64 kilobytes is enough!
Bill Gates, a founder of the IT-company "Microsoft", occasionally had the opinion that 640 kilobytes RAM memory was enough for computers. But C64 fans know better: "64 kilobytes is enough!"
The Commodore C64 (internal name of the manufacturer: "Consumer 64") was the most widely spread computer in private households.
With about one MHz clock speed (1000 MHz = 1 GHz), 64 kilobytes of RAM (1.048.576 kilobytes = 1024 MB = 1GB), three-voice synthesizer sound chip, graphics in 16 brilliant colors and its extremly low price, the Commodore C64 was unrivalled during its introduction in 1982.
During the following years its features became more and more obsolete, but good software developers gained more and more ways to exhaust the features of this great computer.
At the end of the 80's a lot of the available C64 programs had such a high quality that the system could be used for all purposes that today's GHz power computers provide: software for data telecommunications (=online), expert systems, controlling of robots, graphical user interfaces and even CAD was available at reasonable prices. The former rule, that programs are only good to sell when providing better results on the same system, is not valid anymore: if the existing software is too slow, its software developers are not to be blamed. Instead, the existing system is replaced by a faster one.
C64 games (source: commodoreguy64@YouTube)
The manufacturer of the C64, Commodore Business Machines, went bankrupt during the mid 90's - also because they didn't offer an upgrade system for the C64 - e.g.: the C65.
Despite its modest features, our C64 loads its operating system plus the programming language BASIC in just one second.
Is your computer able to beat this? ;-)
At this website you will find more and more information about the great beginnings of the home computer age. The author is German so please feel free to report translation mistakes.. ;-)
