| Monday, May 9, 2011 |
07:34 - The Computer Company That Would Not Die
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/09/commodore.64.reborn/index.html?hpt
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Fascinating: some guy has founded a company called Commodore USA, licensed from the original trademark holders, to produce new Commodore 64s.
The new Commodore 64's hardware includes a dual-core 1.8 Ghz Atom processor, Nvidia Ion2 graphics chipset, up to 4 GB of RAM and HDMI output for desktop viewing on TV. It also features USB connectivity, a multi-format memory card reader and Wi-Fi capability.
Prices start at $595 -- the same as the original machine. A monitor and mouse are sold separately. Pre-sales are under way, and Commodore is promising delivery by early June.
Not only that, but they're also promising to bring out resurrected VIC-Pro and VIC-Slim models, and also a line of Amigas.
Of course it's just generic PC hardware inside, so ultimately it's just another Windows/Linux box in a weird case. But hey, if they're getting as many preorders for their C64 as they claim, I guess it's silly to not take people's money for it.
But there's more: they also claim to be bringing out their own brand-new full-featured operating system, complete with an emulated clone of the original C64 OS, to run original games natively.
Unleash your creative potential with our new Commodore operating system, a distinctive, attractive, advanced and stable operating system experience, that will come pre-loaded with dozens of the latest and greatest productivity, creativity and education software the open source world has to offer. Featuring dozens of exciting 3D games, the latest web browsing technology, a Microsoft Word compatible Office Suite, advanced graphical manipulation programs, 3D raytracing software, advanced software development tools and languages, photo and movie editing and sound and music composition programs, there is no task too big or too small for a Commodore or AMIGA to accomplish.
Probably just a reskinned Linux, but geez.
And I suppose that implies they're going to inevitably make those new Amigas run the original Amiga OS, or one of the myriad "modern" incarnations of it.
I hope nobody thinks computers are a rational industry, because every success in the field seems to prove the contrary.
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Brian Tiemann
