⌨A Commodore 64 Christmas, circa 1983?⌨
A true story.... Won't you step into "The WayBack Machine" with me?
Our first destination is 1976. That was the year when, with my wife's encouragement, I bought my first "real computer." It was an MOS Technology KIM-1 single-board microcomputer, and it turned out to be one of the most beneficial decisions of my life. 40 years ago, this was really cool!
The MOS Technology KIM-1 Computer
Original Ad from BYTE Magazine, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Thanks to oppressive governments, both spouses in most families have had to work to make ends meet. However, acquiring the KIM-1 computer bootstrapped a career for me that has made it possible to single-handedly provide for my family. For this, I'll always be grateful to the God I worship, Jesus Christ.
Ride "The WayBack Machine" once more, this time to 1983
Since buying that KIM-1, I've been bought and used assorted computers whenever I could get a good deal. And so, it takes no stretch of the imagination to understand why I would snap up a Commodore 64 when, in 1983, the retail price dropped to $199.
The Commodore 64
Photo courtesy of Evan-Amos and Wikimedia Commons
"How many computers do you have now?"
This was my wife's standard question when I'd come home with another computer. It was sort of a standing joke in our family that I'd get the next computer to go on sale, whether I needed it or not.
The C-64 was particularly cool because it had an amazing, built in sound and music synthesis chip. In order to understand how important that was, try playing just a little of this YouTube video:
Square Wave Computer Music Demo
Courtesy of Luiz Paulo Damaceno and YouTube
As you can readily hear, prior to C-64, computer "music" was essentially a series of reedy/raspy sounding square-wave tones generated by toggling a single-bit I/O port and piping that through a simple circuit into a speaker. Of course, we all loved it at the time! I remember a friend of mine actually hand-building what may have been the first musical birthday card, using an RCA 1802 "Cosmac" computer chip.
The amazing S.I.D.
However, the Commodore 64 contained a true audio-synthesis chip, the amazing S.I.D. chip designed by Bob Yannes. This was a revolutionary development for its time, the most advanced sound chip available in the computers of that day.
And so, I was beyond delighted to be able to set up the C-64 in the living room at Christmas time and have it playing lovely Christmas carols to "wow" the family and visiting guests. No longer were computers mere "geek toys;" they were now capable of producing musical-sounding music that everyone could relate to! You can enjoy the snowfall, holiday season images, and original musical ambiance in this video:
The Commodore 64 Christmas Demo
Video courtesy of Kim Moser and YouTube
Imagine this lovely visual and audio display, playing in the corner of the living room during Christmas, 1983, filling the house with beautiful music.
Did you ever own or use a C-64?
While you're listening to and enjoying these C-64 Christmas Carols, tell us about your own experiences with the Commodore 64 in the comments below!
Christmas Ambience
Photo courtesy of Jez Timms and http://unsplash.com
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This post is intended to count towards @dragosroua's Challenge30.
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about all of them.
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I remember supervising a classroom of students working diligently using the Commodore PET...since I had always been in Academic stream and never took keyboarding in high school, I was intimidated by the prospect of having to type in commands. The students weren't intimidated at all. The first drafts of my novel, A Familiar Rain, were produced on a word processor by my wife...but the manuscript languished in a buff cabinet until I retired and began writing full time. I'm self-taught on the computer and can do quite well with two fingers :)
Wow, two fingers... Seems not to have overly handicapped you! I'm a self-taught touch typist, and can fly pretty fast on a keyboard; but I've often wondered how well I might have done had I been able to start with a DVORAK keyboard, or a "write-hander." Speech recognition tech is now so very good, that might even be faster...
I had a PET once, for a brief while... ;) One of the ones with a "chicklet" keyboard... ;)
I had one too! So cool, really great all in one computer. The SID chip especially amazing as you pointed out. I learned a bit of assembler for it when I was younger, it was pretty tough but it taught me a lot. I still play a game every once and a while on an emulator. ☠️ 🤖 💯
Hey, @personz,
Thanks a lot for checking in and sharing your C-64 story! :)
Great story!
Thanks!
Yes, I got my first C=64 in 1984, and it was a quantum leap from the video game consoles of the time. By the following year, I procured a second one, and was the only kid in town with his own phone line running a 24hr. BBS. Great times!
Yes, great times indeed! Thanks for sharing! :)
My first exposure to the Commodore 64 was via a neighbor who had recently bought one 2nd hand (this would have been during the summer of 1985). It took me a while to get my own. I got the computer in 1987 (a 64C), the disk drive in 1988 (A 1541-II, the tape drive was never all that popular in the U.S.), and finally a monitor the following year. Eventually I would also add a modem and a printer.
Thanks for sharing! Great story!