The $595 Computer That Sold 17 Million Copies Then Died

The Commodore 64 was the best-selling desktop computer ever and still went bankrupt. From its $595 debut in August 1982 to Commodore's bankruptcy on April 29, 1994, it traces Jack Tramiel's $25,000 Army loan, the MOS Technology buyout, and vertical integration behind the VIC-II and SID chips. It covers the VIC-20, the price war with Texas Instruments, the 1541 drive's infamous two-minute load, and why even the Amiga couldn't save Commodore — plus the demoscene still pushing the SID today.