Re:C64 Keyboard Prototype
by pvg on Thursday May 03, 2018 @04:35PM
(#16989684)
I never knew the C64's built-in BASIC had no high-level graphics (and, seemingly, audio?) interface. It seems like a crazy thing to leave out but doesn't appear to have affected the popularity of the machine (to say the least).
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Brian Bagnall’s “Commodore: A Company On the Edge” covers the history of the PET, VIC-20, and C64. There was no master plan that anyone could stick to for more than six months (the management stories are horrifying) and the C64 was a last minute whiptogether. They didn’t have enough time to add the better BASIC that they’d already developed on another project, so it shipped with the same lousy BASIC as the VIC-20 had. If you fondly remember Commodore from those days, the book is worth reading. It made me appreciate how much was achieved despite an inadequate CEO and board.
Sweet, thanks, I picked it up. also /wave!
/wave back ... Dude, LONG time!
Re:C64 Keyboard Prototype
by beamatronic on Sunday May 06, 2018 @04:30PM
(#17008341)
I seem to recall a command on the Commodore 128 that was like PLAY “FFGEFG” to play musical notes.