The Commodore 64 was my first computer. My dad brought it home in 1982 if memory serves, and from there I was hooked. It was clunky, slow and the disk drive was loud, but it was awesome. It allowed me a gateway into what has become one of my favorite hobbies - computer gaming.
There was a great story about the C64 over at CNN today which highlighted that many of us “30 somethings” are still caught up in the nostalgia for this loveable system. And what a better time to wax nostalgic than the C64’s 25th Anniversary:
On Monday, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, will celebrate the C64’s 25th anniversary. Computer pioneers will reflect on the C64’s achievements and contribution to the industry. Jack Tramiel, the founder and CEO of Commodore, will attend, along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and William C. Lowe, father of the IBM PC.
“It was the right machine for the time,” said McCracken. “The Commodore 64 did a lot to popularize computers.” Sold in shopping malls and discount stores and not just small computer stores — the norm for the time — the C64 became many people’s gateway into the world of computers, said Brian Bagnall, author of “On the edge: The spectacular rise and fall of Commodore.”
If you ever owned a C64 and gamed on it, I’d encourage you to buy that book by Brian Bagnall. I bought it last year and it’s a great read on the inside history of how Commodore rose to prominence and subsequently, how it went down in flames (Jack Tramiel ftw…).
At the end of the article I found the following statement pretty interesting (bold mine):
By 2007 computing standards, the Commodore 64 is a dinosaur. A relic of the past, long made obsolete by the march of time. But the C64 isn’t dead. It’s very much alive — on gaming Web sites, through music and in the memories of millions who owned and loved them.
“Computer nostalgia is something that runs pretty deep these days. The memories that people have of this machine are incredible,” McCracken said.
Twenty-five years ago computers were an individual experience; today they are just a commodity, he said.
“I don’t think there are many computers today that we use that people will be talking about fondly 25 years from now.”
And you know, I think he’s dead on right. I will probably recall which computers I had when, but not with any of the nostalgia, love and just great memories I have of the C64. There was just something special about that time in computing when everything was new and fresh. We hadn’t been bombarded by computer and console gaming for over 20 years at that point. It wasn’t old hat. At times I wish I could go back to some of that unadulterated fun and simplicity that I enjoyed playing games like The Bard’s Tale, Defender of the Crown, Beachhead, and Might and Magic.
Love the C64? Count me in. It will always hold a soft spot in my gaming heart.
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December 8th, 2007 at 1:05 am - Edit
My first love was the TRS-80 Color Computer. Other than that small variations… I totally share your nostalgia.
December 8th, 2007 at 4:42 am - Edit
Glad you pointed out that article, I was JUST reading it at work yesterday. Nice write up man
Errrr I mean I was on CNN doing research for work, IMPORTANT WORK RELATED RESEARCH. Let me just clarify that
December 8th, 2007 at 8:29 am - Edit
Haha…yep me to Pvt.
I guess it’s like anything - your first love you never forget. Add to that all the excitment and fun of being a kid at the time, and the C64 was bound to have a hold on all of us that grew up with it. Things were just different then, and computers really were much more of an individual experience as the article notes. Now, computers are everywhere and most people have 2-3.
I remember when my dad got the C128 and the slimmer, quieter disk drive. I though that was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
December 9th, 2007 at 3:21 am - Edit
You had a diskdrive ? :(.
Never had a C64, I had an aquarius and later on various MSX machines ;).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSX
December 9th, 2007 at 7:04 pm - Edit
load,8,*
or something like that. My first system as well, lots of fond memories of the old C64. First games I played on it were Zork and Temple of Apshi. graduated to all the Phantasy games, the SSI strategy games and of course all the original EA games…. game of Mule anyone?
Th natual progresion was to an Amiga which I did that “upgrade”. I remember being so blown away by Dungeon Master - that game used stereo sound better than any game for the next 10 years.
December 12th, 2007 at 7:37 am - Edit
I was an Apple geek, but I had access to a C64 as well, all good stuff. Fumbling with the cassette tapes was a holy rite to us, and 360K floppies were manna from heaven…
(We weren’t entirely agnostic , tho. We were merciless in ripping on the TRS-80, I’m ashamed to admit. Kids.)
All-in-all, those were definitely great times.