4 ms·

> Nobody doubts that the C64 was the greatest selling single computer model of all time The most sold computer of all time is probably the iPhone 6, with 220 m

by Udik 7y ago

> Nobody doubts that the C64 was the greatest selling single computer model of all time The most sold computer of all time is probably the iPhone 6, with 220 million devices sold. Edit: wow, people feel very strongly about this! :) I've been a proud c64 owner (and programmer) myself. It was more than anything else to point out that smartphones are personal computers, just very "evolved".

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
parasubvert 7y ago
Many are broadly still in denial about how most computing is mobile and how big Apple has become. The iPhone is the most successful product line in history, at sales of 1.6 billion units and over 1 trillion dollars in revenue. http://www.asymco.com/2019/05/16/the-pivot/#identifier_0_8192 http://www.asymco.com/2019/05/16/the-pivot/#identifier_0_819... The c64 was still extremely impressive for its day and its impact (I used mine through 1993!), but computing is now mostly mobile.
- tabtab 7y ago
  The C64 was pretty much the same model for about a decade. The various iPhone models are probably too different to count in the same world-record category. The C64's lack of change is perhaps a reason why Commodore died. Jack was brilliant at squeezing hardware to get the max performance on a thin dime, but he didn't really give much thought to software compatibility, having a hardware-centric background. Thus, attempts to make a C64 follow-on that was compatible with the original C64 had too many problems. Without backward compatibility in a follow-on, it had no immediate advantage to existing competitors in the next performance bracket (generally, 16 bit). They considered entering the PC clone business, but it was already getting margin-thin and moving offshore at that point. They also considered a PC clone that was also C64 compatible, but couldn't make it viable. Bill Gates knew that software was where the lasting fortune was, not hardware.
- jdkee 7y ago
  For computers, sure. As for overall products I would argue that the disposable diaper has the most units sold of any mass produced product.
  - parasubvert 7y ago
    Unit sales don’t tell the whole story, if they did then yeah, consumables would but far bigger. That said, if you took any disposable diaper product line, say Pampers, and accumulated all the revenue and profit since its launch in the 70s, it still wouldn’t come close to the iPhone. I think that goes for pretty much any specific product line. The Toyota Corolla gets close in terms of revenue - 44 million cars is pushing near a trillion dollars, but that’s also over 50+ years. You’d have to get into entire inflation-adjusted product categories (like all mobile phones, or all automobile sedans) to cross into a few trillion dollars.
rvense 7y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if some models of iPad had sold in excess of 20 million units. I don't see how that takes anything away from the C64. It was still a pioneering product with a lasting legacy. You need to factor in that the market has grown a /bit/ since the 80's. World population has grown, middle classes have grown, interest in computing has grown.
- Udik 7y ago
  > I don't see how that takes anything away from the C64 Of course, it doesn't. It's a completely different world. But I liked the idea that there still are single computer models (not families) that break sales records. It's just that we don't think about them as machines, but as products within a family and on a steady development iteration.
Razengan 7y ago
Same here; grew up on the ZX Spectrum and C64 and they'll always be a part of who I am, but for some of my older relatives, the iPad or iPhone was their first ever computing device. Disregarding the price barrier, Apple made computing accessible to everyone in a way almost no-one has replicated. Much like what Nintendo did for gaming and non-gamers with the Wii, yet gatekeeping snobs don't regard that as a ""real"" console either. :)
- Udik 7y ago
  > Disregarding the price barrier Apple products are not cheap (I never owned one, partly for this reason) but I think that when I bought my c64, around 1984, it costed the equivalent of about 1000 euro. Of course, the reasons to own one, and the alternatives, were completely different from today's.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    My Commodore was US$500 from a dead electronics discounter called Crazy Eddie. That's about US$1,500 in today money. Because of this I didn't get a disk drive for a year.

by Udik 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

parasubvert 7y ago

Many are broadly still in denial about how most computing is mobile and how big Apple has become. The iPhone is the most successful product line in history, at sales of 1.6 billion units and over 1 trillion dollars in revenue. http://www.asymco.com/2019/05/16/the-pivot/#identifier_0_8192 http://www.asymco.com/2019/05/16/the-pivot/#identifier_0_819... The c64 was still extremely impressive for its day and its impact (I used mine through 1993!), but computing is now mostly mobile.

tabtab 7y ago
The C64 was pretty much the same model for about a decade. The various iPhone models are probably too different to count in the same world-record category. The C64's lack of change is perhaps a reason why Commodore died. Jack was brilliant at squeezing hardware to get the max performance on a thin dime, but he didn't really give much thought to software compatibility, having a hardware-centric background. Thus, attempts to make a C64 follow-on that was compatible with the original C64 had too many problems. Without backward compatibility in a follow-on, it had no immediate advantage to existing competitors in the next performance bracket (generally, 16 bit). They considered entering the PC clone business, but it was already getting margin-thin and moving offshore at that point. They also considered a PC clone that was also C64 compatible, but couldn't make it viable. Bill Gates knew that software was where the lasting fortune was, not hardware.
jdkee 7y ago
For computers, sure. As for overall products I would argue that the disposable diaper has the most units sold of any mass produced product.
- parasubvert 7y ago
  Unit sales don’t tell the whole story, if they did then yeah, consumables would but far bigger. That said, if you took any disposable diaper product line, say Pampers, and accumulated all the revenue and profit since its launch in the 70s, it still wouldn’t come close to the iPhone. I think that goes for pretty much any specific product line. The Toyota Corolla gets close in terms of revenue - 44 million cars is pushing near a trillion dollars, but that’s also over 50+ years. You’d have to get into entire inflation-adjusted product categories (like all mobile phones, or all automobile sedans) to cross into a few trillion dollars.

rvense 7y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if some models of iPad had sold in excess of 20 million units. I don't see how that takes anything away from the C64. It was still a pioneering product with a lasting legacy. You need to factor in that the market has grown a /bit/ since the 80's. World population has grown, middle classes have grown, interest in computing has grown.

Udik 7y ago
> I don't see how that takes anything away from the C64 Of course, it doesn't. It's a completely different world. But I liked the idea that there still are single computer models (not families) that break sales records. It's just that we don't think about them as machines, but as products within a family and on a steady development iteration.

Razengan 7y ago

Same here; grew up on the ZX Spectrum and C64 and they'll always be a part of who I am, but for some of my older relatives, the iPad or iPhone was their first ever computing device. Disregarding the price barrier, Apple made computing accessible to everyone in a way almost no-one has replicated. Much like what Nintendo did for gaming and non-gamers with the Wii, yet gatekeeping snobs don't regard that as a ""real"" console either. :)

Udik 7y ago
> Disregarding the price barrier Apple products are not cheap (I never owned one, partly for this reason) but I think that when I bought my c64, around 1984, it costed the equivalent of about 1000 euro. Of course, the reasons to own one, and the alternatives, were completely different from today's.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  My Commodore was US$500 from a dead electronics discounter called Crazy Eddie. That's about US$1,500 in today money. Because of this I didn't get a disk drive for a year.