According to tech apocrypha, after Commodore International released their revolutionary PET 2001 home PC, a couple of scruffy young men named Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak plopped down in Commodore’s offices with a cardboard box full of circuit boards and tried to pitch the more established electronics company the first Apple II prototype, a revolutionary home PC with far more advanced color, graphics and sound capabilities. Jobs and Woz had no money, and they wanted Commodore to push the Apple II to market.
Instead, Commodore balked, following up the PET 2001 with the VIC-20 in 1980, and then finally bringing to market the computer they would become best known for: the Commodore 64. Largely thanks to a sub-$200 price drop, It went on to sell 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer of all time with an astonishing 30-40% market share between 1983 and 1986. The computer was such a success that was only discontinued in 1994.
Oh, how things change. Now, Commodore International is basically dead, and the company Commodore shuffled out the door is one of the most profitable computer companies on Earth. But after sixteen years, the Commodore 64 has finally raised a mottled hand out of the grave. Can it compete with Apple once more?
Well, probably not, but the specs aren’t bad: new Commodore 64 is basically a Windows 7 all-in-one desktop, boasting either Intel Core 2 Duo or Intel Core 2 Quad configurations, up to 4GB of RAM, 500GB of hard drive space, an Intel G31 Express Chipset, a Blu-Ray drive, Ethernet, 4 USB 2.0 Ports, DVI support, and a built-in Synaptic touchpad.
In other words, it’s a laptop without a display, and it’s only similarity to the Commodore 64 of old is a similarity of chassis design and the name. My guess is this machine’s going to have an uphill battle reclaiming its 30-40% market share from the little computer makers in Cupertino they once comfortably dominated. Still, if just for nostalgia, it’s nice to see the old boy back.
The new Commodore 64 should be available for purchase in June for a still unspecified price.
