The Commodore 64 computer is 25 years old this month.
Ahhh, the C64, the Model-T of personal computing, the machine that anybody could afford.
I bought mine in 1982, for $250. It was the first 'real' computer I ever owned. Mine had the little tape drive that stored data on cassette tapes. I never could afford the $1200 external 1MB harddisk drive for it (but, man, did I lust after that). 64KB of RAM. CP/M operating system stored in ROM. Color. Sound. It would run rings around an Apple II. I learned my first programming language on that machine; BASIC, of course. Anybody remember GEOS? No? That's OK, nobody remembers how to hand start a Model-T anymore either.
33 comments:
Being the luddite that I am, I held out until '92 for my first computer. Ah, the Powerbook 160. Tiny B & W screen. Clunky trackball. Weighed about 12 lbs.
Basically a really bright doorstop.
My first 'real' computer was a Zenith Z-248. Commonly referred to as 'the behemoth of personal computing,' available only to government employees. I got the $1200 upgrade to 1MB of RAM (Anybody remember the difference between 'extended' and 'expanded' RAM? And the '640K barrier?'), 20MB harddrive, two double sided 5.25" floppy drives, and EGA color. Oh yeah, oh yeah (picture Wright doing the Oh Yeah dance). Eventually I installed a 2nd 20MG harddrive and a math co-processor. If the C64 was the model-T, the Z-248 was a Dusenberg Roadster.
I have no earthly clue what the "Oh Yeah" dance looks like and I think I speak for all of your readers when I demand, demand that you post footage forthwith.
(You remember forthwith, don't you.)
Dude, you have no idea what you're asking. Seriously, you'd don't want to see me dance, ever. If there is anybody on the planet with less rhythm than me, well, they must be dead. Seriously, Fred Thompson probably has more dance ability.
1. Did you not hear me when I said forthwith?
2. Your description of you dancing abilities makes it only that much more imperative that we see it.
*the crowd holds up lighters and begins chanting*
Video! Video! Video! Video!
Video! Video! Video! Video!
Hey, you're the one in the movie industry...
I motion that in this same video, Jim should also sing. In fact, there should be both singing and dancing at the same time! Maybe it could be used as a head-exploding weapon against enemies of the empire...
Video. Singing & dancing and magic weasels.
Every excuse you make just makes me want to see this abomination more.
Magic weasels, I could probably do. Singing? No.
If there's anything I suck at more than dancing, it would have to be singing. In fact, I don't even sing in the car when I'm by myself, because my singing is so bad that even I can't stand to hear it.
If I were to post video of me singing and dancing it just might crash the entire internet. And nobody needs that.
I don't even sing in the car when I'm by myself, because my singing is so bad that even I can't stand to hear it.
Up until this very moment, I've always taken you to be a fairly bright guy. And then you go taunting us...sweetening the pot, as it were.
Video! Video! Video! Video!
with singing.
Why do you hate America? Why, Nathan, why?
Video! Video! Video!
What do we want?
VIDEO!
When do we want it?
FORTHWITH!
You go girl.
I suggest we ignore all current posts in favor of begging for video on this thread.
V! V! V!
Don't make me start a thread on "e".
On a completely unrelated sidenote, what is this "e" that everyone keeps speaking of?
"e" = Whateveresque.
As the wizard once said, be careful what you wish for.
You people are insane, insane!
Hey Jim,
Did I tell you I'd be returning to this thread to demand video? Did I?
Did I?
I think I did.
Video! Video! Video! Video!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
I think not.
Video, video, video!
You guys are killing me. This was originally a post about the Commodore 64, until you pirates hijacked it.
Tell you all what, if I can get my old beloved C64 to boot up, and then figure out how to make it process video within it's tiny RAM space - I'll do a video for you. You all held your collectives breaths, and I'll see what I can do.
- And yes, somewhere down in the basement storeroom, I have a C64.
Argh! Video, matey, video!
Pass the Grog!
Down in the basement? With the boxes and the more boxes and the bears and the beartraps and the piranhas?
I see where this is leading and it ain't good.
Man up and post the video.
Oh. And Arggggggh.
No, Jim, I don't need a video. Yes I can see the Geek Victory Dance perfectly well from here (heck, I even do it occasionally).
You know there are C64s on the internet and I'm not talking ebay.
The first computer I owned was an Atari 800xl. I still have it in a box. Sometimes my geek friends and I get together and haul them out to play the old games. Oh, MULE, how I miss ya. And the one starfighter game where you landed on planets, and when taking off there was always a chance an alien would leap on the view-window (you had to fire quickly or they'd break in and kill ya, a shoot anything that pops up game).
(singing) Memories, memories...
Steve,
This thread has been hijacked (by a group so nefarious, we were cashiered from the Dendarii Free Mercenaries).
Kindly refrain from posting relevant comments.
This thread is now dedicated to the proposition that the Future Ultimate Emperor of the Universe can sing, can dance, can video tape it and post it. (This may interfere with his Future Emperorness, but WTF).
Vid-e-o, Vid-e-o, Vid-e-o!
Argh.
Resist the temptation, Steve, move away from the light.
In the immortal words of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "No singing, NO singing!"
Argh, put up the Video, matey! Or yeel walk the plank!
"e" = Whateveresque.
Oh. Uh. Yeah, I can totally see how that abbreviates to an e! I'm a cool kid too!
MWT, if you really want to be a cool kid, get with the program...i.e., piratey demands for video of Jim.
Vid-e-o! Vid-e-o! Vid-e-o!
Argh.
Hey, I did my part by suggesting the singing. :)
I come over here expecting the entertainment I requested. And what do I see? No F'ing Video. None!.
I've demanded, begged, pleaded, chanted. WhaddoIgoddado?
Video! I want.
And MWT,
We took a vote on the whole "e" thing and saw it as our slackerish lazy duty to make the simplest abbreviation possible. We considered "", but we didn't know how to pronounce it.
9:30 A.M. here on the East Coast and still no video. I can smell the lazy across 4 time zones.
Just sayin'.
Nathan, I agree. What a slacker. Damn. I'll bet he's in the goat locker, drinking all the coffee.
Okay, now you're just being a very bad dancing monkey.
Don't make me poke you with my stick. I'm warning you.
Where's the damn video?
But wait, I was talking about classic computing... (SLAP!)
:: puts arms out and does the zombie shuffle ::
vid-e-o vid-e-o
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