Pressing On

With the Commodore 264 line being an utter failure, a new computer was top priority. The VIC-20 was discontinued recently, leaving the 64 as the only machine the company was producing. It was going to need a successor before it really ages, too. And with Jack Tramiel turning against Commodore during development of the 264 line and joining Atari, developing a new computer was going to be a challenge. Not only that, the top part of management is nonexistent now, meaning that knowing whether certain ideas will work won't be as easy to work out.

Power Couple

It's important to note the 128 used two CPUs, a MOS 8502 and a Zilog Z80A. The 8502 allows for 80-column mode on a monitor with RGBI output while the Z80 ran CP/M mode, which we'll discuss shortly.

Multiple Personality

Another big feature of the 128 was the capability to operate in three different modes. Of course there's 128 mode, which gives the user access to the majority of the RAM at 2 MhZ processing speed. It allowed the use of the brilliant RGBI display mode, using double the native resolution (thanks to the Z80 chip) albeit still 16 colors. The second is the 64 mode, a hallmark in guaranteeing diehard 64 users they can use any and all 64 software on the 128. Switching to this mode pretty much turns the computer into a 64, even disabling the keypad and all keyboard keys used by either of the other modes. The last mode is CP/M, meaning Control Program Monitor, an operating system that was invented in 1974 which was sort of like MS-DOS.

The Successful Failure

Overall, the Commodore 128 was a mix between a success and a failure in the marketplace. It was an excellent affordable upgrade for 64 users that don't want to abandon their large backlog of software from the earlier computer. The extra modes provided a versatile suite for users that want to stick with the same machine for several years to come. Including CP/M on the 128 allowed Commodore to make a comeback in the business market where they failed with the Plus/4 line.
However, its success was restrained by a bunch of different factors. First was the cruel irony that the Commodore 64 was still highly popular. By the time the 128 came out, the 64's price was down to $149, and the still-high demand and sales cut into the potential and actual sales of the 128, citing its predecessor's ease of use. Second, users that bought the 128 tended not to use its exclusive features, citing the 64 mode fulfilled their needs. Third, there was hardly any software written specifically for the 128 and used its features to the highest potential. Again, any 128 users that had 64-exclusive software just used 64 mode.

The 8-Bit Swansong

The Commodore 128 was discontinued in 1989, with somewhere between 2,500,000 and 4,000,000 units sold. Its $300 price was very reasonable when you compare its specs and features with other competing machines, except for the 64.

In mid-1985, during production of the 128, Commodore decided to extend the life of the powerful computer by making a descendent that could appeal to the small business segment overtaken by IBM at the time. The Commodore 128D (D appropriately meaning desktop) featured a built-in 1571 high density floppy drive in the front, and a keyboard that plugged into the machine like most other desktop computers.