Commodore 64 Primed For a Comeback In June

angry tapir writes "The Commodore 64 is getting a makeover, with a new design and some of the latest computing technologies, as the brand gets primed for a comeback. The revamped computer will be available through the Commodore USA online store, which is set to open June 1. The computer will be an all-in-one keyboard, with Intel's 64-bit quad-core microprocessors and 3D graphics capabilities."

Clear Hoax

[1karmik1]

Look. at. the. site. It's a chinese 3rd rate gadget imitator wet dream. There is a pseudo-configuration page vaguely mimicking Dell's one with no functionality. No logo. No design. and GOD that heinous thing in the pictures looks CLUNKY and CHEAP. This is a hoax. /. have seen several in the past years tied to the good old C64. I'm very surprised it made the front page :(

64-bit?!

[Anonymous Coward]

with Intel's 64-bit quad-core microprocessors and 3D graphics capabilities

Then it's not a Commodore 64, it's just a modern product trying to cash in on the famous name.

Riding the back of nostalgia.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, the C64 was a fantastic machine in its time. But that was the 1980s. Commodore hasn't been in the public consciousness for nearly two decades (the last Amigas from Commodore - the 1200 and 4000T - ceased production in 1996, if Wikipedia can be trusted). They're planning an all-in-one keyboard computer, just like the original C64, and I can pretty much guarantee: it'll flop. The design had good reason back in the 80s, but not so much now - they're banking upon the name driving sales, but I suspect a lot of people will look at it and discount it for that same reason.

Not really a comeback

[zr-rifle]

... but a rebranding that - put simply - insults the name of the good old '64.

Seriously: what does this have to do with the old 8bit microcomputer?

• Can I peek or poke the memory?
• Can I play Turrican and Hawkeye on it?
• Does it have a SID?
• Does it even read my old datassettes?

• And yes... it does run Linux, sadly...
  
  Those wishing to a Commodore 64 should look elsewhere [c64upgra.de] (or Ellsworth - haha, lame I know...)

Upgrades?

[wjousts]

From the commodoreusa website:

There’s nothing like it. At just 17.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall, it’s designed to take up far less room — and use far less energy — than any other desktop computer.

So, in other words, it's a desktop that will be a colossal PITA upgrade and will probably use non-standard parts to get everything to fit. All the upgrade inconvenience of a laptop with none of the advantages.

The C64, an eulogy

[zr-rifle]

Since it will be some time before I get to see the good old C64 mentioned on the Slashdot first page, I'd like to say that Jack Tramiel is the unsung hero of the personal computer, even more than Steve Jobs in this regard. He advocated a computer 'for the classes, not for the masses'. By driving down the retail price and selling the C64 in toy stores and Walmart, he created a broader market and introduced a lot of low-to-middle class kids, who could not afford the Apple II or the Macintosh, to the joys of computing.

By sparking the low-cost microcomputer revolution of the eighties, he prepared a whole generation to the modern digital age.

Jack Tramiel's Wikipedia entry. [wikipedia.org]

Re:Riding the back of nostalgia.

[plague3106]

And this is why your generation sucks at programming.

Nope, not a commodore

[damn_registrars]

If it doesn't boot to BASIC, and require

load "*",8,1

to start software, it isn't commodore 64. Case closed.

Re:Clear Hoax

[XiX36]

I am suspicious as well, the built-in keyboard has windows keys. If it is being marketed as a machine to run multiple OS's, why not put the old C= symbol on those keys. Since they are using the name, why not use the logo as well? It's a minor point, but if this is real and they are resurrecting the name to appeal to those of us who remember messing around with Commodores then details like that might matter a bit. Certainly anyone who remembers playing around with basic on the livingroom tv could figure out that the C= key functions as a windows button.

Re:Riding the back of nostalgia.

[TheCycoONE]

Your post makes me sad on two levels; first that at 25 I'm no longer part of the younger generation (nearly everyone my age has seen/used a C64 at least in their early grades of primary school); and secondly because there are poor people out there who have never had a chance to use one.

Limited pfft: POKE, PEEK, and 64k is all anyone will ever need.

Re:Riding the back of nostalgia.

[Mikkeles]

As one who did programme back then (and earlier), I can assure you that his generation sucks no more or less than did the older generation; just in different ways.

What it really is

[bickerdyke]

Casemod.

nothing more, nothing less. a Wintel-PC with funny hat.

Re:64-bit?!

[ehrichweiss]

Have you forgotten that cassette tapes only recorded *within* human hearing ranges?

Re:64-bit?!

[that this is not und]

That's not really impressive, when you consider the audio quality of the cassette recorders used to store data on those low-end cassette-based computers from the 80's. In fact, Radio Shack recommended against using too 'high quality' of a cassette recorder. The data is encoded in basically the voice band. Too wide a frequency response just increases the artifacts and noise that get recorded, which is actually detrimental to the quality of the digital record.

It's about time.

[IGnatius T Foobar]

Yes, I know, it's a Commodore in name only. However, it's about time that someone gave this venerable form factor another shot in the market. Why should I throw away a perfectly good monitor every couple of years just because the Macintosh inside it is obsolete? I've been saying for years that they should build the guts of the computer into the keyboard, not the monitor.

I'm ready to see this form factor start to get deployed again. Now that the typical desktop computer doesn't have quite as many cables coming out of it as it did a few years ago, it's time.

Re:Clear Hoax

[idontgno]

It really is rather pathetic -- they're looking for people to only purchase this slapped together crap for nostalgia's sake.

In that case, other than the nostalgia angle, I think they've captured the fundamental essence of Commodore marketing perfectly.

-- idontgno, a still-frustrated-after-all-these-years Amiga partisan

Re:The C64, an eulogy

[zr-rifle]

Tramiel had nothing to do with the Amiga or Commodore's reknown bad management, that came *after* he left the company; try asking David Pleasance about that. Atari was already in bad shape when Tramiel and his son took over.

Tramiel did try to buy out project Lorraine from Hi-Toro, but Commodore managed to land the deal (and 'f*ck up' the machine, as a famous Workbench easter egg recited).

By the way, long live Jay Miner [wikipedia.org], Commodore's Steve Wozniak.