jack tramiel Archives - The Silicon Underground

Commodore Plus 4 and Commodore 16

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 11:00:03 +0000

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

The post Commodore Plus 4 and Commodore 16 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The Atari 2600 CPU: The MOS 6507

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 29 May 2017 11:00:40 +0000

The Atari 2600 CPU was a nondescript MOS 6507 chip. Neither Intel nor Motorola had a CPU chip in the early 1970s that could meet Atari’s price point. MOS Technology didn’t have one either, but they asked Atari what they

The post The Atari 2600 CPU: The MOS 6507 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Meaning of the word commodore

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:00:29 +0000

Commodore was a high-flying 1980s computer company that imploded in the early 1990s. But the name is a bit curious. What is the meaning of the word commodore? Commodore was a rank in the Navy. In other services, commodore would

The post Meaning of the word commodore appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The first successful home computer: Commodore VIC-20

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:00:00 +0000

What was the first successful home computer? Some people would argue it was the Apple II, the TRS-80 Model I, or perhaps even the Apple I. But I argue it was Commodore’s VIC-20. Maybe I’m biased. I was a Commodore

The post The first successful home computer: Commodore VIC-20 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Commodore 64 vs VIC-20

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 11:00:27 +0000

The C-64 and VIC-20 look a lot alike, and shared some of the same designers, but there are a number of differences between these two vintage computers.

The post Commodore 64 vs VIC-20 appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

How the Amiga could have lived to age 30 and beyond

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 14:25:46 +0000

It was 30 years ago this week that Commodore released its landmark, long-time-coming Amiga 1000 computer–the first 1990s computer in a field full of 1970s retreads. Yes, it was a 1990s computer in 1985. It had color and sound built

The post How the Amiga could have lived to age 30 and beyond appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

How thousands of Atari cartridges ended up in the desert

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:00:42 +0000

The famous story of Atari burying millions of dollars of unsold videogame cartridges, including the infamous E.T. cartridge, is no longer just a legend–it’s been confirmed. How they got there was mostly a misunderstanding of the nascent business. E.T. was

The post How thousands of Atari cartridges ended up in the desert appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

Commodore was more than a stock scam

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:00:22 +0000

From time to time, I see the phrase “Commodore stock scam” or something similar come up in discussion or in books. Commodore, in case you don’t know, was a high-flying computer company in the 1980s that was literally making computers

The post Commodore was more than a stock scam appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

The Rise of Commodore

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 23:23:01 +0000

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. What I dislike most about it is that it doesn’t cite a

The post The Rise of Commodore appeared first on The Silicon Underground.

My favorite Phillipe Kahn story

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:02:07 +0000

I just saw Phillipe Kahn (not Khan) in a Best Bait-n-Switch commercial, introducing himself as the inventor of the camera phone. But that’s not my favorite Phillipe Kahn story. Once upon a time, Phillipe Kahn was a French immigrant who

The post My favorite Phillipe Kahn story appeared first on The Silicon Underground.