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No playing games!!

Z

ziloo

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
990
Location
in the basement
Alright.... enough playing games! What is the use for a commodore 64 or 128
besides playing games? I have read many articles on the web, but I want
some answers from someone with hands on experience (somebody stop me! :grab:).

That would be all...Thank you

ziloo :biggrin:
 
Uh, you could "use" Geos for 5 or 6 minutes...

Get really, really good at *PIP* on a 128 under CP/M...
 
Back in the old days, I used my C64 for word processing, printing sheet music, a bit of solving mathematical problems. I have never owned a modem, so I couldn't call BBSes, but my big brother did one fateful summer. It was me who found the modem hidden beneath his bed...

The 128 has a native 80 column mode for even better word processing, spread sheets, simple database software and so on. It also has more memory and a 2 MHz processor so in theory it should be more powerful. As always, it is a matter of available software. A computer is never weaker than its software.

Nowadays, you can get one of a bunch of Ethernet interfaces and get connected to the Internet through Contiki or any other software. You can get memory expansions, turbo processors, hard disks etc, but the practical use may be limited and won't compete with what you can do with a 386 PC or better.

Are you asking if there are specific, non-gaming tasks where the C64/128 is preferred over all other vintage and perhaps non-vintage computers? I'm not sure if there are any such tasks. Perhaps it is handy to use as a programmable video display device, some infostation controlled by a custom device in the joystick port. Again, it is far fetched.
 
The same use as any other machine from this period of time. Programming and making tasks easier like typing a letter, writing code to do some math for college, or learning about interfacing with computers. I collect vintage systems because they're actually fixable, great for learning electronics and programming, and for learning how to create devices that can interface with them (build a joystick for the c64 and learn how to code something that uses it in basic).

- John
 
Thank you all for your responses..., now I can sleep better at night!
By the way Chuck, congratulations on your aquisitions!!! Have you received
the 128DCR yet?

ziloo
 
Used to use my C=64 for all kinds of things: Programming (we had a very active Commodore user's group at the Navy base where I was stationed at the time), word processing, simple databases and of course, games.

Now? I wouldn't have a use for one. That doesn't mean I wouldn't collect a couple of them. To me, just having them is all the justification I need. Eventually, I want to set all of my vintage computers up in one place, where I can mess around with them when the mood strikes me.

Mainly I just want to save a little bit of computing history from the land fill. As much fun as I had/have with vintage computers, I do all of my "real" work with modern ones.
 
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