| During the early 1980's IBM
was promoting the PC Jr. computer which was radically inferior (in most ways)
to the rest of the home computer systems on the market and vastly more expensive.
Commodore was, therefore, really receiving more competition from the Atari
400 and 800, the Texas Instruments 99, the Radio Shack Color Computer and
the Apple 2 computer. Despite the rivalry between these 8-bit manufacturers
much of the credit for innovation goes to Commodore largely because Commodore
consistently pushed the price down and because the Atari and Apple computers
used the Commodore 6502 processor as their main microprocessing
chip.
In the very early 1980's unique
marketing schemes were developed by different firms trying to cash-in on
the developing computer craze. The fascination that many people had begun
to experience with the fledgling computer video game, educational, business,
and word processing capabilities of these computers quickly led to various
multi-level marketing groups trying to involve people in selling these machines.
There were few computer stores at the time and most of them were small. Computers
were somewhat of an uncertain novelty item which many of the larger electronics
and department stores were a little slow to embrace because of the uncertainty
and lack of experience in dealing with such products. Consumers were often
equally tentative and uncertain although there was a great deal of enthusiasm
on the part of those who were keenly interested in such products. Many factors
such as these created opportunities and schemes for the smaller and more
venturous and creative individuals who wanted to get involved-- sometimes
in unconventional ways. Oftentimes young and penniless entrepreneurs developed
some hot selling Commodore software or hardware on a very low budget resulting
in overnight fame and fortune.
Just as the Commodore Vic 20 was
beginning to become fairly popular and many stores and some multi-level marketing
programs had acquired significant inventories of Vic products rumors began
to emerge that Commodore was working on a vastly more powerful version of
the Vic 20 to be called the Vic 64 and eventually called the Commodore 64
(many came to casually refer to it as the "C-64" or just the "64"). As the
rumors of the impending release of the Commodore 64 continued they sparked
excitement and uncertainty in the Commodore market. Those who had invested
quite a bit of money into the Vic 20 line found themselves with ambivalent
and mixed emotions. This was probably the first experience which many individuals
had ever encountered with the phenomenon we now refer to "upgrading". Undoubtedly
some became resentful. Some of those who had developed their marketing strategy
and acquired large inventories of Vic 20 products found themselves scrambling
around to modify their plans or to obtain price-protection as the value of
Vic 20 products began to plummet rapidly.
Commodore had originally planned
to release the Commodore 64 for nearly $1000 (without any floppy drive or
monitor) but by the time it actually hit the market they had already decided
to reduce the suggested retail price to just under $500. This was still a
lot of money back then-- keep in mind that $500 back then was about the
equivalent of $1000 today. Still, it was the best deal on the home computer
market-- especially since it had a built-in RF modulator for connecting directly
to a regular television set. Amazingly, the price of the Commodore 64 plummeted
to under $300 within a matter of months, and a few months later was down
to $200. Suddenly customer interest in these amazing new computers began
to heat up.
About this time many sizeable
chain stores (some of which had already been carrying Vic-20 merchandise)
began to carry Commodore 64 items. Regional electronic superstores got involved
as did a significant number of smaller computer dealerships. Eventually Commodore
64 and Vic-20 software and hardware was carried by such national department
stores as Sears, Montgomery Ward, Fred Meyer, LaBelles, K-Mart, and many
others. Also, many toy stores such as Lionel Play World and Toys'R'Us began
to sell these computers. The price dropped by another $50 and dealers were
buying the Commodore for just over $100. Commodore became so popular that
Commodore even offered shares of stock on the stock market for several
years.
As the competition among retailers
heated up it was not uncommon to see retailers willing to sell the Commodore
64 systems at cost or even at a slight loss in order to lure people into
their stores. The strategy (which usually paid off) was that customers would
see the computer selling at an incredibly low price of near $100 and come
to buy the computer and end up buying the 1541 disk drive, a Commodore printer,
Commodore modem, a 1702 Commodore monitor and a bunch of educational software,
games, supplies and accessories to go along with it. By the time the customer
walked out the door the purchase usually resulted in significant profit to
the retailer.
Many after-market and 3rd party
manufacturers subsequently began to create and market Commodore-compatible
software, hardware, books, and accessories in an effort to get in on the
blossoming industry. Many Commodore magazines also became established-- some
of which even included monthly disks with many free programs on them. Many
of our present software and hardware giants got their humble start during
this period. Microsoft's Multiplan became a very popular spreadsheet for
Commodore. Other companies such as Electronic Arts, Accolade, Activision,
Cinemaware, Cosmi, Batteries Included, Sublogic, Epyx, Access, Infocom,
Mastertronic, etc. soon became household
words.
Commodore service and repair centers
became quite common. Training centers taught computer fundamentals and
programming using Commodore computers. Many schools, universities, research
centers and educational enterprises began using Commodore computers. A
significant number of small and medium size businesses used Commodore computers
as well.
Unique marketing approaches continued
to develop as smaller companies and private individuals began developing
the concept of shareware or freeware. This new concept was based on the idea
that a programmer could write and copyright a useful or fun program and then
freely distribute copies of it to the public on the condition that end users
would pay a registration fee to become an official user of the program. Usually
a relatively small fee was supposed to be sent directly to the program's
author. Oftentimes the author would provide an updated or more complete version
or accompanying manual or program add-on or other benefit as an incentive
to pay the registration fee. This kept overhead, production, and marketing
costs down by relying on grass roots distribution and the "honor system"
of marketing. Several shareware and freeware programs became fairly famous
during this time, but undoubtedly a great many programmers' dreams never
quite lived up to expectations. The idea of try-before-you-buy software has
continued to evolve up to this day-- becoming more and more sophisticated
and creative.
Also, during this same time period
a great number of public domain programs began to emerge. There were many
programmers who had written and not copyrighted their programs for various
reasons whose programs began to be freely distributed without any registration
fee being required. This greatly added to the availability of affordable
software.
Another interesting phenomenon--
Commodore User's Groups-- began to unfold during this time. This phenomena
was a result of the need and desire of people to share information regarding
their computers and interests. User's groups were popular among other brands
of computers, but probably not to the extent that they were popular among
Commodore users. The Commodore was seen by many as the ideal hobby computer
and many of those who had lower budgets had been attracted to the Commodore
because of its price. Frequently these individuals (who often had more time
than money) developed an incredible loyalty toward the Commodore computers.
It was amazing that many of these Commodore users often showed more commitment
to the Commodore 64 than Commodore Business Machines
did.
A large factor in the success
of the Commodore 64 was its amazingly versatile, futuristic and user-friendly
design. The fact that this amazing computer had more memory, a nicer keyboard,
and was easier to interface with peripherals than most computers of that
era made it so it was and still is (in many ways) an ideal computer for
educators, hobbyists, game players, beginning programmers and musicians.
For the money it was also hard to beat as an affordable home word processing
system. Its only weakness was in the area of larger business applications
because of its 40 column video display, limited disk storage and slow disk
access.
The powerful combination of Commodore
chips allowed some amazing capabilities. The Commodore 64 utilized the Commodore
6510 microprocessor chip which was an advanced version of the Commodore 6502
microprocessor which had been used in the Vic 20, Apple 2, and Atari models.
The 64 had revolutionary sound via the 6581 Sound Interface Device (SID)
chip and was probably the first home computer to be able to emulate the human
voice without additional hardware. This SID chip provided for 4 different
voices and many sophisticated sound forms. The C-64 had superior 16 color
graphics with sprite capabilities due to its 6567 Video Interface (VIC) Chip.
The other support chips in the Commodore 64 were equally impressive for that
time period. At the same time the early IBM home computers were non-color
and non-graphic machines with sound that amounted to little more than
beeping.
The Commodore home computers were
fairly reliable considering their low price tag and sophistication. Many
individuals went for years with very little maintenance and repair work required.
However, certain problems with the hardware did manifest themselves periodically
and somewhat predictably. Many of the repairs required for these computers
stemmed from static electricity discharges blowing out the 6526 CIA chip--
usually from touching the joystick or game port after picking up static
electricity from walking across carpet or touching the front of the television
or monitor. This would result in some keyboard or joystick control malfunctions.
Power supplies would occasionally fail or develop deceptive heat-related
problems sometimes blowing out ram chips in the process or causing strange
looking colored blocks or characters to appear on the screen. The 906114
PLA (logic array) chip (sometimes labelled with the number 82S100N or PLS100N)
would sometimes fail spontaneously causing the computer to no longer have
a picture. The 6581 SID sound chip would sometimes go out-- usually due to
a monitor being connected improperly. On rare occasions the 6510 microprocessor,
the 6567 NTSC VIC (video chip), the 901227 Kernal ROM, the 901225 Character
ROM, or the 901226 BASIC ROM would fail. The Commodore disk drives would
periodically need alignment and cleaning and an occasional chip replacement
or bridge rectifier or such. Keyboards would likewise need to be cleaned
infrequently. Because of the interdependency of each of the internal components
of the Commodore computers it is not unusual for Commodore computers to have
similar symptoms while actually having different underlying
problems.
Even when experiencing occasional
hardware problems the Commodore users rarely felt like they were at the mercy
of the service wolves due to the many options which they had. Oftentimes
there were simple and easy to implement solutions for Commodore malfunctions.
Fuses (which were usually easy to replace) would get blown out in the computer,
drive, or power supplies periodically, but they were all usually available
at Radio Shack stores. New cables or external cleaning of contacts was sometimes
all that was required. Some seemingly complex problems (especially with the
Commodore 128 and Amiga) stemmed from the fact that various chips sometimes
became loose in their sockets and could be easily pushed in tighter or removed
and reseated. The good news was (and still is) that (even in a worst-case
scenario) the Commodore computers and peripherals could usually be totally
replaced with a new replacement unit for less than the average minimum repair
fee for most IBM and Apple systems.
As used Commodore computers became
widely available at amazingly low prices during the late 1980's and throughout
the 1990's many of the Commodore repair centers had difficulty staying in
business. Despite this, there are still a few local and several national
places who do Commodore repair work, sell parts and manuals, and have diagnostic
software and hardware tools and information
available.
Commodore had to constantly work
to develop peripherals to go along with the blossoming market during the
1980's. Because Commodore was marketed so widely in so many large national
department stores and in so many foreign countries there began to be a big
demand for these accessories and peripherals. During the mid to late 1980's
individuals walking into most major department stores which sold computer
products would typically have seen software and hardware for IBM, Apple,
Commodore, and oftentimes Atari side-by-side or in close
proximity.
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