Commodore 64 - Up Close, Hip And Still Happening
It was in January 1982 that the Commodore International Company introduced a 8 bit home computer called the Commodore 64. Production actually started by the spring of 1982 and in August the machines were released gradually at a $595 price. The Commodore Max Machine and the Commodore VIC - 20 were rife with features of the C64 with kilobyte memory extending to 64. These Commodores were known for high performance of graphics as well as sound that was extremely superior as compared to IBM computers that were also in the market during that time.
The Commodore 64 is better known as the C64 or the C=64 and also known as the CBM 64 occasionally, with CBM being the Commodore Business Machines. Nicknames for the C64 was bull nose or bread box during that time, due to the color as well as the shape of the version that was first introduced in the market and because of the casting as well. Around seventeen million units have been sold during the entire life time of the C64. It was due to the increasing sales of the C64 that it was considered as one of the best personal computers ever. The market was completely dominated by the C64 during the period ranging from 1983 right up the year 1986.
C64 outsold the Atari 8 bit family computers, the Apple Inc. computers as well as the IBM PC clones. Instead of being sold at the electronic stores, the C64 was sold at dedicated retail stores which lead to the success of Commodore. To have a better control on the cost as well as the supplies of the Commodore, efforts were made for producing the parts of the computer in house only. Due to the huge production volume that was so creatively designed and engineered in the C64, it was even compared the automobile Ford Model T for the introduction of the latest technology in the production line.
For the C64 different commercial software titles amounting to ten thousand were created which included tools for development, computer games and applications for office productivity etc. Due to the availability of emulators in the C64, any person who has a gaming console that is highly compatible or a computer that is ultra modern finds it very easy for the running of embedded programs. The demo scene in computers was also popularized by the C64 machine. Many of the hobbyists who use computers these days continue to use the C64 even amidst the upswing creations around. Its iconic status has ensured that its existence isn't wiped out of existence because we forgot about it.
Right from March 28, 2008 the C64 games have been made available for purchase along with the Nintendo virtual console in Europe. In Northern America the launching of C64 took place in the year 2009 on 23rd of February, in three popular titles. A gaming console termed as the 'next generation C64' was introduced in a project for graphics and designing and audio chips by MOS Technology Inc. in the year 1981. The Commodore Max or Ultimax was engineered later by Yash Terakura from Commodore, Japan.