have used Ataris (my cousins had an 800 and a 130XE) and played it rather extensively back in the day. The main advantage the Atari had over the C64 was the capability of displaying 256 colors versus just 16, but the trade-offs included a lower resolution, less memory (the Atari could only be expanded to a maximum of 48K), a BASIC language you had to purchase separately (the Commodores always had BASIC burned into a system ROM), and an inferior sound chip.

   Here in the States, the Atari computer line faded in popularity, ironically enough, around the same time Atari decided to focus primarily on its computer business. While it had its dedicated users, by and large the machines were gone from the marketplace by 1986, while the C64 and Apple II were still going strong. The ST-vs-Amiga war, on our side of the Atlantic, was pretty much a no-contest in Amy’s favor, as well. Unfortunately, by the latter half of the 1980s the name “Atari” had become synonymous with “old hat” following the Great Video Game Crash of 1984, which dealt the still-nascent industry a crippling blow it would be years recovering from - and Atari had to shoulder a lot of the blame for indirectly causing it, by not implementing stricter quality control for third-party games, thus allowing the market to be flooded with literally hundreds of cheap knock-offs of dubious quality. Thankfully, the European countries never had to deal with the Crash per se, so Atari remained a force in the marketplace for a few years longer than they managed here…

   [Reply]

   Devin de Gruyl Reply:
   August 7th, 2007 at 8:28 am

   Quick clarification: It was only the Atari 800, 600XL, and 800XL, the most popular models here, which had the 48K memory limitation. (The 400, a quickly-retired “starter” model, could only be expanded to 16K!) By the time the XE machines came out, they had full 64K (65XE) and 128K (130XE) memories built-in.

   (The 1200XL had a full 64K of memory, but that machine was plagued with issues of quality control and a lack of advertised compatibility with the rest of the Atari line. It never sold well, and is sometimes forgotten by all but the most thorough Atari historians.)

   [Reply]

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