My First Love...

Anyone who knows me knows that I am into computers. Heck, it's on my description here. In fact, it's probably my single defining characteristic. And thinking back, I remember working with computers pretty much for my whole life. Not so much in terms of putting them together or taking them apart (that didn't happen until I was in college), but programming, writing code. My first experience coding was with a series of kids books that were written to boost computer knowledge. They had an entertaining story that revolved around some aspect of computers and then at the end provided the source code for those lucky kids who owned computers to play the games the characters in the story used.

I remember sitting for hours, when I was 8 years old and didn't know how to type properly, typing in each line of code, double & triple checking to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. Making sure that I got all the line numbers right, and didn't skip any lines. And once I was done, I would play the game I "wrote" until the dead of the night. I don't remember the names of the games, or even the books they came from, but I do remember the computer I was on. The first computer I ever "wrote code" on was the Commodore 64.

Over the course of my digital life, I found that I was not the only computer geek that had fond memories of the Commodore 64. In fact, my own informal research showed that the machine was one of the more popular home computers for its time. Over the years, the C64 has maintained a cult adoration. This brings us to the point of this post. I just found out that the Commodore 64 is COMING BACK!!

According to this post on the NY Times B.I.T.S. blog, Barry Altman (president and CEO of Commodore USA) purchased the Commodore trademark last year for the purpose of bringing it back to the market!! YES!!!

Now, obviously the tech INSIDE the C64 is going to be updated. The New C64 will have a 1.8 Ghz dual-core javascript:void(0)processor, optional blu-ray player & built-in Ethernet & HDMI ports. It'll also be running a Linux OS, but will be compatible with Windows. Depending on the options you choose, the price will range from the basic barebones model at $250 to the C64 Ultimate at $900.

The coolest factor in MY book is that anyone who purchases the C64 will also get a copy of the original Commodore OS 1.0 shipped to them (when available)!! So you can actually RUN some of the old school 8-Bit games in emulation on the new system!! Oh, I can't WAIT to get my hands on this system again!!

For more info, or to place your pre-order go to Commodore USA's site:
http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_C64.aspx