Technology | Childhood | Nostalgia | 1980s

Remembering the Commodore 64: A Revolutionary 8-Bit Home Computer

A glimpse into my childhood experiences with the iconic Commodore 64

This is an updated version of an article I wrote a few years ago for a now-defunct blog, about one of the old computers I still own.

My Commodore 64 is an early ‘Silver Label‘ one. Photo by the author, Autistic Widower.

By the mid-1980s, I’d become increasingly frustrated by the limitations of my Sinclair ZX Spectrum. I was interested in generating sound and music, but that was one of the Spectrum’s weaknesses.

After moving from high school to college, I discovered that some of the students were Commodore 64 owners.

Having previously read about the 6581 SID chip (the sound generator in the C64), I just had to get my hands on one and see what it could do.

Goodbye ZX Spectrum

My parents couldn’t afford for me to have two computers, and they made it clear that my ZX Spectrum would have to be sold. So, reluctantly, it was out with the Spectrum, and in with the Commodore 64.

With the C64 being a more expensive machine, we got a second-hand one.

The seller also had a disk drive for sale, but the budget wouldn’t stretch to that…