The Last Commodore by Dick Estel In the March 1998 issue of the Mailink, Managing Editor Jean Nance asked, when will the last Commodore die? In June, 1990, Lee Pasborg, editor of The Town Cryer, Heartland Users Group, Cape Girardeau MO, wrote an article titled The Orphan Computer, pointing out that while Commodores were about to become orphans, they would be vital, healthy orphans that could survive for years with the right care and planning. He correctly predicted that we would see Amigas sold at yard sales by 1995. Also in the early 90's, I wrote a similar article for The Interface, newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group. My theme was that while the sunset of Commodore was in view, it would be a long and glowing sunset. While Lee and I both realized that a working Commodore 15 years hence would do everything it could do back then, we both were concerned that a Commodore of 1990 would not be satisfactory for most users in 1995. Indeed, many Commodore users have abandoned their machines for PC's, Mac's and Amigas, but many continue to use the older machine along side a new one. What we did not foresee was that a few talented programmers and engineers saw opportunity where we saw limits. They put their brains and skill and effort to the task of making Commodore nearly equal to many other newer and faster machines. Because of this, Commodore has survived in a more vital form than Lee and I expected. Thanks to these often unsung heroes, we have large hard drives, improved 3.5" drives, and add-on equipment to increase not only disk access, but operating speed. Its true that many users are satisfied with their machine just as it was in 1990. Others felt that these improvements were still not enough. But enough Commodore users to support several dozen small companies and individuals have taken advantage of these new products to keep their machines at an acceptable level into the 21st century. The last Commodore will die only when no one is willing and able to make repairs, because as long as they work, there will be people who will keep them running. With a few million around for spare parts, there's no reason why we can't have a small but world-wide group of Commodore devotees a dozen years into the next millennium. From The Interface, newsletter of Fresno Commodore User Group, via the Commodore Information Center http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html