64 & 128

The Commodore 64 has always been shrugged off by serious computer users as a game machine. Implying that this makes the computer useless is ridiculous. To me, the computer's primary role is entertainment. Long after word processors, databases, spreadsheets, and other serious applications have faded into distant memory, computers will still be entertainers. Why? Because North American society inevitably turns technology into entertainment technology whenever possible. Look at film, television, and automobiles.

The upshot of all this is that we should be proud of the entertainment value of our computers. The Commodore 64 was the first home computer to bring strong sound and graphics into the home and those features lend themselves well to entertainment applications. Even now, almost seven years after its introduction, the 64 remains one of the primary entertainment computers. And, even though its graphics are no longer state-of-the-art—Amiga, Mac II, and VGA surpass it, as will the new 16-bit game machines when they come out—it remains one of the best machines to actually play games on.