Commodore Computer Innovations

Reproduced April 7 2002 with permission from Burt of the Commodore 64 Dungeon
Graphics and text appended by Ian Matthews summer 2002

The following is a list of Commodore innovations:

1st single board microcomputer - MOS KIM-1 (Commodore bought MOS tech within 6 months of KIM being released) and not the Apple Kit!

Best selling computer in History (even today in 2003)- The Commodore 64 sold 30 million records and is in the Guinness Book of Records.

1st 1 million plus unit selling computer (VIC-20)

1st computer company to make $1 Billion dollars in Sales

1st multimedia computer (Amiga)

1st computer to have coprocessors (SuperPET)

1st true-multitasking system was Commodore Amiga not Apple!

1st mulitasking OS (Amiga)

1st portable (notebook) color computer - SX64

1st company to develope the DMA bus

1st portable hand-held calculator

1st LCD Display

1st company to define the word "multimedia"

1st Digital Sine-Cosine generator

1st and only computer (Amiga) that can display multiple screens at different resolutions on a single monitor.

1st Computer used by average people (non-computer people) (Commodore 64)

1st Fluorecent Light Dimming Switch

1st Fluidtight doors opening/closing device

1st CD-ROM Video Game Machine

1st I/O to storage adressing and architechture scheme

1st CD-ROM Error Control scheme (cirs)

1st Joystick controller

1st Sitdown style videogame controller

1st mulitple linked video game controllers

1st Raster Monitor for video graphic displays

1st and only computer graphic subsystem that allows multiple bitplanes and bitdepths available on the screen at the same time

1st Sound Interface Chip - SID6581

1st company to develope the video/digital to/from analog convertor

1st company to develop "plug and play"

1st Object Oriented OS (Amiga)

1st hardware blitter objects (Amiga)

1st computer to have "genlock graphics" and overscan

 

SOURCES: Delphion Homepage The patent place/intelectual property page listing