Meet The Commodore 64 Family
It was in the year 1982 that Commodore was released in Japan as the Commodore Max Machine. In Germany it was termed as VC-10 and in the US it was termed as Ultimax. The main reason why Max was introduced was to function as a gaming console more than anything else. Its capability for computing was very limited, based on a lower end version that was very redundant as compared to the family of hardware which was used in the C64 later on.
In Japan the sales of the Commodore were not very impressive due to which after a few months of being introduced in the market, the Max discontinuation was not surprise. An attempt was made by Commodore in the year 1983 to compete with the hold on the United States by the Apple II. It did well in the market of education especially with the introduction of the Educator 64 and in the case of PET, the monitor in monochrome. As compared to the standard components that were separate in the C64 the metal construction that was made 'all in one' was most preferred by the schools.
In the C64 that had components that were separate, it was very much possible for the components to get stolen, damaged or vandalized easily. The SX 64 was released by the Commodore in the year 1984 which was portable. The SX 64 was a computer that was now portable and available in full color which made it distinct from the rest. No connector for cassettes was present in the SX 64; however the CRT 5 as well as the 1541 floppy disk drive featured in the unit. Bill Herd and Fred Brown were the two popular designers who specifically engineered and upgraded the Commodore.
A determined effort was put in to keep avoiding all of the Plus/4 problems. Both the designers tried to make sure that the Commodore 128 as well as the 128 D varieties introduced in the year 1985 became successors for life eventually. Efforts were made to ensure that they turned out to be as good as the original, if not better. A number of improvements were introduced like CP/M compatibility, BASIC that was structured well with graphics, command of sounds and capability of display amounting to around eighty columns.
Both Herd and Bowen were hardware and software designers respectively who quietly made the decision to have the C64 more compatible in the Commodore 128. This was carefully done with no approval or knowledge of the company's management whatsoever. When the project reached far enough to be changed or challenged, the upgrade was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas. The department of marketing considering this made an announcement that that the Commodore 128 would be fully compatible with the C128. In the year 1986, the Commodore was released as a C64C and again in 1990 as a gaming console or the C64GS along with the Commodore 65 base set. And today, the commodore survives more as an icon than simply an upswing computing machine. This very basic principle sets it apart from other computers who're incorporating changes to stay in completion.