OMG C64 still being used commercially

[MJO]

Commodore 64 at MYER Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Believe it or not, Commodore 64 is still being used for commercial purposes. Analogik has discovered this truly rare occurrence at MYER Centre main bus station terminal - Brisbane, Australia. Someone must have reset the computer and at our shocking surprise a familiar blue screen appeared on the display. In commodore 64 days blue screen used to be a good sign, not a sign of dead Windows 98/2K. How reliable C64 is proves the fact that it is still being used to inform travelling people of 21st century.


http://www.analogik.com/gallery/photography/64/pic_64_3.jpg
http://www.analogik.com/gallery/photography/64/pic_64_6a.jpg

More here:
http://www.analogik.com/gallery_64_myer.asp

[kanezfan]

if it works, don't fix it...

[CaffeineMe]

But what does it do/display?

[Straight_Man]

I saw an 8086 gen processor in a box in a hospital still in active use, it was in a network room (this is the gen before what the IBM PS\2 first used). It ran the hospital paging system. This same hospital uses gigabit networking for core stuff. The Samsung laser printer I have is run by a 386DX\66 processor. Same vintage. The first microwaves I used and owned had the same processor my sinclair Z80 had, since that thing DID get upgraded by me to a Z80B high-temp processor from a Z80A-- that Z80 series CPU was a DIP IC and was first available in about '82 or '83.

NASA had to scramble to get replacement CPUs for some of the servo controllers the shuttles computer controlled steering and flight assistance circuits used (and until the NEXT gen of shuttles, DOES use), those were 8086's (NASA got them out of medical machines that had been pulled from service due to OTHER parts wearing out).

And, EOC might very well be using a Commodore 64 for part of its stats calcs, that is one thing those did decently.

Old, if it does what is needed, is fine.

What used to run premier computers for the time still are used, in things like 12-17 PPm laser printers whic inside to parse things like Postscript or a varant of that. Your fridge with fancy functions probbaly has a Z80 or a late 8 bit or early 16 bit CPU in it. Stove with push buttons has an 8bit CPU inside parsing things to special controller functions. They moved the old CPUs into special purpose computers, we now call them appliances.... :D

John D.

[KingFish]

If I'm not mistaken, the computers aboard the space shuttles are from the 386 era too.

[MJO]

It would be tough luck, to have the system on the shuttle do a "nuclear meltdown" because NASA had decided to go with PresHot.

[Straight_Man]

If I'm not mistaken, the computers aboard the space shuttles are from the 386 era too.

Actually, some of the internal ones are quite old, but Laptops that are milspec hardened and rack-tray mounted are used for many things including interaction with the shuttle subsystems and guidance systems-- these are more modern, and can hook to GPS among other things (milspec GPS locationing as far as relative planetary location positioning). The older computer interfaces and builtin subsystems take over if the laptops become unhooked or malf. Otherwise, the shuttles are using a more modern interface than the 386 underlying contorl computers and 8086 finer function controls could produce.

John D.

[GHoosdum]

What used to run premier computers for the time still are used, in things like 12-17 PPm laser printers whic inside to parse things like Postscript or a varant of that. Your fridge with fancy functions probbaly has a Z80 or a late 8 bit or early 16 bit CPU in it. Stove with push buttons has an 8bit CPU inside parsing things to special controller functions. They moved the old CPUs into special purpose computers, we now call them appliances.... :D

Would those technically be RISC processors now, then? ;D

[Omega65]

I saw an 8086 gen processor in a box in a hospital still in active use, it was in a network room (this is the gen before what the IBM PS\2 first used).
John D.

The 8086 and the IBM PC's 8088 were the same 16bit chip. The Only difference was the 8086 had a 16bit CPU interface while the 8088 only had a 8bit interface, and was cheaper to implement