commodore Archives

Mimic Systems Spartan: Apple II emulator for the C-64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 3, 2013June 24, 20241980s, apple, apple ii, atari, atari 2600, colecovision, collectibles, commodore, sears, spartan

The Mimic Systems Spartan was an elusive bit of C-64 hardware that made it Apple II+ compatible. It’s one of the more interesting Apple II clones of the 1980s. People thought of it as an Apple II+ emulator for the Commodore 64, though it wasn’t emulation in a modern sense.

Mimic Systems took out full-page ads in all of the Commodore magazines, starting in late 1984, promoting the product heavily.

The problem with it was that you couldn’t buy one, at least not in 1984 or 85. The Spartan finally appeared in 1986, and at that point, not many people wanted one anymore. So Spartans are exceedingly rare today.

But it actually seemed like a decent idea. In 1984, that is.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Barnes & Noble’s fate is just more evidence that being better isn’t enough on its own

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 25, 2013amiga, Barnes Noble, commodore, dell, kindle, Nook Simple Touch, public domain

There’s news today that B&N’s founder is looking to buy the store’s retail and web business, but not the Nook business, and the Nook business could be spun off or even discontinued, but whatever happens, it’s likely to be de-emphasized.

My family owns two Nook Simple Touch e-readers, and we like them, but they have one very big problem.

I got a $25 Nook gift card for my birthday. I’ve seen a couple of books I wanted in the past 3 months, but nothing available as a Nook book. As I recall, all of those books have been available for Kindle.

The Nook is the better device, and I’m not sure it’s even close. But better hardware and better technology isn’t enough. You have to have something to buy. Especially when the consumption device is break-even or near-break-even. I remember, some 20 years ago, having a conversation with a friend. My Amiga was a much better computer than his unremarkable Dell PC, but he retorted, “None of that matters if you, you know, like having software!”

A year later, Commodore was out of business. Twenty years later, Dell is struggling, but by Commodore standards, Dell’s bad years would have been pretty good.

I’m impressed with the Nook tablet range too, but there again, being locked in to what Barnes & Noble has to sell makes me hesitant to buy one. Will everything I want to run on a tablet be available for it? If I’ve learned one thing over the last 20 years, it’s that when in doubt, you’ll be better off going with an open system over a closed one.

So, with no books to buy, one of our Nooks spends the bulk of its time displaying library books; I loaded the other one up with public domain e-books and other stuff I converted into epub format to keep handy. We’re happy, but neither of these uses makes B&N any money.

Dave Farquhar

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The Rise of Commodore

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 4, 2012November 23, 20161980s, Canada, commodore, commodore 64, jack tramiel, vic 20

I found an account of Commodore’s rise to prominence on a vintage computing forum. It’s interesting reading. Then again, I’m partial to anything about the rise of Commodore.

Dave Farquhar

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How abandonware gets abandoned

Dave Farquhar Copyright, Retro Computing, Software November 1, 2012January 19, 20261980s, 1990s, Ars Technica, commodore, commodore 64, public domain, Star Wars

From time to time on classic computing and/or videogaming forums, the question of how to track down the current copyright holder to a particular given title comes up. Sometimes someone knows the answer. Frequently they don’t.

This week, when George Lucas announced he’d sold Lucasfilm to Disney, illustrated precisely how this kind of thing happens.

Dave Farquhar

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The good (or at least decent) $89 tablet

Dave Farquhar Hardware September 18, 2012January 31, 2022android, apple, commodore, ipad, kindle, Kindle Fire, Media Player, tinkerer, XT

Right around a year ago, I wrote about the difficulties of making a good $100 tablet. But then, today, I read on Slashdot about someone finding a nice $45 Android tablet in a Chinese bazaar, then finding a similar unit at Fry’s back home in the States, priced at $89.

That raised a couple of questions. First of all, what’s the tablet?

Dave Farquhar

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What to do about a router dropping connections

Dave Farquhar Hardware August 27, 2012November 19, 2018Arctic Silver, asus, classmate, commodore, commodore 64, radio shack, tinkerer

A former classmate and coworker contacted me with a question.

My router is about 5 years old. I have a cable modem and a router. The cable modem is fine. The router keeps connecting and disconnecting from the internet…used to happen occasionally, now happens all the time. I reset it and it works for a while, then disconnects. Is it time for a new router or do you think something else is going on?

I see two options. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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A TRS-80 retrospective

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 25, 2012July 15, 2017commodore, Jeep, radio shack

This month is the 35th anniversary of the TRS-80, which was the best-selling computer in the world until 1982 when the VIC-20 overtook it. Did you miss it? I almost did.

Veteran technology journalist and editor Harry McCracken has a nice retrospective of this mass-market computer from Radio Shack.

Dave Farquhar

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Busted at the Safeway for phone phreaking

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, security August 11, 2012January 9, 20251980s, 1990s, bbs, certifications, commodore, juvenile detention, phone phreaking, phone service, shrewsbury, watson, watson road

Software developer, author, and blogger Jeff Atwood wrote his confessions of the 1980s this week. As a teenager and not-quite-adult, he was a phone phreaker.

More of this went on than anyone wants to admit. Rob O’Hara has podcasted about it. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Happy 30th birthday, C-64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 2, 20121980s, 1990s, commodore, commodore 64, New Year, pc world, RF

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Commodore 64’s release, PC World–a magazine published by the same company that once published RUN, a magazine dedicated to the C-64 and other Commodore 8-bit computers–had someone try to use a 64 for a week.

Not surprisingly, they found the 30-year-old computer not up to 2012’s demands.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Games would be just what Linux needed

Dave Farquhar Linux July 27, 2012Ad Lib, amiga, apple, apple ii, atari, commodore, commodore 64, IBM, macintosh, Steve Wozniak, VGA, vista, windows 8

Valve is intending to develop for Linux, as an insurance policy against Windows 8. I think that will lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. If more games are available for Linux, demand for Linux will increase, along with market share.

There’s historical precedence for this. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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