The Commodore C64 is one of the most popular designs in the history of computers. The device was launched in 1982 and was manufactured until 1994. In Poland it enjoyed peak popularity in the first half of the 1990s. During the period of economic transformation, Polish society was not wealthy, so the computer was an attractive alternative to more advanced designs such as a PC or the Amiga computer.
The C64 was manufactured by Commodore Business Machines, which was established in 1954 in Toronto and then moved to New York. It was founded by Jack Trzmiel – a Polish emigrant of Jewish descent who was saved from the Holocaust. Initially the company manufactured typewriters, but its production profile and scope of services was gradually changed in response to market conditions and the actions of the competition (especially the Japanese manufacturers, who first dominated the market of typewriters and then that of summators and calculators). Influenced by Irving Gould – Commodore’s lead investor – the company started manufacturing electronic calculators. Later, it acquired MOS Technology, Inc., which supplied its components. This is how Commodore was joined by engineer Chuck Peddle, previously employed by MOS Technology and nominated head of the design department. Under his influence the company started producing home computers. Trzmiel left the company in the early 1980s due to a conflict. In the 1980s the company was the leader on the home computers market, but it went bankrupt in 1994 due to a lack of innovation and competition from the strongly growing PC market.
In line with the standards of the 1980s, the computer was integrated with the keyboard and placed in the same housing. A TV set could be used as the monitor, and the basic medium for data was a special version of a cassette tape recorder. It was also possible to purchase an additional disk drive.
The Commodore C64 stood out from the competition with its advanced sound capabilities thanks to the integrated circuit, named SID. This option was used not only by the authors of computer games, but also by musicians. Nowadays, the C64 is used on the demo scene (a programming and computer subculture) for creating works that are styled on the 1980s.

Authors: Marek Więcek, Filip Wróblewski