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Commodore Plus 4 and Commodore 16

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 29, 2018October 26, 20221980s, amiga, apple, apple ii, atari, Bil Herd, commodore, commodore 128, Commodore 16, commodore 64, commodore vic 20, Dave Haynie, IBM, jack tramiel, loyalists, motorola

Dan Bowman kindly pointed me to former Commodore engineer Bil Herd’s discussion of the ill-fated Commodore TED machines on Hackaday. Here in the States, few remember the TED specifically, but some people may remember that oddball Commodore Plus 4 that closeout companies sold for $79 in 1985 and 1986. The Commodore Plus 4 was one of those TED machines. So was the Commodore 16.

What went wrong with those machines? Commodore miscalculated what the home computer market was doing. The TED was a solution to too many problems, and ended up not solving any of them all that well. Arguably it’s more popular with vintage computer enthusiasts today than it was in the 1980s. Read more

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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How to use a Commodore 64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing September 20, 2017January 29, 20191980s, apple, atari, commodore, commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is rather unlike modern computers. It has a CPU and memory like a modern computer does, but the operating system and overall user experience is alien to someone used to computers that run Windows or Mac OS. So to modern eyes, it’s not completely obvious how to use a Commodore 64.

Commodore had a dominance of the market in the 1980s that would have made Apple jealous at any point in its history, but ultimately Commodore lost, so the Commodore 64’s bloodline is extinct.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 operating system

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing September 14, 2017September 12, 20171980s, apple, apple ii, commodore, commodore 64, unix

The Commodore 64 didn’t have an operating system in the traditional sense that we now think of one. It most certainly did have a method of interacting with the user and handling I/O, including disk files. But the way it all worked seems strange today. Here’s what made the native Commodore 64 operating system different, and the alternatives that surfaced during the 64’s long life.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Commodore RAM expansion units

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 25, 2017November 10, 20181541, 1980s, 1990s, 6502, commodore, IBM, quantumlink, ram disk

The 6502-family CPUs in Commodore 8-bit computers famously used 64K of RAM at a time. But in 1985, Commodore introduced a cartridge that added up to 512K of RAM to the 128. Commodore followed up soon after with a 256K cartridge for the 64. How did Commodore RAM expansion units work?

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore 64 Z80 cartridge

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 9, 2017April 3, 20231541, 1980s, 6502, apple, apple ii, commodore, commodore 64, intel, MOS, spartan

One of the most popular add-ons for an Apple II added CP/M compatibility. So I guess it should be no surprise that Commodore tried the same thing. But the Commodore 64 CP/M operating system and the associate Commodore 64 Z80 cartridge was a flop. Why?

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Commodore 256: The 8-bit that never was

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing July 21, 2017April 5, 20241980s, amiga, CBM, commodore, commodore 64, DEC, IBM, IRA

In 1985, Commodore followed up on its best selling Commodore 64 with a model with twice as much memory. The design of the 128 offered the possibility of following up with a Commodore 256. It never happened. Instead, Commodore moved on from 8-bit machines after the 128. Here’s why.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Where to buy vintage computers

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 28, 2017February 13, 20221541, 1980s, commodore, dell, electric trains, estate sales, garage sale, garage sales, IBM, ibm pcjr, intel, Kansas City, Missouri, recycling, survivors, Tandy, Texas Instruments, TI, Value Village, vintage computer, vintage trains

Collecting vintage computers can be fun. I also personally think it’s great that people are interested in preserving that history. Where to buy vintage computers hasn’t changed much over the years. It just may take a bit more work than it used to.

Some people think old computers are priceless. Others think they’re worthless. I don’t recommend wasting your time with people who think a Dell Pentium III laptop is worth $300. Think of the times you found a jewel for five bucks and keep moving.

Dave Farquhar

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Computers in 1985: It was a very good year

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 22, 2017May 19, 20201980s, 6502, amiga, AOL, apple, apple ii, atari, atari st, Bill Gates, commodore, commodore 128, commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, compaq, Digital Research, IBM, intel, jack tramiel, macintosh, New Wave, nintendo, quantumlink, radio shack, Steve Jobs, Tandy, tandy 1000, unix, video game

In some ways, 1985 was a really pivotal year for computing. The industry was changing fast, but in 1985, many relics from the past were still present even as we had an eye for the future. Here’s a look back at computers in 1985 and what made that year so interesting.

I think 1985 was interesting in and of itself, but it also made the succeeding years a lot more interesting. A surprising amount of the technology that first appeared in 1985 still has an impact today.

Dave Farquhar

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What happened to Digital Equipment Corporation?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 20, 2017October 3, 20181980s, 1990s, altavista, amiga, apple, commodore, compaq, computer security, d-link, DEC, Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital Research, firewall, hp, IBM, intel, lexmark, linksys, macintosh, netgear, PIP, spam, syntax, unix, windows nt, x86

Digital Equipment Corporation was perhaps the second most important computer company in history, behind IBM. Its minicomputers challenged IBM, and, indeed, Unix first ran on a DEC PDP-7. DEC’s Alpha CPU was one of the few chips to make Intel nervous for its x86 line. It created the first really good Internet search engine. In a just and perfect world, DEC would still be dominating. Instead, it faded away in the 1990s. What happened to Digital Equipment Corporation, or DEC?

There’s a short answer and a long answer.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Commodore 64 models

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 12, 2017October 19, 20181541, 1980s, Aldi, amiga, apple, apple ii, atari, Australia, CES, commodore, commodore 64, compaq, IBM, infoworld, intel, Japan, MOS, nintendo, Personal Computer, public domain

Over the course of its 12 years on the market, Commodore released a number of Commodore 64 models. The computer’s capability changed very little over time, but the technology did. The world changed a lot between 1982 and 1994, and that gave Commodore some opportunities to lower costs, chase other market segments, or both.

Here’s an overview of the various Commodore 64 models that hit the market over the machine’s long life.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

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