We are pleased today to announce that BitWise IM will be available by the end of the month for the popular Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers. We can no longer afford to ignore the tremendous demand from users of the best-selling computer of all time. Users will be able to download BitWise IM from the popular QuantumLink online service or can order a 5-1/4" floppy for a small shipping and handling charge. It has taken an incredible feat to shrink BitWise to fit inside the 64k footprint of the C64, but it is still truly amazing what can be done on a Commodore. The C128 version will take full advantage of the 80-column display and will benefit tremendously from the 2MHz fast mode available exclusively on the C128. Users interested in testing can connect to us directly at 888-555-BitW using their Commodore modem and download our beta version. The download should take about two and a half hours using a 300 baud modem or about 40 minutes on a 1200 baud modem.
Of course, I jest. However, it's not all that difficult to imagine a world of Commodore computers that could carry forward all of the things that made Commodores so great. The Commodore 64 was my first computer, and my interest in it lasted well into the 90s. Isn't it truly amazing that this particular computer model was produced and sold for nearly a decade? No other computer has had that kind of staying power, and that is a true testament to the capabilities of the C64. For a long time I have wondered both "What if?" and "What happened?" Fortunately, I was able to indulge both of these questions; I recently finished reading the excellent book On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore, which I enjoyed tremendously.
Anyone looking for a wild journey through the early days of computing should not miss this book. On the Edge chronicles Commodore from the very beginning of its computing days through the locking of the doors on April 29th, 2004. The folks who worked at Commodore deserve a lot of credit for the breakthroughs that they achieved, but they also deserves a lot of blame for making many choices that ultimately led to self-destruction. This could be one of the best examples of middle and upper management killing a company from the inside. With computers ahead of their time, the engineers at Commodore deserved so much more. My hats off to them.
So while my question of "What happened?" has been grandly addressed, the other question of "What if?" lingers. After you read this book, the headline on this post won't look so absurd. It only would have taken a couple twists of fate and we could all be running C536870912's right now.
You can order the book from the author here. Autographed copies are available.
Hah, another Commodore lover, excellent! :D
lol class
Commodore 64's what a blast!
I used to sit for hours with those magazines coping out lines and lines of code only to have it come up with a
SYNTAX ERROR
Then there was the shop bought games that loaded using tapes, until you used the tapes too much then you may end up with a SYNTAX ERROR or just a solid "windows blue" screen.
Man, some of those games were great, winter olympics, siren city etc--
I feel really bad I threw my perfectly working C64 in the bin when we moved home a few years ago
10 PRINT "I FEEL BAD",
20 GOTO 10
RUN
I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD I FEEL BAD
lol
nice post kevin