![\"Commodore](\"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Box-Europe-450x225.jpg\")
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The most popular computer, yet often forgotten. Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n On the occasion of my upcoming book Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodor 64 Computer<\/a>, I am writing <\/em>The History of the Commodore 64 in Twelve Objects, posted weekly from November 1st<\/sup>, 2024:<\/em><\/p>\n Object #1: The Commodore 64<\/strong> itself<\/strong>, known affectionately as the breadbox <\/em>for its shape. Launched in 1982, following the Commodore company\u2019s successful VIC-20 computer (1980). At 12,5 million units sold, the C64 was by far the best-selling home computer of the era, and it was also the platform with the most video games from 1985 to 1993 \u2013 5,500 games are known.<\/p>\n But there is a mystery: there are both computer and video game histories that never mention the machine. My new book tries to find out why. I have tried to write the best book I could about the C64, but this was also my own first computer, and revisiting it has been thrilling and full of surprises.<\/p>\n The C64\u2019s longevity went beyond any expectation \u2013 home computers were known to have a short life span, and already in 1983 Sierra game developer Ken Williams was spreading the rumor that production was about to cease, yet the machine was produced until 1994.<\/p>\n Strangely, none of its three central chips were originally designed for a computer. The 6510 (6502) CPU was originally planned for control systems, the SID sound chip was designed for synthesizers, and the VIC-II graphics chip was originally planned for video game devices. This became the C64, combining state-of-the art graphics and sound with strange flaws, such as a limited BASIC programming language and slow tape and disk drive.<\/p>\n Though Commodore never updated the machine functionally, users and developers fixed its flaws and kept finding new ways to use it. In the book, I call this the five lives<\/em> of the machine. The European box shows the first life \u2013 a serious computer for work, studying, and the home, and for programming in BASIC.<\/p>\n More about Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodore 64 Computer<\/em> here: https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/9780262549516\/too-much-fun\/<\/a><\/p>\n Next week<\/strong>: Object #2, 10 PRINT \u201cHELLO\u201d: GOTO 10<\/p>\n What are your memories of the Commodore 64?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The most popular computer, yet often forgotten. Why? On the occasion of my upcoming book Too Much Fun: The Five Lives of the Commodor 64 Computer, I am writing The History of the Commodore 64 in Twelve Objects, posted weekly from November 1st, 2024: Object #1: The Commodore 64 itself, known affectionately as the breadbox … Continue reading “The History of the Commodore 64 in Twelve Objects #1: The Commodore 64 itself”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c64"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3015"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3020,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3015\/revisions\/3020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jesperjuul.net\/ludologist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}