The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, or C= 128, is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas, it appeared three years after its predecessor, the Commodore 64, the bestselling computer of the 1980s. Approximately 2.5 million C128s were sold during its four year production run.
Commodore 128
C128 main board
The back of the Commodore 128
Using CP/M mode requires use of a boot diskette. The diskette was included with the computer, which did not include a disk drive.
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.
Children playing Paperboy on an Amstrad CPC 464 in 1988
The often sprawling nature of a well-outfitted home computer is evident with this Tandy Color Computer 3.
The computers Byte (magazine) retrospectively called the "1977 Trinity" (L-R): Commodore PET 2001-8, Apple II, TRS-80 Model I.
Mary Allen Wilkes working on the LINC at home in 1965; thought to be the first home computer user