Re: Commodore and Apple

[Anders Carlsson <anders.carlsson@mds.mdh.se>]

Jim Brain <brain@jbrain.com> writes:

> I suspect the overriding factor was Chuck wanting to do his own PC,

In 1993, Hogia Data (Sweden) opened a personal computer museum during
the summer. Unfortunately they closed it in the fall, but as a memory
from the exhibition, I still have the paper they printed for the museum.
Among many other things, they have an article on Chuck Peddle, and
although I don't know which sources they used, here is their story:

< MOS Technology under the leadership of Chuck Peddle got the task
< to develop an 8-bit micro processor. Within short time the 6502
< processor was ready. 
<
< Peddle succeeded in convincing Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak to
< use this processor in their first Apple computers. Maybe it was the
< price that was in Peddle's favour - in any case it was remarkable
< that the Apple computers were to be based on the unknown 6502 
< processor rather than Intel's already well known 8080 chip.
<
< But Chuck Peddle was not satisfied with developing processors. Very
< soon he had developed a complete computer and he presented to the
< Commodore management a complete micro computer based on the 6502
< processor - the first PET computer.
<
< The 6502 processor during a few years thus became the most 
< significantly spread micro processor. Apart from being in Apple's 
< computers - Apple I, II and III - and the PET computers it was
< used in a number of early machines: Ohio Scientific, KIM 1, AIM65,
< SYM 1, Challenger and so on.

I don't know if this in any way contrasts the story on the webpage or
the quote from Wozniak, but *if* Peddle already had spent some time
talking Apple into using the 6502 to build a computer, would he return
to evaluate if the final design was worth for Commodore to buy, in
particular if he already was considering developing a computer of
his own?

-- 
Anders Carlsson