Commodore 64 alarm clock. **** commodore 64 basic v2 **** 64k ram system 38911 basic bytes free ready. The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982. Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US $595.[2][3] Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes (65,536 bytes) of memory with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of that time. It is commonly known as the C64 or C=64 (after the graphic logo on the case) and occasionally as the CBM 64 (for Commodore Business Machines), or VIC-64.[4] It has also been affectionately nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to the shape and color of the first version of its casing[citation needed]. During the C64's lifetime, sales totaled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time.[5][6] For a substantial period of time (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year,[7] outselling the IBM PC clones, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family computers. Sam Tramiel, a former Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview "When I was at Commodore we were building 400,000 C64s a month for a couple of years."[8] Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost. It is sometimes compared to the Ford Model-T automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.[9] Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office productivity applications, and games.[10] Various C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or a compatible game console, to run these programs today. The machine is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene. The C64 is still used today by some computer hobbyists.[11] Since 28 March 2008, Commodore 64 games have been available to buy through Nintendo's Virtual Console service in Europe; the first games available were Uridium and International Karate.[12][13] Later, on February 23, 2009, the Commodore 64 section was launched in North America with the first three titles, International Karate, The Last Ninja and Pitstop II. A C64 emulator application with classic games also appears on Apple Inc.'s App Store.