City of Armadale - History House > Records

1541 DISC DRIVE FOR COMMODORE 64 COMPUTER

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c. 1982 - 1994

Overview

Fawn, oblong box. The slot and lock/ejector mechanism for the disc is black and mounted in the front surface. Above this is a label with the TM then commodore strips of stacked rainbow colours and [1541].
The TM is moulded central and slightly toward the rear of the upper surface, before rows of cooling slots.
The back case has three ports, a fuse holder and the ON/OFF switch.
There are two stickers, one square and one rectangular, on the back with text [TM commodore / Single Drive Floppy Disc / Model 1541 / Power 240Vac 250mA 50Hz / Serial No AJ5 0086417 / Attempted repair by / unauthorised persons / voids warranty. / HWD Made in Japan / 1540030-45] and [WARNING / FOR CONTINUED PROTECTION AGAINST / FIRE, REPLACE ONLY WITH SAME TYPE / AND RATINGS OF FUSE T500mA 250V / 1010019-02].

Historical information

The Commodore 64, also known as C64, was a home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. The C64 name came from its 64 kilobytes of RAM. Retailing at US$595 (equivalent to $1545 USD in 2018) and selling 17 million units worldwide during its lifetime, it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the highest-selling single computer model of all time. Between 1983 and 1986, the C64 outsold its competitors' products, IBM PC Compatibles, Apple Computers, and Atari 8-bit. This was achieved through selling at regular retail stores, rather than at electronics and computer specialist stores. Aproximately 10,000 software titles were made for the C64, including office productivity applications, development tools and video games. It was discontinued in April 1994, although it remains popular in society today with collectors and computer enthusiasts. In 2018, the C64 mini 'retro' console was announced, introducing a new generation to the wonders of the C64.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2010.70

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Plastic

Width

365 mm

Height or length

96 mm

Depth

195 mm

Inscriptions and markings

Commodore International

Keywords

Japan

Albany Highway

ARMADALE

Commodore Business Machines Pty Ltd

BROWN Ken Mr

Place made

Slough
United Kingdom

Year

c. 1982 - 1994

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collection that represents the types of technology that were used on a daily basis by people who lived in worked in the City of Armadale. The collection represents how technology has influenced how people lived, worked and played within the City of Armadale. The collection also is representative of how technology evolves and can become obsolete which in turn can make pastimes, jobs and skills evolve or become obsolete.

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

City of Armadale - History House

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