For many people my age, the first computer in the home was the Commodore 64. Sure, my wealthier cousins had a pair of Apple IIs, but we had the Commodore 64. It was my first exposure to cartridge based games (my favorite was one called Tooth Invaders, where you were some type of toothbrush cleaning plaque. Pole Position was another favorite.) It was also my first exposure to Word Processing.
It’s crazy to think of how far things have come since the days of the Commodore 64 in the world of computers (as I type this on my brand new Macbook Pro), but there’s quite a bit to be said of nostalgia.
When I saw a link to a blog on the New York Times about a brand new Commodore 64, I was convinced it was an April Fool’s joke.
But it wasn’t.
Commodore USA is actually housing brand new computer hardware in an old-school Commodore 64 case, keyboard and all. And personally, I think this move is brilliant. The computer has an Intel Atom D525 1.8GHz Dual Core CPU, NVIDIA graphics card, blu-ray capability and wi-fi, all housed in the original housing and keyboard. Models, depending on your options, run from $250-$900 and I want one. I want one almost as bad as I want a USB typewriter. (Seriously, if they weren’t $800 I’d be typing this on one of them now.)
I’m really excited and happy to see this. And if the price comes down, I can see myself dropping some cash on one of these. In fact, this is probably the only way I can see myself getting back into the PC market. Maybe it would be a great gaming machine for Star Wars: The Old Republic….
Sure, I see that they’re selling me nostalgia, but it’s just so god-damned cool, I can’t resist.
Head over to Commodore’s website to check it out. And be sure to let me know what you think. Am I just crazy? Or is this an incredibly awesome idea?