[tired_man]

But that was half the fun of doing learning to hack on a C64. Adding coder tools typed in from MLX code from Compute! or Compute!'s Gazette and learning assembly by taking apart programs in Monitor was a deep learning experience for many beginning 6502 coders.

It's sad that they didn't last, but the chip was simply an evolutionary dead end. I've recently thought about finding one to give my grandson in an attempt to pry away from a tablet his parents gave him.

The crop of tablet/cell-addicted kids is a sad state of affairs.

[cmrdporcupine]

I think you're missing the point of my argument. I was complaining that the ST and Amiga did not ship as easily programmable, nuts-and-bolts-visible, platforms like the C64 and Apple II etc. did. I too learned a lot on my VIC-20. But when I got my Atari ST I had to wait a while til I got a compiler (Personal Pascal and then later GFA BASIC and Modula-2) so I could do anything interesting with it.

As for 6502 being an evolutionary dead end -- it's still being made, and still being used in actual products. You'd be surprised what still has a 6502 or 6502-based core in it. It is a wonderful chip - simple easy to learn ISA, absolutely stellar interrupt responsiveness, and easy to interface.

[qwertyuiop924]

>The crop of tablet/cell-addicted kids is a sad state of affairs.

Speaking as one of them, yes. They're hard to program, no fun, and even the BASIC offering won't let you do much.