Re: C65 Classroom Computer

Steve Gray wrote:

> For those of you not on facebook, Fred Bowen showed pictures of a 
> previously unknown C65 variant without floppy disk. It appears to have 
> an RS-232 port, RGB port and expansion on the back, single SID and two 
> big custom chips. I'm blown away!

What does "classroom computer" refer to here, an idea to actually launch 
a school computer in the very late 1980's, based on a souped-up C64 
(which I consider the C65 to be) in a world where various 80186 based 
custom computers already had torn up the market and regular PC 
compatibles were slowly getting their feet into schools?

While I understand that the C65 project mostly was a part-time project 
for bored engineers and may not have been prioritized by Commodore, 
making one final 8-bit home computer may have made sense (cmp the 
Amstrad CPC 6128 Plus, the Sam Coupé and a few more), but if indeed it 
was a project to get into the educational world, I hope not too much of 
the money Commodore anyway wasted around those days (should probably 
coincide or slightly predate the CDTV project) went into it as it would 
seem pretty much like a dead end.

Did even the C128 become a school computer of any importance, as it at 
least runs a slow CP/M?

Best regards

Anders Carlsson