And my Amiga 1000 
Posted on 06/02/2010 9:28:13 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
One of the earliest and most popular computer models ever is about to make a comeback.
Introduced in 1982, the Commodore 64 sold 30 million units over the next dozen years. Its graphics capabilities made it popular with gamers; at least 10,000 software titles, including games and business applications, were developed for the computer.
But the company folded, and the model became a nostalgia piece, its early fans resorting to running 64 games on emulators.
Now, CBS Station KYW correspondent Bob Bicknell reports, the Commodore 64 is arising from the ashes in a new version named, appropriately, Phoenix.
Commodoreusa.net is now selling new versions of the "computer in a keyboard" design, though with added extras not available in 1982, such as Intel Pentium processors, a DVD drive, wireless Ethernet and USB ports.
And whereas the classic 64 held a hefty 64 KB of RAM, the Phoenix runs on more than 4 GB, and can store 2 TB.
The Phoenix runs Microsoft Windows 7 or Ubuntu (Linux).
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Commodore USA also has other models available, including the Invictus (which sports a touchpad) and Amigo. Prices start at $475 for a bare-bones model, topping out at $1,300.
It comes with Ubuntu. Can run XP. Can run OSX.
OSX on a $400 machine is an advantage.
And my Amiga 1000
The TI 99/4 was a better machine but TI kept it “closed” so there was almost no third party development of software.
Huge mistake on their part.
Open Mailbox.
I had one of those. After I got rid of my Sinclair 16k unit. It was pretty quirky. Sometimes the games would load, sometimes they wouldn’t.
Not quite an Mac ping. But, it can run OSX.
My cousin had the C-64... My brother and I would play Beachhead and some Train Dispather game whenever we visited.
My brother had a VIC-20, passed down from me. I had the cassette deck and the 5 1/4 floppy and 300 baud modem on the 64.
Why would it? The C64 never had one of those.
I powered up my Osborne last week when spring cleaning. I remember being so enraptured with the thing. Still have a user-group magazine that shows one was brought up Mt. Everest to keep track of things, for logging, and for sharing by three writers. I guess a Droid would be better suited for that today. I have it in deep, deep, DEEP storage out in the garage.
My woman would kill me if she knew I still had it!
Our C64 is still in occasional use - my wife used it to get her CW (Morse code) speed up to the 20 words-per-minute level. A program called “Morse University” did it for her. “SYS33330” and you’re on your way. It sends out Morse characters at a chosen speed; if you don’t type them in quickly enough a lightning bold drops out of a storm cloud and wipes out the 3 element beam on a house below. Cool, huh?
“Or the TRS-80.”
I still have mine!
I still have the Amiga... got it in 1986. I was using the keyboard as a doorstop recently. =8-0
Memories of limited memory.
ping
My first was also a VIC-20. I remember copying the programming for my first game from a computer magazine and saving on the cassette deck. The game was called “Webster” and featured a spider (doing what I don’t recall).
Copying all that stuff was laborious as heck, and if you screwed up one little digit it didn’t run, and you had to study where you went wrong until your eyes bled! But when ya got it right, it was time to play all night. God, I was easily amused in those days.
Could have been worse, you could have gone blind.
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