6 points amichail 2 hours ago 3 comments
And maybe they could have even given the cartridge for free to people who have already bought a C64 without it.
UncleSlacky 1 hour ago | parent
Wasn't it because Jack Tramiel was too cheap and just wanted to make use of his existing MS BASIC licence?
amichail 48 minutes ago | parent
He would still have made use of the MS BASIC license, but the addition of the Simons' BASIC cartridge in the box from 1983 onward would have changed the lives of many hobby coders.
TMWNN 25 minutes ago | parent
That doesn't make UncleSlacky incorrect. Tramiel was obsessed with reducing COGS and thus retail price, and bulldozed down anything standing in his way.
A more interesting possibility is the post-Tramiel Commodore including a ROM version of GEOS from 1986 onward, and selling it on cartridge form to existing customers.
Other possibilities:
* Launch Amiga 2000 and 500 in 1985 instead of 1000.
* Eschew Amiga completely, in favor of the Commodore 900 with Coherent. Instead of Amiga silicon, ship with a "VIC-III" for graphics and two SIDs for stereo 6-channel sound.