[HN Gopher] Can the 64 and 128 survive? (1988) [pdf]
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       Can the 64 and 128 survive? (1988) [pdf]
        
       Author : indigodaddy
       Score  : 14 points
       Date   : 2022-07-09 11:16 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (annarchive.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (annarchive.com)
        
       | kochbeck wrote:
       | Oh wow, that made me feel old. I actually read that article just
       | before making the switch from the Radio Shack TRS-80 ecosystem to
       | Commodore. See the Tussey ad for a 64C with an FSD-2 floppy? I
       | bought that package from them with a repackaged c.Itoh thermal
       | printer. It actually had the mail-in redemption offer the
       | Commodore guy referred to in the article.
       | 
       | It felt like I had that C64 forever. I learned CBM BASIC, 6502
       | assembler, and even K
        
         | indigodaddy wrote:
         | Awesome! It was such a rare time. Nothing like it will ever
         | occur again I don't think..
         | 
         | There were SO many Commodore ads and articles in that magazine.
         | I'm guessing this was a version of Compute! just geared toward
         | Commodore correct?
        
           | Someone wrote:
           | It's called _"Compute!'s Gazette For Commodore Personal
           | Computer Users"_ , so: yes.
        
             | indigodaddy wrote:
             | I did see that but just wasn't sure as I remember Compute!
             | being more general purpose and I guess never realized they
             | had offshoots oriented to specific platforms
        
       | 8bitsrule wrote:
       | Comparing the millions of man-years that have been poured into
       | 16-bit CPUs and architecturers, gotta suspect that the ROI by
       | sticking with 8-bits would have been a better choice.
       | 
       | More generally, I'd suggest that ten-thousand ants could convey a
       | ton of leaves with much better overal energy-efficiency than
       | using a single pickup truck. ('Relative greenness') Might even be
       | a law of nature!
        
       | brudgers wrote:
       | Article begins on the 14th page of the pdf.
        
       | chris_wot wrote:
       | 'Sometimes I listen to software developers, and I get a little
       | bit angry. I want to ask them "Why are you trying to kill this
       | product? Is there not enough installed base to support your
       | efforts?"
       | 
       | Oh boy Rich... posterity has given you an answer!
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | That article came out just around the time 286 clones became
       | affordable which was the beginning of the end of the 8-bit age. A
       | 285 machine was still a little over $1000 but that's inclusive of
       | the monitor and a hard drive. The performance though was 'on
       | another level' compared to 8-bitters and people like John Carmack
       | and Mike Abrash were just about to figure out how to make games
       | like _Commander Keen_.
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | It took VGA and the 386 to really take over.
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-10 23:00 UTC)