Re: World-wide 8-bit computer sales (all-time)?

["Sam Gillett" <samgillett@msn.com>]

Exegete wrote ...

>2. TI was losing millions already. The Coleco announcement was merely
>the "final straw", there was no way TI could put together a bundle like
>Coleco did at anywhere near $600 and still make money.
>
>>
>> Hmm.. well, we Commodore users surely thank God daily for Coleco's mercy
>> on us during that time.
>
>The C-64 couldn't touch the Coleco, because at the price they had only a
>VERY poor DMP, and their infamous tape system.

The C64 does not have a poor DMP, whatever a DMP is.  If it has anything to
do with display, the VIC (Video Interface Chip) in the C64 was the most
advanced display processor available in a low cost home computer in 1983.
As for the tape system, at least it worked in a reliable fashion.  And, for
the $600 price tag you mentioned for the Coleco, by 1984 you could get a C64
and a disk drive.

>And it wasn't Coleco's "mercy", it was the toy company's incompetence in
>selling such a complex, expensive machine. By the time the bugs were
>worked out, no one would touch the machine. That, and the video
>game/home computer shake out caused Coleco to pull the machine in
>January 1985, less than 18 months after going on the market.

Coleco just couldn't compete with Commodore I guess.  The C64 was alive and
well for many years after that.

Best regards,

Sam Gillett aka Mars Probe @ Starship Intrepid 1-972-221-4088
     Last 8-bit BBS in the Dallas area.  Commodore lives!