Well, market share wise it was the leader when IBM brought the PC out in 81. IBM even straddled the whole 8-bit / 16-bit line with the 8088 instead of the 8086

Well, market share wise it was the leader when IBM brought the PC out in 81. IBM even straddled the whole 8-bit / 16-bit line with the 8088 instead of the 8086[1]. It was Commodore's game to lose and they didn't move into the 16 or 32-bit eras with a machine that stayed in the price range they had carved out. Both Commodore and Atari went for the $800 (ST) to $1,300 (Amiga) mark for their next generation, and Apple decided $2,495 was a great idea. Heck, Commodore's sequel to the C64 known as the C128 coupled the 8502 (better 6510 which was a better 6502) with another 8-bit chip in the Z80. They built a Frankenstein and not a natural upgrade. 1) a curse on all those that prevented IBM from using the 68000. Sure, use the 68000 in something that's supposed to act like a 370 but not in the PC where it would have saved us all a whole lot of crap.