|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
108.253.181.30
Back in 1984, I was looking to buy my first computer. What to get? From memory, there were several besides the IBM, (which I couldn't afford.)
Apple, Atari, Commodore were all on my short list.Since we had very little cash, and no real knowledge, my brother, sister, I, and several friends picked the Commodore 64. Over time, I found out that many considered it a 'toy' computer, which was fair in some ways, it certainly wasn't made as a business machine. Today, I consider it an early version of a multimedia computer, as well as it's big brother, the Amiga.
Eventually, I sold my 64, and moved on to an Amiga, and then a 486 clone. But, I always missed my 8-bit days, it just seems that things were more fun back then.
Fast forward to about two years ago.
I got the bug (again) when I found a Commodore SX64, the first color "luggable" computer, predating laptops. Weighing in at at a svelte 23 lbs, and having a built-in 5" color crt plus a 5 1/4 drive all in one box, it was a beast.
After this, things started to heat up.
I never knew this at the time, but the Commodore 64 scene was red-hot in Europe from about '82 to the early 90's. Many of the kids over there would make music and graphics demos that are still amazing. Many of the composers of SID music became famous.
Bob Yannes was the engineer primarily responsible for the Sound Interface Chip, (SID for short). Shortly after designing the SID, (The first synth chip installed in a computer), he quit Commodore and became a founding member of Ensoniq.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensoniq
For those of you that are fans of computer-generated music, I recommend you check out the SID tunes, (and demo's) on YouTube, many of which are nothing short of utterly amazing examples of 80's synth music, created on a machine that many considered a 'toy'. I bet you won't be disappointed. For those mono loyalists out there, don't fret, the SID is mono, (although some of the present fans of the SID have installed dual SIDs to get stereo.)
I hope you enjoy, I have.
Serving up content-free posts on the Internet since 1984.
Edits: 11/13/14 11/13/14Follow Ups:
Computers were more fun back then.
My wife and I both had C64s in high school in the mid-late 80s, and we still have a working C64 with floppy drive and monitor which we break out once or twice a year to play with. We have some floppys with demos, including a crude demo I created for a 9th grade class project. I've also got some cracked games with demos that launch when you load the game.
When I graduated high school I went to an engineering school and got a 286 PC, which was the right practical choice. But I always wished I got an Amiga.
I had an Amiga 2500 (A2000 with a Motorola 68030 add on board) and also a Bridgeboard (386 equivalent board which could interoperate, to a limited degree, with Amiga OS, running Windows for Workgroups). That was a fun machine, but horrendously expensive,in today's terms.
I believe it's still operational but I gave it to my brother when I moved to DC.
Fun times, for sure.
Very cool Tesla. Thanks! for the trip down memory lane.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: