Let’s face it. Geeks are cool. It isn’t that the people became cooler, but rather that technology has allowed it to where someone doesn’t have to have pocket protectors and an IQ in the 150s to be classified as a geek. The techies of the modern age are geeks based upon interest rather than uncoolness.
The “modern era” of techies really started in the 1990s when availability of personal computers, third generation gaming systems, and gadgets galore started creeping into everyone’s dorm room, not just those who looked like the cast of “Revenge of the Nerds.”
This graphic depicts the evolution of the techie dorm room over the last 2 decades. My, how times have changed.
If you grew up in a certain era, it’s likely that the first computer you ever had was a Commodore 64.
Sure, you probably played games like Impossible Mission and Boulder Dash, but the real magic was the built-in BASIC language. You might have typed in a program like this:
10 PRINT "WALYOU RULES!"
20 GOTO 10
This would print “WALYOU RULES!” over and over again until you hit the break key.
Commodore USA has acquired the rights to the original machines, including the Commodore 64.
This new version features the familiar brown-and-beige design of the original, but with 21st Century features. The machine is powered by a dual core Intel Atom processor. The keyboard features Cherry brand key switches, which give it a feel similar to those old IBM keyboards that real geeks swear by. In place of the traditional “Windows” key, there’s the famous Commodore “chicken head” logo. The new C64 doesn’t run Windows but a custom Linux distro, Commodore OS, instead. (It is possible, however, to dual-boot with Windows.) You can either boot into Commodore OS or directly into a classic Commodore 64 emulator to play your old favorites.
There will also be a media center application that will allow you to download classic C64 games. Commodore also plans to ship each system with a variety of open source software, including 3D games. They also promise to install a Microsoft Office-compatible suite. (This will likely be OpenOffice.org or its offshoot, LibreOffice.)
The machine comes with 2 gigs of RAM, expandable to 4 gigs.
Instead of that bulky old 1541 5.25″ disk drive, there’s a DVD/RW drive built into the side of the machine, with Blu-ray as an optional extra. There are the standard ports, including USB and Ethernet, card reader slots, and even an HDMI port so you can hook it up to your HDTV. Add the Blu-ray and you’ve got yourself a nice living room computer.
I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this machine, both as a fan of Commodore and a fan of Linux and open source in general.
pcmag.com— This Thursday, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View will unveil "R:Evolution," a $19 million renovation focusing on the first 2,000 years of computing. And it's amazing.
8track.taylorhawkins.com —Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) is streaming his new album in 8-Track quality. Compete with tape compression, hissing, and clicks. Drag the tape to the slot!
pixlmonster.com —Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft weren’t always the giants in the video game industry. Take a look back at the consoles and classic games that helped shape the industry into what it is today.
A review of the best new games of the year. Games covered include In the First Degree, Buried in Time, Mech Warrior 2, ImagiNation Network, and Phantasmagoria. Plus a visit to Microsoft's Judgment Day, a conference for third-party game developers in Redmond, Washington.
If you’re a retro computing fanboy like me on Saturday you were devastated to learn that Apple denied permission to the developer who created a Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone. Now normally this news wouldn’t surprise me, but what broke my fanboy heart is that the developer jumped through all the right hoops: Not only did they get a license from the owners of Commodore but they even got positive signals early on from Apple.
So after having my hopes crushed for reliving my 80s glory days on my iPhone I decided that I had to do something — so in the hopes of getting a second chance from Apple, here is our exclusive interview with Stuart Carnie the CTO of Manomio:
Who is the team behind Manomio and why did you start your company? We are a team of two, Stuart Carnie (CTO) and Brian Lyscarz (CEO). Brian contacted me after hearing about me porting a C64 to the iPhone back in May of 2008. Like myself, he shares a passion for retro gaming and also saw the opportunity the iPhone and App Store presented. To clarify, Retro gaming is largely an unfilled category on the App Store today (I’ve actually submitted a request to Apple to create a Retro category on the App Store). To back this up, according to a survey released by Solutions Research Group, 71% of buyers were male with an average age of 31 years. This could be considered a sweet spot for many retro games.
What first inspired you to create a C64 emulator for the iPhone? I grew up with the C64 (I’m 35 now), so partly for nostalgic reasons. I also wanted to learn the iPhone SDK and see just how capable the iPhone was as a portable computer.
How much effort went into the creating the C64 emulator? I actually had an initial version running within a few days, but it was a long way off looking like it does today. This is where Brian, and his aesthetic eye turned it into a ‘thing of beauty’. We’ve already had many compliments, including John Gruber regarding the ‘gorgeous UI’.
How did you go about getting permission from the current owners of the C64 and what was their initial reaction? We had removed the rough edges before we went to Commodore Gaming. They were very impressed with what we had achieved and naturally excited to join the iPhone ride. In the end, they directed us to Kiloo Aps, who holds the rights to mobile versions of the C64 brand.
Dear Steve Jobs: The hacker inside of you should let this happen!
Creating any application is a huge investment, did you take any precautions like talking to Apple in the early stages of development? Yes, we spoke to the Sr. Partnership Manager, iPod & iPhone, Apple Europe in the UK, who concluded that we were okay with our approach and that Apple was actually interested in our concept - the ability to purchase add-on content via the App Store to extend an existing application. Apple would still receive their 30% cut and users could buy officially licensed C64 titles. 3.0 was announced some time later, and ‘In-App’ purchases revealed, essentially approving our general approach.
Is there still any chance that you can still get the application approved by Apple? Yes, we do expect that some form of our application can be approved, given there are already many examples of emulators on the app store, such as Frotz, and according to toucharcade.com, Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe.
And is there any way retro gaming iPhone fanboys can help you? They already are, by blogging, tweeting, commenting and posting news articles - someone at Apple is bound to see one of these and hopefully notify the right people. We’ve seen in the past that enoughnoise can make a difference, so we hope our story ends the same.
Below: If you’re any sort of retro gaming fanboy I dare you to watch this demo and not want a copy:
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
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