Commodore 64 nostalgia
Commodore 64 still loved after all these years - CNN.com
Like a first love or a first car, a first computer can hold a special place in people’s hearts. For millions of kids who grew up in the 1980s, that first computer was the Commodore 64. Twenty-five years later, that first brush with computer addiction is as strong as ever.
“There was something magical about the C64,” says Andreas Wallstrom of Stockholm, Sweden. […]
Often overshadowed by the Apple II and Atari 800, the Commodore 64 rose to great heights in the 1980s. From 1982-1993, 17 million C64s were sold. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the Commodore 64 as the best-selling single computer model.
::sigh:: They don’t make them like they used to. Mine lasted me through high school and wasn’t replaced until I started college in 1994. Those things were workhorses!
Related Various and Sundry Stories:
- C64: GEOS (14 Feb 2004)
- C=64 - with pics! (10 Sept 2003)
- The Rise and Fall of Commodore (20 Nov 2006)
- Commodore to Get 30-in-1 TV Game (01 May 2005)
December 10th, 2007 at 2:07 am
I got my Commodore 64 repaired in the early 90s at Arkansas’ last Commodore sales and service store, now long closed. I was on my way out when the guy who owned the place said, “Do you want to buy any more?” He had two stacks of eight Commodore 64’s by the door. I was a college student at the time, though, so I declined; I was using enough of my discretionary income just to fix the one I’d had since I was a kid.
I wish I’d gotten at least one more, though, since I’m in a bit of a tug-of-war with my dad over the old one. He says that he bought it, so it’s his; I say he bought it as a Christmas present for me, that I was the only one who ever used it, that I took care of it and I paid to have it repaired when it broke, so it’s mine. (My dad’s become something of a hoarder now that he’s retired.)
Incidentally, the sound connection on the TV hookup for the C-64 had only worked sporadically since it was purchased, and finally completely gave out after a couple of years. The guy fixed that, too. I’m still amazed at how much I love that computer even though most of its working lifetime was spent with no sound on a black-and-white TV, thereby negating two of the system’s biggest selling points.