The Commodore 64 turned 25 this year, and its legacy was celebrated on Monday with an anniversary presentation at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley.
The Commodore 64 was released in September 1982 to a fledgling home-computing market dominated by the Apple II, Atari 8-bit range and the IBM PC.
In its 12-year lifespan it is estimated that the C64 sold more than 20 million units. Its $595 price tag was relatively cheap at a time when home computing was still considered to be an expensive hobby. Its price eventually fell to around $200 as the company reduced its manufacturing costs.
In an interview with CNET.com's Daniel Terdiman, Commodore founder Jack Tramiel said: "The only difference was the price... if you sell something cheaper, it couldn't be as good. If it's more expensive, and it's the same product, that must be a better product. That didn't stop me. I still wanted to sell it for a low price."
Tramiel founded the company in 1977 under the slogan: "Computers for the masses, not the classes."
The C64 was a massive hit for gamers but it also ran a version of the Basic programming language, licensed from Microsoft. Most users stored their programs and games on a specially designed cassette recorder, but other peripherals — such as a modem and floppy disk drive — were also available.
Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, was also a guest at the event, and was on hand for a panel discussion with Commodore's Tramiel, moderated by New York Times journalist John Markoff.
Wozniak told the crowd that most young people who bought a C64 at the time "would have got an Apple II if they could afford it".
In an exchange showing that 25 years had done little to extinguish the rivalry between the two, Tramiel rebutted Wozniak's comment by saying: "We [Commodore] made machines for the masses, Apple made machines for the classes."
The Commodore 64 turned 25 this year
(Photo credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)
Talkback
Check out this 1983 ad for the Commodore 64!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyiUH9NmX0U&NR=1
I started on Commodore in 1981 with the VIC-20. Still have one and a 128-D, and still works perfectly. Worst mistake I ever made was buying a windows machine, instead of an APPLE, in 1992. Too much price difference.
And it was 25 years ago that I was given a Commodore64, remember the excitement and fun so well. And it is still working well when I dig it out - and is a curiousity for my grandchilden.
Jack started Commodore in 1958. The PET was released in 1977. Some might consider that year the time Commodore as we knew it was born, but the company had been around two decades prior.