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8bitguy's retrospective on the VIC-20

The VIC-20 must have been a disaster for CBM in the long run. I know they sold a bunch after introduction, but in a couple of years, nobody wanted them. I recall seeing tubs of the the things in one of the Santa Clara valley surplus warehouses--$5 each.
 
We had a VIC for a little while. My Dad programmed a financial program for it. I only used it for three carts - Cosmic Cruncher (which I still think wasn't half bad), Radar Rat Race and this 'educational' software that you could type in words and it would display them in various ways around the screen. Being 7 or so, naturally we programmed some f-bombs and laughed our heads off watching it parade such around the screen. This was well after my Dad moved onto the 64, which wasn't very long at all after we got the VIC. I have one in my collection but never feel the need to pull it out. I'm still hoping to purchase one with the PET style keycaps.
 
Chuck(G) said:
The VIC-20 must have been a disaster for CBM in the long run. I know they sold a bunch after introduction, but in a couple of years, nobody wanted them. I recall seeing tubs of the the things in one of the Santa Clara valley surplus warehouses--$5 each.
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Same as today...who wants to buy a couple years old PC when a new one is available.
 
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It was very limited in text on screen and RAM compared to everything else that came out a few years after.
 
norm8332 said:
Same as today...who wants to buy a couple years old PC when a new one is available.
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The functionality of the VIC20 (and other similar computers of the day) was basically useless compared to what was available a couple of years later. However a modern PC from a couple of years ago is more than capable of performing most tasks (Internet, business apps) required by the average consumer, and older stock is able to sell successfully at a lower price for this reason. Even "brand new" budget laptops/PCs, which are often based on older technology from a few years ago, sell successfully due to their lower price.

Another reason why people may buy an older model is due to functionality removed in the newer models. E.g. There's still demand for (and Apple still sell) the older MacBook Pro laptops with SD card reader, HDMI, USB type A ports, etc. because this functionality isn't present in the newer models without resorting to using dongles.
 
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This sounds like something that would be said by a non-owner. The Vic was a great computer that brought many prominent people into the computer industry. It actually was the best-selling home computer at the time. Today with a memory expansion and some of the new software that continues to be made, it is still a fun and collectible machine.
 
Chuck(G) said:
The VIC-20 must have been a disaster for CBM in the long run. I know they sold a bunch after introduction, but in a couple of years, nobody wanted them. I recall seeing tubs of the the things in one of the Santa Clara valley surplus warehouses--$5 each.
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I don't see how it could be labelled a disaster when it was the first computer to sell over a million units. Later obsolescence aside, I hardly think you could consider the machine a disaster in any way whatsoever.
 
The VIC-20 had a lot going for itself in the day. It was cheap, you plugged it in and hooked it up to your TV and you were ready to go. I know I enjoyed it at the time. It didn't take long though to see its limitations and the C64 was certainly much more capable.
 
zombienerd said:
I don't see how it could be labelled a disaster when it was the first computer to sell over a million units. Later obsolescence aside, I hardly think you could consider the machine a disaster in any way whatsoever.
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Most of that million was sold in the first year. After that, interest dropped off a cliff. Sort of like Pet Rocks.
 
Chuck(G) said:
After that, interest dropped off a cliff. Sort of like Pet Rocks.
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Or anything at all in an industry that was moving at a million miles a minute. The phenomenon wasn't limited to Commodore; I'd say it was more about being the first to hit a price point. Compare it to the ZX-80. The C=64 is an interesting combination of capability and hitting a price point and probably that does more to explain its runaway success than anything else.

PS. my perspective as hors de combat in the home micro wars. My family had a TRS-80 Model III. When you're a kid, EVERYTHING is more interesting than that.
 
You've got a point. I wasn't a kid when the MITS 8800 came around; I got it as a toy to fool with and was mildly surprised at what it could be made to do. Still, compared to the big iron of the day, it wasn't much.

Still, I could see the possibilities from the aspect of Grace Hopper passing out 1 foot lengths of wire as "nanoseconds" or Seymour Cray explaining the issues in building big supercomputers, holding his hands apart and saying "this is one nanosecond". Clearly, anyone could see that the smaller you make things, the faster they'll run and really big iron was doomed as a species.
 
A used VIC20 was my first computer. I used it from 1982 to 1985 when I bought my C128. I learned BASIC and 6502 machine language on it. I think the fact that it was so limited actually inspired me to work to,get the most out of it. I did have the 16kb expansion though. You couldn't do much without it.
 
I actually pulled out my VIC-20, 3K RAM cartridge and my C2N cassette drive after watching that video. Hooked up an 1/8"-to-cassette adaptor to my laptop's headphone jack and pirated a few cassette games off the internet. Still a pretty fun machine. Found the 2006 Tetris Deluxe somebody made and it's a damn good version, and the VIC, with it's text-based graphics, is the perfect platform for a Tetris clone.

Definitely a cool machine, completely overshadowed by the C64...for obvious reasons. But the VIC shouldn't be ignored. Personally I've had more fun messing with it than I ever did with my CoCo...
 
Never liked the VIC-20. For the same timeframe the Atari 8-bits are much better (and the TI 99/4a), but of course they had prices to prove it.
 
bear said:
PS. my perspective as hors de combat in the home micro wars. My family had a TRS-80 Model III. When you're a kid, EVERYTHING is more interesting than that.
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Hahaha. Yes true. However, if you are NOT a kid, other things become more important. For example, I was in my early 20s when the Vic 20, then the Commodore 64 appeared. I had a professional job, and, in1983/84 had a disk-based DS System 80 (a TRS-80 Model 1 clone). The machine was quite reliable. I used it mostly for word processing (for my job and personal stuff), keeping membership records of a club I was in, personal budgeting (first with my own program, then Visicalc), statistical number crunching (again, for my job but also a small consultancy) and also as a terminal to my University mainframe.

I also played games on it, but the other functions were more important.

When the C64 came out, I assessed it and decided, for my purposes, the old System 80 was still better for me. The System 80 had crisp 64 column, 16 line text (more screen real-estate for text stuff), fast disk access, a good keyboard, fairly standard ports and a good version of BASIC. I wasn't too worried that it lacked good sound and graphics. It was mostly a productivity machine.

I remember being VERY disappointed in the C64s BASIC.

My point is, the personal "value" of a machine back then (for comparison purposes) depended a lot of what you used it for...and perhaps also a reflection of how old you were.

Tez
 
geoffm3 said:
Never liked the VIC-20. For the same timeframe the Atari 8-bits are much better (and the TI 99/4a), but of course they had prices to prove it.
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Yeah, in 1979 the Ataris at $550 ($1,961.41 today) for the 400 and $1000 ($3,566.20 today) for the 800..I'd say they were priced out of most budgets. The TI came out later than the VIC-20 in 1981 and was priced at $525 ($1,468.73 in 2017).. Vic-20 came out in 1980 at $299 ($941.18 ). So it was quite a bit cheaper.
 
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I've thought it would have been an interesting alternate reality for Atari if they had got smart like TI(?) did and petition the FCC to reduce the restrictions on radiated emissions when doing the 400/800. For sure that would have pulled a lot of cost out.
 
My first computer was a ZX-81 (actually a clone that my dad built himself).
If you want to talk about capabilities, the VIC-20 was certainly more capable than the ZX-81 was. Colour, sound, graphics. All things that I didn't have.
 
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