Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ukma!phoenix
From: phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: 80 columns Card for the C64
Message-ID: <12502@s.ms.uky.edu>
Date: 29 Aug 89 19:32:14 GMT
References: <6064@max.acs.washington.edu> <6072@max.acs.washington.edu> <7522@microsoft.UUCP> <6210@max.acs.washington.edu>
Reply-To: phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Organization: El'n'tk National Spaceport, Mission Control
Lines: 25

In article <6210@max.acs.washington.edu> scott@max.acs.washington.edu writes:
>When the C64 was first introduced in costed around $250 (at least the
>price I remember), now it is around $130, almost a 50% reduction.
>And this reduction has not only happen to the C64 but to all it
>periperals too (as matter of fact, to entire electronic industry)
>some more than other of course.
>Scott K. Stephen
     Actually, when the C64 was introduced, the retail price was US$595. The
disk drive cost a bit less than that - around US$350 (although my memory
on the cost of the drive is much shakier.) That's quite a bit of a reduction.
Also, remember when CGA cards cost US$200? Now they're US$50, and only that
much because nobody wants to charge less than that for ANYthing - the profit
margins are too small below that, unless you mass-market.
     The 80 column chip in the C128 is a direct descendent of the CGA chip,
isn't it? It might be possible to design a board around either that chip
or the CGA chip - both would provide colour 80 columns (usable, of course,
by monochrome monitors). Here's an idea: how much would it cost to make a
CGA interface and driver software for the C64?
                                                 -- R'ykandar.


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