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."

Comments

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 :(

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

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.

Re:64-bit?!

[ehrichweiss]

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

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 (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.

Re:Riding the back of nostalgia.

[plague3106]

And this is why your generation sucks at programming.

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.

What it really is

[bickerdyke]

Casemod.

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