|  |  | ## History of computer design: Commodore VIC-20 & 64
|  |  | Home || Introduction || Historiography || 1-Cottage industry || 2-Emerging standards || 3-Macintosh 4-frogdesign || 5-Corporate focus || Conclusion || Bibliography & links
|  | In 1980, Commodore introduced the VIC-20, a computer more clearly designed for a broad audience than its previous PET. The VIC-20, like the TRS-80, had its circuitboard in the same rectangular unit as its keyboard. It was small enough to hold comfortably on the lap, and was designed to be connected to a television set. Although its white plastic case was a little crude and toy-like, its price of $299 made it enormously popular; it was the first model of personal computer to sell more than one million units (Smarte, 380). This was driven largely by its use to play games. ROM cartridges could be plugged easily into the slot at the back of the keyboard unit, giving the computer an arcade-style game without the need to type commands. This association with entertainment, fostered as much by its insubstantial toy-like case as by its relative lack of processing power, helped inspire game machines for the home from companies such as Nintendo and Sega. When Commodore's somewhat more powerful follow-up to the VIC-20, the Commodore 64, appeared in 1982, it became even more popular than the VIC-20. However, despite the new sober grey colour of its otherwise nearly identical plastic case, the Commodore 64 was also associated closely with games. The simple rectangular slab design of Commodore's keyboard computers was no longer used by the late 1980s, and Commodore's years of success ended as separate physical design standards emerged for personal computers and for home arcade game machines. To Emerging Standards (1980-82) To the Macintosh Revolution (1983-85) Home || Introduction || Historiography || 1-Cottage industry || 2-Emerging standards || 3-Macintosh 4-frogdesign || 5-Corporate focus || Conclusion || Bibliography & links