[HN Gopher] YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the...
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YouTuber claims to have received an offer to buy the Commodore
brand
Author : daledavies
Score : 68 points
Date : 2025-06-08 06:55 UTC (16 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.amiga-news.de)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.amiga-news.de)
| skywal_l wrote:
| The video from the youtuber:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN8r4LRcOXc
| neuroelectron wrote:
| It would be interesting if they pivoted to a modern OS stack.
| lowRISC cpu and so on, everything known and documented.
| dedicate wrote:
| I feel like the real story isn't 'Can We Save Commodore?' but
| 'What IS Commodore anymore?'. If it's just a trademark
| disconnected from its original tech, you're not reviving a
| legend, you're just starting a new company with a famous name.
| BSDobelix wrote:
| Just watch the video:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN8r4LRcOXc
| Bombthecat wrote:
| Famous with old people.
|
| The new generation has no idea
| Lerc wrote:
| There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but
| have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural
| impression that lasts today. I'm not sure why but anongst
| those born after both machines had had their day, quite a few
| have an idea what the C64 was.
|
| Talking to the younger generation about the 8 bit era is
| wild. I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to
| someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a
| monitor that good back then.
| aleph_minus_one wrote:
| > There are people now that know what a Commodire 64 is but
| have never heard of an Amiga. The C64 made a cultural
| impression that lasts today.
|
| I would claim that in _my_ generation (people born after
| Commodore 's heyday), those who are interested in
| retrocomputing topics (a minority) are _similarly_ aware of
| the C64 and the Amiga and their cultural relevances.
| junon wrote:
| > I mentioned that my first system (TRS-80) had 4k to
| someone and they expressed surprise at that you could get a
| monitor that good back then.
|
| Admittedly didn't register with me at first but this is
| hilarious.
| kennyadam wrote:
| Seems like a made up interaction tbh. When would you just
| say "my trs80 had 4k" without specifics 4k of what unless
| the other person first said something like "my first
| computer only had 8MB of RAM" in which case they know
| from context you're talking about memory, or you out of
| nowhere say "my trs80 had 4k" to someone and they have no
| idea what you're talking about and ask if you mean the
| monitor.
| Lerc wrote:
| I assure you it is not made up. Obviously it's not the
| literal words I used, I'm working from personal recall,
| not notes. It would have been part of a larger
| conversation I was having. From memory it was part of my
| answer to the question "how long have you been
| programming?"
| fortyseven wrote:
| Oooh, book 'em Danno!
| yapyap wrote:
| wrong. little idea but not no
| ekianjo wrote:
| Kind of the same situation with Atari
| Nasrudith wrote:
| The only 'real' claim I could see to saving Commodore would be
| something adding backwards compatability this late in the game.
| It would be of dubious utility, but it would give a claim to
| legitimacy. Otherwise you might as well let it stay dead
| because there isn't anything to be gained from using it.
| yummybear wrote:
| Well I couldn't think of a better steward for the brand than
| Perifractic
| rwmj wrote:
| Maybe, but better if the trademarks were released to the public
| domain (however that could be achieved).
| latexr wrote:
| I don't think you can have a public domain trademark; that
| doesn't make sense with the concept. A trademark is
| specifically to identify the source of a product or service;
| if it were public domain and anyone could use it, its purpose
| would've been defeated.
| rwmj wrote:
| Trademarks can become genericized, which is a bit like them
| falling into the public domain.
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark) However I
| don't know if the owner of a trademark can legally make it
| generic.
| latexr wrote:
| > Trademarks can become genericized
|
| That's not the same thing. Trademarks become generalised
| terms _in the public's mind_ , not legally. Two people in
| conversation might refer to a non-Xerox photocopier as a
| Xerox, but a non-Xerox photocopier company can't just
| advertise their products as being Xerox.
|
| Additionally, from the wikipedia page you linked
| (emphasis mine):
|
| > A trademark thus popularized _is at risk of being
| challenged or revoked_ , unless the trademark owner works
| sufficiently to correct and prevent such broad use.
|
| Which, again, goes directly counter to the idea of a
| public domain trademark.
| rwmj wrote:
| It becomes legal if the trademark owner can no longer
| defend the trademark. The difference is that here the
| trademark owner would somehow have to guarantee they
| would no longer defend the trademark. We're not worried
| about perifractic, but what about if he dies and someone
| more litigious inherits the mark? The issue if how to
| legally say "I will no longer defend this mark, and this
| will be forever."
| aeonik wrote:
| I think it's a clever idea, an "open trademark".
|
| Independent certification that something fits a brand but
| anyone is allowed to use the brand if they pass
| certification.
|
| It would need a non-profit or government support though.
|
| Things like "Organic" already do that a bit, but it doesn't
| work too well over there.
| latexr wrote:
| > Independent certification that something fits a brand
| but anyone is allowed to use the brand if they pass
| certification.
|
| But then it's not public domain (which was the argument I
| was replying to). Public domain means everyone can do it
| without permission, while applying for a certification
| still requires a governing body which has the ultimate
| power.
|
| > Things like "Organic" already do that a bit
|
| That's a classification, not a trademark.
| gapan wrote:
| > Maybe, but better if the trademarks were released to the
| public domain (however that could be achieved).
|
| How would that work? So anyone could release anything under
| the Commodore brand? That would be awful.
| rcarmo wrote:
| Yep. I don't watch his content very often, but I've done so
| throughout the years and can't really think of anyone else who
| could do it "right"
| 0xbadc0de5 wrote:
| I watched the video and support the effort. They seemed earnest
| and genuine in their desire to do right by the brand's legacy.
| However, I can't help but feel that releasing this information
| before the deal is in place is doing themselves a disservice. I
| can understand their excitement, but this could harm or derail
| any negotiation efforts. Business 101: don't count your chickens
| before they hatch.
| sverhagen wrote:
| In this case not chickens, but chickenheads.
| arexxbifs wrote:
| IMHO, what would give real value to retro enthusiasts is BSD
| licensing all the Commodore (and Amiga) IP, rather than these
| constant efforts to slap the chicken lips logo onto some random
| hardware in the hope of charging premium for an "official"
| product.
|
| Would any of the many replacement/emulation/FPGA efforts that
| already exist be better with a specific logo? More convenient?
| Cheaper? More successful? I have serious doubts.
|
| This feels, as the saying goes, like a big fat nothingburger.
| layer8 wrote:
| Context from the link: _Editor 's note_: Commodore Corporation
| B.V. only owns the rights to the "Commodore" brand and the
| well-known "Chickenhead" logo. Software rights such as firmware
| ROMs or AmigaOS are owned by the Italian Mike Battilana or his
| Amiga Corporation, the same applies to various brands from the
| Amiga sector.
| prvc wrote:
| On the building a Commodore game room for sick kids charity idea:
| one thing they wouldn't have is nostalgia for the 1980s home
| computers. Just get them Nintendos.
| garciasn wrote:
| I didn't have a NES growing up; my father didn't allow "game-
| only" machines in his house. Instead we had a PET > Vic20 > C64
| > PC over the years. Being I write code for a living, it seems
| his plan paid off for me?
|
| That said, why can't there be nostalgic 80s/90s consoles AND
| same-era computers?
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(page generated 2025-06-08 23:02 UTC)