Commodore 64 Awakes From Slumber With Makeover.
Some reactions:
The vintage Commodore 64 personal computer is getting a makeover, with a new design and some of the latest computing technologies, as the brand gets primed for a comeback.
Ooh! I loved my Commodore 64.
The revamped computer will be available through the Commodore USA online store, which is set to open June 1, according to the company's Web site. The computer will be an all-in-one keyboard, with Intel's 64-bit quad-core microprocessors and 3D graphics capabilities, according to the site.
Well, the original Commodore 64 was an all-in-one keyboard. That I plugged into my television. When I was six.
Commodore USA is a new company that has licensed the Commodore name from Commodore Gaming, which makes games for PCs and consoles. The PC company is trying to invoke the glory of the Commodore 64's past to promote the new PC. On its Web site, the company shows an image of the old Commodore 64 with the caption "you loved us then," and then an image of the new PC, with the caption "you'll love us again."
I loved who then exactly? And in what ways is a computer in 2010 like a computer in 1982?
Commodore Gaming is or was once a company that sold modern PC gaming machines, and now appears to be behind the emulations of C64 games for the iPhone (that C64 emulator app I've mentioned before) and the Wii (via WiiWare). It's a stretch to say they "make games for PCs and consoles." But they're not the subject of this press release.
The device is small, measuring 17.5 inches (0.44 meters) wide and 2 inches (0.05 meters) tall, Commodore said. "It's designed to take up far less room -- and use far less energy -- than any other desktop computer," Commodore USA said. The PC will run the Linux, Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
Oh it will, will it? (This goes unquestioned in PC World's treatment, by the way.) Commodore USA's home page is quick to mention that OS X is "not supported, customer install only," and their "configure" page claims "Apple OSX can be customer installed using unmodified dvd install disk (requires additional optional hardware). [sic]" There's no further description of this optional hardware and no way to include it in the "configure" screen, which is just as well because there's no button on the "configure" screen to actually buy anything.
"It's a weird legacy thing with modern inerts," [president of "Endpoint Technologies Associates" Roger] Kay said. Commodore PCs had a heavy following in the 1980s among hobbyists, but the glory days may not translate to better sales with price-conscious customers today, Kay said.
Who you calling a "modern inert," random guy named Roger Kay? And wasn't the whole point of the Commodore 64 back in its heyday that it was affordable?
To whoever-wrote-the-press-release's credit, they point out the C64's low price in the next paragraph, and spend the next few paragraphs referring to this panel discussion with Jack Tramiel and Steve Wozniak hosted by the Computer History Museum in 2007, in honor of the C64's 25th birthday. The PC World article ends with another nonsense statement by that dude. The Register's treatment of the same press release includes a different set of references to the 2007 panel discussion, and elides (or never bothers to solicit) the opinions of an analyst.
Both the Commodore and Amiga brand names have been repurposed enough times in the past two decades that it's an old joke and not that interesting, but this press release and its unfiltered "tech news" echo brings on all kinds of new crazy. April 1st is next week, people.
Incidentally, this "Phoenix" device appears to just be this thing, which isn't new. The Commodore USA "news" page has nothing to say except this, referring to the C64's original rainbow label:
...we are diligently and fervently entrenched in the negotiations that will allow us to place this cute little logo nameplate on our all-in-one computer.