Ask HN: Why didn't the C64 come with Simons' BASIC in the box from 1983 onward? And maybe they could have even given the cartridge for free to people who have already bought a C64 without it. |
Ask HN: Why didn't the C64 come with Simons' BASIC in the box from 1983 onward? And maybe they could have even given the cartridge for free to people who have already bought a C64 without it. |
Simons' BASIC was still interpreted. If you wanted graphics and performance, you used Assembler.
Many/most people were using a disk speed-up cartridge like Epyx's Fast Load. You could only use one cartridge at a time. If they placed Simons' BASIC in the C64 ROM, that could have made it less compatible with existing software.
They didn't want to pay the licensing cost for an application that only a minority of C64 owners would have wanted.
A more interesting possibility is the post-Tramiel Commodore including a ROM version of GEOS from 1986 onward, and selling it on cartridge form to existing customers.
Other possibilities:
* Launch Amiga 2000 and 500 in 1985 instead of 1000.
* Eschew Amiga completely, in favor of the Commodore 900 with Coherent. Instead of Amiga silicon, ship with a "VIC-III" for graphics and two SIDs for stereo 6-channel sound.
Really? Selling what? The TI99 was never a serious competitor for anything.