> From: "John A. Ardelli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Even those who use their computers for simple things that the > 64 CAN do still, occasionally, look at photos and listen to digital > sound as a rule, things you could never do on a 64.
I'm pretty sure that there is both a JPG viewer and an MP3 player for the C64. Obviously they aren't as high quality as what you would get on even the oldest color-capable Mac, but the fact that they exist at all is amazing. And the reason that they DO exist is mostly to prove the fact that they CAN exist, I think. > (Actually, technically speaking, the 64 COULD do digital sound. Some > video games (including one memorable "Three Stooges" game I once played) > had digitized voices and sounds. But the resolution was only 8-bit. > The sound quality was horrendous by hi-fi and CD standards. Still, the > fact that the 64 could even DO digital sound was pretty amazing for an > 8-bit machine). Well, There's still a lot of people who love the way the C64 sounds. That's why you can buy an expansion card for your PC that contains the C64's sound chip, and why there is a C64 sound chip emulator/music file player for Mac OS X. If you're only exposure to C64 music was the beeping sound effects from Frogger, you might be amazed at the sounds that can come out of one (and how small the song files are, compared to 4 MB MP3s): http://www.sidmusic.org/sidplay/mac/ Here's a player for OS 9: http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/sidplay/ > So most of the increased abilities have been burned up in making the > fancy GUIs and making the computers easier to use. You have to admit, > formatting a disk is a lot easier on Mac OS X than on a Commodore 64. > On a Mac, you just go into Disk Utility and select "Erase Disk." On the > Commodore 64, after choosing a name and an ID for the disk, to format it > you would type: > > OPEN 15,8,15,"N0:DISK NAME,ID":CLOSE 15 Well, not if you were running a GUI on your C64... > So I think people are using their computers for much cooler stuff now, > especially now when over 90% of all computers in general use today have > Internet access. Power of a computer aside, there's only so much you > can do with a computer in a "vacuum." I guess the point that I was going to make but didn't is this: If modern day software took advantage of modern day hardware as efficiently as C64 software takes advantage of C64 software, it would be AMAZING. -John -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
