Out here on the prairie, in the middle of nowhere, finding any sort of vintage Commodore hardware or software these days is one of the furthest things on my mind. Well, look at what just fell into my lap today!
I know, I also posted this on my Commodore blog. But I am so “jazzed” about this, I wanted to post about it here, too!
A good friend of mine who used to own/run the general store in a village near-by recently sold the business and retired. When we were talking together today, we got onto the subject of my Commodore hobby. Unexpectedly, he interjected that, while he was cleaning out the stuff he had stored away in the far recesses of the store, he found his old Commodore computer. He was wondering how to dispose of it, but now that he knew I was a Commodore user/collector, he offered it all to me “to take it off his hands.”
What a nice surprise… it was something I never would have expected! Every once in a while, I go check out the Salvation Army thrift store in the neighboring town and I’ve never found anything from the 8-bit computer era. But right when I least expect it, here was a nice little C64 setup just waiting to be put to work, once again. My friend didn’t say too much about what he used the C64 for, but after looking at the software he gave to me, I’m assuming he used it to help run his store at one time. I’ve got a whole bunch of questions now for him, the next time we get together. The only other person I knew who used a C64 to run a business was my dad (which I helped him do).
The Super Disk box is empty, but my friend said that he has the actual drive stored away at home. He said that he’d bring it in, along with the Epson printer he used at the time, which I can pick up next time I’m in town. I’m going to assume that the Super Graphix Jr. was the device that allowed the Epson printer to work with the C64.
The MPS-801 was very clean inside… not a speck of dust that I could see, so I’m assuming it’s going to work just fine when I test it later this week. It even had two unused printer ribbon cartridges with it, so I don’t even have to worry about re-inking or finding a replacement cartridge for it!
As for the bread-bin with “N.F.G.” written on it, I’ll take a look and see if there’s anything “fixable” about it. If not, then at least I’ve got a small stock of spare parts. I’ll also have to see how difficult it will be to get the “N.F.G.” off of the cases.
The little “gems” for me in this collection was the Super Disk (of course), the 1541C, and Calc Result. From first glace, it looks like a really good quality spreadsheet program. I’ll have to ask my friend if he remembers what he paid for it. I’m assuming it was a pretty pricey piece of software. And lastly, those issues of RUN magazine are just fantastic! I really wish I kept my old computer mags, so having these in my possession, being able to read through their pages again is so enjoyable.
[tag]commodore, 8-bit[/tag]
Thursday, September 8, 2022 - 20:15:20
Thanks, Andrew! I’m certainly enjoying myself. There’s a small collection of floppy disks that went along with this haul and I’m enjoying going through the old files and spreadsheets contained on them. Looks like my friend had someone program some custom forms for him, to help with the tracking of inventory for his general store. That kind of stuff really appeals to me and I’m having a great time going through all of it. I know, I’m strange.
I’m guessing that, if someone gave you a old Apple IIC setup with a box of program disks, you’d probably enjoy reminiscing with it, too. Or, I suppose at the very least, you may have a stronger appreciation for not having to go through that with today’s technology? Not sure. But, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I actually like the way we used to do things back then. ;)
Thursday, September 8, 2022 - 21:11:50
I would absolutely love having an old Apple IIC and I would go through any software that may come with it just like you are doing with your Commodore. Like you, I have an appreciation for the “olden days” and the technology that we had back then. When you think about it, we were on the cusp of the computer age not knowing where it was going to lead. I am happy that I was there and glad that I had the opportunity to work with that technology.
Friday, September 9, 2022 - 10:27:04
I absolutely agree. It really was a “magical” time an I’m grateful to being part of the birth of the micro-computer age. Everything (technology-wise) was ground breaking back then. Not to say there hasn’t been groundbreaking advancements in the field since the 80s and 90s, but to me, it just seems like the “magic” and mystery is gone.