# Who Cut Their teeth on A Commodore 64? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2004, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834 "2004-03-06T09:14:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/1 "2004-03-06T09:14:24Z")
Inspired by another thread, who actually learnt their computer skills on a Commodore 64? I had one that didn’t have a disc drive- it had to be loaded via a tape. Even the simplest programme took twenty minutes. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/2 "2004-03-06T09:22:54Z")
Sorry, never had a commodore64 or vic20, but my first was when I was seven years old, a 1978 radio shack TRS-80 with 4K of ram. It had the cassette tape “drive”, with Hammurabi, the greatest game in the world. My second was an Apple //e complete with 5" floppy disk drive, pretty comparable to the commodore 64, really. I played those awesome Infocom games like Zork and Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Visited BBSs with my 300 baud modem. Those were the days. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/3 "2004-03-06T10:36:14Z")
I always wanted a C64 or Vic 20, but back then I had the TI-99 complete with tape cassette back up. The one computer I ALWAYS wanted was a Timex Sinclair. Three years ago I managed to get a 1500 in perfect shape with a Timex Sinclair 2020 Computer Program Recorder (IE tape deck). Nothing like feeling the pure power of a 3.58Mhz 8-bit Zilog Microprocessor under your fingers!! ---
**Author:** ![Bkeela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Bkeela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bkeela)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/4 "2004-03-06T11:36:24Z")
The C64 was the computer I cut my teeth on. I don’t know if I learnt any computer skills, but I certainly had fun with the games. Boulder Dash and Wizball being two of my favourites. I was also recently amazed to discover a local shopping centre still uses Commodore 64’s for bus time displays: [http://analogik.com/gallery\_64\_myer.asp](http://analogik.com/gallery_64_myer.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/5 "2004-03-06T11:41:26Z")
load ‘\*’,8,1 ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/6 "2004-03-06T13:43:58Z")
Yo, C64 and trs80 user here. (Even used an old Ohio Scientific for awhile… don’t remember what kind of OS tho’). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/7 "2004-03-06T13:47:23Z")
My first was a RadioShack Tandy Color Computer or CoCo as they were called. After a year of teaching myself BASIC I thought I was hot! I had much to learn… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/8 "2004-03-06T13:51:10Z")
I learned on a c64. We started using computers in grade 4. Unfortunately for us, though, the school always upgraded the computers for whatever grade had the oldest at the time. I say unfortunately, because they were just getting computers into the school at the time, and by the time they got to upgrading the ones we were using, I was off to high school. I find it kind of funny now, because I used to use commodores and macs all the time, and windows was a bit of a mystery to me. Now I’m so used to windows that I have a hard time using anything else. ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/9 "2004-03-06T14:05:25Z")
I had a C64. I was really good at it. In school I won awards for programming. Mine also had a tape. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/10 "2004-03-06T15:10:45Z")
I not only cut my teeth on a C64, but I also had a Ti-99/4A as well. “Parsec” kicked ass. And before those, I had a Timex-Sinclair 1000. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/11 "2004-03-06T15:31:13Z")
Me! I used to do my trig homework on it. At first Mr D said I wasn’t allowed, but after some thought he realized that if I could write a BASIC program to solve the problems, I knew how to do it. I think I’d have to write the first 5 or so out long-hand, and then write the program and let the computer solve them 🆒 The flodfather used to subscribe to a magazine called something like _COMPUTE! Gazette_, which would have games etc for the C64 written out in machine instruction code. All you had to do was type them in… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/12 "2004-03-06T15:46:36Z")
I also had a C64 for several years. I remember typing in programs from COMPUTE! magazine and even learned to write a few programs for it myself. I was on the verge of buying a hard drive for it when I finally broke down and bought a 486 at a computer show. I was clearing out the attic a few months ago and found some of my old books and a few games for the 64. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/13 "2004-03-06T15:50:18Z")
I still have a working C64, along with cartridge games such as _Pitfall_, and disc games such as the original _Might And Magic_. ---
**Author:** ![Dawne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Dawne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dawne)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/14 "2004-03-06T16:47:36Z")
I think that’s what i had (it was years ago and I can’t have been old because I’m only 17 now) but i only remember playing Monkey Island. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/15 "2004-03-06T16:58:02Z")
I still have my original C64 and 1541 from 1986 even though they haven’t worked in years. Might be good for parts though. I also have a 64C, a 128, a 1541 II, a 1571, a few cartriges, and over 100 disks. One of these days I’ll put the whole lot on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![raizok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@raizok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raizok)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/16 "2004-03-06T17:05:23Z")
> [@Bkeela](#): > > The C64 was the computer I cut my teeth on. I don’t know if I learnt any computer skills, but I certainly had fun with the games. Boulder Dash and Wizball being two of my favourites. > > I was also recently amazed to discover a local shopping centre still uses Commodore 64’s for bus time displays: [Prophet 64 - Software synthesizer for Commodore 64 - Electronic Music](http://analogik.com/gallery_64_myer.asp) OMG Wizball!! I had but totally forgotten about that one, I wonder if there’s a PC version someplace. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/17 "2004-03-06T17:26:23Z")
I started with an Apple 2GS, but my best friend had a Commodore 64. _._,8,1 That should be a smiley for us computer nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/18 "2004-03-06T17:43:53Z")
When TI discontinued its TI994/A computers, my father picked some up for a song. He gave me (and my family) one of them. I had a lot of fun with that thing. No disk drive, just a cassette tape recorder/player. I typed in a LOT of programs from magazines, saved them, then had to go over the code looking for my typos. That computer improved my touchtyping accuracy greatly. I loved the cartridges, I had a great Reversi program, some Scott Adam’s Adventures, and Tunnels of Doom, which was a very good D&D type game for the time. We’ve still got that TI99/4A around here somewhere. We also have various Commodores. One is a 64, and one is a 128. This introduced me to the complexities of disk drives. It also introduced me to the SSI D&D games. I spent many, many hours on those games, searching for secret doors and the like. I remember keeping a crochet project handy because I had to swap disks, and the disk drive took FOREVER to read the new disk. One year, I gave everyone in my family several crocheted snowflake ornaments, which I had made in the spare time I had during the disk swaps. Right now I’m working on a PC with Win98 on it, and we’ve got a couple of laptops and another desktop with newer Windows on them. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/19 "2004-03-06T19:44:18Z")
Ah yes, the days of dual 1541s (I was the alpha-geek in my group, I b’lieve) a screamin’ fast 2400 for hittin’ them BBS hookups… Damn. Jumpman and Jr, the SSI AD&D games, Wasteland, Roadwar 2000 and Europa, Autoduel, Space Rogue, Sci-5 Trading company, the EPYX olympic games series, how the hell did I ever get _anything_ done? Oh, right, the interminal load times, that’s right. The Fastload cartridge almost never came out of my machine. And when the slot developed a wobble, making contact with the card inside the cartridge dicey, I rubberbanded that sucker in place. [sub]And Telengard, and Temple of Apshai, and the Ultima games, and the Race ‘N’ Destruction Derby Creation Kit, and…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834/20 "2004-03-06T20:29:16Z")
I cut my teeth on a Vic 20 at home (tape deck, cartridge slot in the back of the keyboard) and a TI at school. Eventually my mom got me an Apple IIc at home, and the school upgraded to IIes. Speaking of old computers, does anybody remember Adams? Did anyone have one? Happy [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cut-their-teeth-on-a-commodore-64/232834.md?page=2)