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> Ironically, in the early 80s, we did it mainly because of the shortage of computing power, so we needed lots of co-processors. I'm not sure I entirely believ

by ken 8y ago

> Ironically, in the early 80s, we did it mainly because of the shortage of computing power, so we needed lots of co-processors. I'm not sure I entirely believe that explanation. Back in 1982, the Commodore 1541 [1] was basically another C=64 with no keyboard, and a built-in floppy disk. It was big and heavy and hot and not terribly reliable. 4 years earlier, the Apple's Disk II [2] was tiny, light, and had only 5 ICs [3] -- it was described as "a state machine made of a prom and a latch" [4]. The computer's CPU drove it -- it's not like the 6502 would otherwise be running other threads or processes during I/O! [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_1541#/media/File:Commodore-64-1541-Floppy-Drive-04.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_1541#/media/File:Com... [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDANSNqdVk&t=28m30s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDANSNqdVk&t=28m30s [3]: https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Nybbles.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor... [4]: https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Macintosh_Prototypes.txt https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&stor...

rasz 8y ago
Apple didnt run a microchip fab manufacturing 80% of chips inside 1541, hence no incentive to sell you overpriced garbage (like C128D with 3 CPUs, 2 doing nothing all the time).
- EvanAnderson 8y ago
  Yet Commodore's "overpriced garbage" was sold at retail prices consistently lower than Apple's, and had graphics and sound capabilities that far-exceeded the comparable Apple machines.
- bsder 8y ago
  Um, the C64 sold 25 million units to the Apple II's 6 million. The VIC 20 was the first computer to sell a million units. The problem was that the C64 never really sold to businesses. If you were buying Visicalc, you bought an Apple II.
  - lscotte 8y ago
    Also, Apple made sure they got into schools and managed to push out the PETs with Apple IIs. Kind of too bad, because the Commodore (C64, post PET) and Atari computers of the day were cheaper and (arguably) better in many ways.
    - nsxwolf 8y ago
      I have such fond memories of my kindergarten and first grade computer lab being full of PETs! The Apple IIs started coming in a year later, and I loved those too.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

by ken 8y ago

rasz 8y ago

Apple didnt run a microchip fab manufacturing 80% of chips inside 1541, hence no incentive to sell you overpriced garbage (like C128D with 3 CPUs, 2 doing nothing all the time).

EvanAnderson 8y ago
Yet Commodore's "overpriced garbage" was sold at retail prices consistently lower than Apple's, and had graphics and sound capabilities that far-exceeded the comparable Apple machines.
bsder 8y ago
Um, the C64 sold 25 million units to the Apple II's 6 million. The VIC 20 was the first computer to sell a million units. The problem was that the C64 never really sold to businesses. If you were buying Visicalc, you bought an Apple II.
- lscotte 8y ago
  Also, Apple made sure they got into schools and managed to push out the PETs with Apple IIs. Kind of too bad, because the Commodore (C64, post PET) and Atari computers of the day were cheaper and (arguably) better in many ways.
  - nsxwolf 8y ago
    I have such fond memories of my kindergarten and first grade computer lab being full of PETs! The Apple IIs started coming in a year later, and I loved those too.
deleted 8y ago
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