[ncolug] C64
- From: "DiGioia, Larry" <larry.digioia@xxxxxx>
- To: "ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2011 17:33:17 +0000
Commodore 64 is Revamped as an Intel-Based All-In-One
By: Michelle Maisto<http://www.eweek.com/cp/bio/Michelle-Maisto/>
2011-04-07
The Commodore 64, the first computer of geeks everywhere, is being reissued.
Hiding inside the giant keyboard this time will be an Intel Atom processor and
Blu-ray drive.
Commodore USA is reviving a classic, its clunky, boxy, taupe wonder, the
Commodore 64.
A first computer for geeks everywhere, the 64-kilobyte Commodore 64 debuted in
1982 - two years after its little brother, the 16-color, 5-kilobyte VIC 20.
This time around, however, its gigantic keyboard will house a full all-in-one
Ubuntu PC with a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor and the option to include a 1TB
drive, a Blu-ray drive and 4GB of RAM.
The BBC reports that the new C64 will even come complete with its unmistakable
"clicky" keyboard. (Hear that, Lenovo, with your new-fangled keyboard
noise-suppression
technology<http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Lenovo-Intros-New-ThinkPads-with-Intels-Sandy-Bridge-Chips-836395/>?
We like the clicky keyboard sound.)
But nostalgia don't come cheap, kids. While Commodore originally charged $199,
this time around they'll give you the case and keyboard with a card-reader for
$250. Boost that to $600 for the C64x Basic, and add another hundred bucks if
WiFi and a DVD drive interest you. The way to go, suggests
Wired<http://www.wired.com/>, is with the $900 Ultimate edition, which gets you
that optional Blu-ray drive, 1TB hard drive and 4GB of RAM.
eWEEK's Jeff Cogswell, offering a trip down his Byte-magazine-informed memory
lane<http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Commodore-64-A-Look-Back-at-a-Geeks-First-PC-802345/>,
reminds us that C64 love kept the early computer in production into the '90s
and fueled the creation of the C64 Direct-to-TV, a Commodore 64 emulator that
wasn't much more than "a joystick and some buttons with the full hardware
inside, including 30 built-in games." Unsurprisingly, it sold well on QVC.
In 1997, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Commodore 64, the Computer
History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., brought together computing's old
guard. Jack Tramiel, Commodore's founder and former CEO - joined by Apple
co-founder Steve Wozniak and William Lowe, building the IBM PC - explained how
the company got its name.
According to Spencer F.
Katt,<http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Road-Tripping-Down-Memory-Lane/>
Tramiel told those assembled, "Well, I had been in the Army, so I wanted to
call my new company 'General.' But that was already taken-General Motors,
General Foods, etc. Then I tried to name it 'Admiral.' Nope. So 'Commodore' was
the only name left I liked."
Tramiel added, "We didn't make a lot of money on margin, but we made a lot of
friends. They loved our product. I just wish we could have continued to do what
we did."
With Commodores finally back to doing what they did, sort of, the company is
now taking orders. Units are expected to begin shipping between May and June,
and hipsters should have clicky keyboards in their hands by the start of summer.
Now, if they'd just bring back William Shatner for the advertising, all would
be right with the world.
Larry DiGioia
HP Technology Services
Rolls-Royce Energy Systems
105 N. Sandusky St.
Mount Vernon, OH 43050
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