I’m not exactly sure who the new and updated Commodore C64 is supposed to appeal to, as it is nothing like the original in any way but the skinning. And as many know, beauty is only skin deep.
The unit is being built using an Intel processor, an Atom unit, which is hundreds of times more powerful than the 6510 upon which the original C64 was based. The 6510 was an 8-bit processor, whereas the Atom used is a 64bit processor and uses the x86 or x86-64 instruction sets.
The differences mean that for the nostalgia buffs, the new C64 will do nothing but look the same to people wanting that, and allow nothing that once ran on the C64 to natively execute – however, with an emulator it would still be faster than the original.
For others, the unit is really only a very lightweight PC, having very little in the way of included power, and limited upgradeability.
According to the article which details the release, the company is trying to recreate the magic of the original C64 –
Commodore USA, founded in April 2010 by Barry Altman, is trying to recreate the magic by releasing an updated C64 that is "as close to the original in design as humanly possible." The PC will be powered by an Atom D525 1.80GHz processor, includes two gigabytes of RAM, and has memory card readers and a DVD drive all built into an original form-factor case. The iconic red LED on the Commodore 64 is still there and doubles as the power switch.
According to the site, users will be able to boot directly into a Commodore 64 emulator or can install a standard operating system and use Workbench 5, a custom made C64 operating system.
While the nostalgia factor is high (many people wrote their first BASIC programs on a C64), the question is whether this will be a viable product within the consumer market.
Original C64 – it jumpstarted a number of people to a love of computers.
Viable is an almost silly question, as it is not clear who would want this unit. As a small form factor PC of limited power, it fails because it is too big, and looks weird by today’s standards. As a look at the past, it is only partially successful, as it won’t truly give the exact feel of what occurred back then.
As to recapturing any magic, or instilling any wonder in those not already bitten by the computing bug, I am sure it will only be of limited use.
The C64 was a magic moment in time, much faster and more useful than its predecessor, the VIC-20, and made computing easy to pick up in steps, at a price that was much less than that found at the Apple dealer, or just a bit later, the IBM dealer.
I never owned one, but had two friends that did. I never quite got as excited as they did, because at that time all my extra shekels were going into high end stereo equipment and recordings. I had not gotten the computing bug.
And for those who purchased it, that is what it was – a bug. This was not a general purpose computer in the way we think of it today, nor is the newest rendition of the C64 a general purpose computer in that way. People then had few expectations, people today have many.
Where will that leave the lowly C64 of today, other than as a possible museum stand-in for a once beloved item of a much different time?
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