Continuing the series of “15 Quick Bits About…”, let’s take a look at some facts (Quick Bits) about the first computer I owned, and possibly my favorite (because of all the things I created with this computer) — the Commodore VIC-20.

Quick Bits on the Commodore VIC-20

1. The VIC-20 went on sale in January 1981 for $299 (USD) and was manufactured until January 1985. ^{[1] [2] [3]} The very first programming class I took (as a child) was on a Commodore VIC-20. I discovered early on that I enjoyed writing software, which turned into a lifelong hobby and career.
2. In 1982, the VIC-20 was the best-selling computer of the year, with 800,000 machines sold! ^[4]
3. The VIC-20 debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in June 1980 – about six months before being available for purchase. ^[2] [3]
4. With about 2.5 million VIC-20 computers being produced, the VIC-20 was the first computer to sell over 1 million units! ^{[1] [2] [3]}
5. The VIC-20 was the first color computer to be sold as a “computer for the masses” for less than $300. ^[2]
6. William Shatner, AKA Captain Kirk from Star Trek (TOS) fame, was a spokesperson for the Commodore VIC-20. You can find him in at least two TV commercials from the 1980’s on YouTube. ^[5]
7. The “VIC” in VIC-20 stands for Video Interface Chip. The VIC was designed a couple of years ahead of the VIC-20 for a video game system that was never produced, so Commodore built a computer around the VIC. ^[1]
8. While the VIC-20 has 5K RAM built in, only 3,583 bytes are available for BASIC programs when you turn it on. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough to learn to program (in BASIC) and discover a love for creating software. By comparison, my current laptop has over 12 thousand times as much RAM (64GB)! ^[7]
9. The “friendly computer guide” that shipped with the VIC-20 contains three BASIC programs in the appendix that you can type in and run: Tank-v-UFO, Killer Comet, and Rocket Command. ^[8] As a side note, I plan to do some short videos on these soon.
10. The VIC-20 was marketed in Japan as the VIC-1001 before being introduced to the United States. ^[7]
11. The “20” in VIC-20 apparently has no significance other than it simply “seemed like a friendly number” as claimed by chip designer, Bob Yannes. ^[7]
12. The VIC chip in the VIC-20 can produce a light pen signal allowing a light pen to be used to “draw” or select objects on a TV screen. ^[7]
13. The sound chip in the VIC-20 has three pulse wave generators and a white noise generator with a total range of about five octaves. ^[3]
14. Commodore sold RAM expansion cartridges for the VIC-20 with up to an additional 16K RAM. There were larger expansion cartridges sold by third parties. ^[3] This would have been a great addition to my first VIC-20. Unfortunately, I am not sure I even realized they existed at the time.
15. Commodore licensed BASIC from Microsoft in 1977 for a flat fee (i.e., no royalties). Future versions of Commodore BASIC, including the CBM BASIC V2 that shipped with the VIC-20, were based on Microsoft’s BASIC interpreter. ^[7]

References

1. Commodore VIC-20. OldComputers.net. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
2. Commodore VIC-20: Worlds First Computer to Sell 1 Million Units. Commodore.ca. March 13, 2003; Revised November 26, 2018.
3. VIC-20. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
4. Commodore VIC-20 Facts for Kids. Kiddle. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
5. YouTube Search. YouTube.
6. VIC-20. Wikiwand. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
7. Commodore BASIC. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
8. Commodore Electronics Ltd. Personal Computing on the VIC-20: A Friendly Computer Guide. Commodore Electronics Ltd; 5th Edition, January 1, 1982. Pages 153 – 159.

Other Quick Bits

This is one in a series of Quick Bits, including:

1. Commodore 64
2. Commodore VIC-20
3. Texas Instruments TI-99/4 & TI-99/4A
4. TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-2
5. TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo) 2
6. TRS-80 Model 102
7. Palm IIIe
8. Compaq C120 (Pocket PC)
9. Compaq Portable

If you prefer seeing this type of information in video format, be sure to check out the Bits && Bytes YouTube channel.