The now-ancient Commodore 64 ought to maintain a spot within the coronary heart of each computing fanatic, because it’s technically the highest-selling single pc mannequin of all time. Several of them additionally seem like in use in a doughnut store in Indiana, exhibiting that there is nonetheless some (in all probability sticky) life left within the outdated canine but.
A current collection of photographs on X attracted numerous consideration this week, because it confirmed workers on the Hilligoss Bakery apparently processing orders on a Commodore 64-based register system. Commenters identified that the final publicly posted image of the register was taken in 2021, so Tom’s Hardware determined to present them a name—and workers duly verified that the programs had been nonetheless in use.
Apparently, a Doughnut store in U.S. remains to be utilizing a Commodore 64 for enterprise. pic.twitter.com/i7gO90JAZ4December 16, 2024
Our American pals like to level and chortle at a British-ism, so I’ll duly level out that I’m nicely conscious our spelling of doughnut seems ridiculous, and that donut is healthier. However, the {hardware} group informs me that as a tea-drinking, yellow-toothed Brit, doughnut is what I must be going with.
Anyway, it is genuinely spectacular that these 42-year-old machines are nonetheless trucking away within the entrance of what seems like a busy bakery, having presumably spent their lives being coated in sugar, flour, and doubtless a good quantity of sweat.
The store’s been open since 1974, whereas the earliest Commodore 64s had been launched in 1982—that means there was a minimum of an eight yr hole when the bakery used one thing else to deal with transactions, presumably Charles Babbage’s distinction engine or an Antikythera mechanism.
Even at launch, the Commodore 64 wasn’t recognized for being notably highly effective. Featuring both a 1.023 or 0.985 MHz CPU, 64 kB of RAM (therefore the identify) and able to a 320 x 200 show decision, it is now the type of machine that hobbyists go to nice lengths to accumulate and repurpose.
It’s a bit of historical past in spite of everything, and thereby has turn out to be a go-to for these on the lookout for retro-based undertaking concepts.
Like this man who turned his right into a theremin, and later joined two of them collectively to make an accordion. Or this formidable undertaking to power one into AI picture era duties, even if most of them have been retired to museum-piece responsibility.
So the C64 lives on and appears to be an important piece of infrastructure conserving the small city of Brownsburg provided with scrumptious sugary treats. My native bakery makes use of an iPad-based system that always breaks, so maybe there’s one thing in counting on the old-school stalwarts of computer systems previous to make sure that contemporary baked items stay available always.
