Twenty-Two Columns of Lowbrow Revolution The Commodore VIC-20 and the Beginning of the Home Computer Era

Abstract

This article examines the development of the VIC-20 computer system as produced
by the American computer company Commodore International during the early 1980s.
This analysis demonstrates that thanks to the requirements of the American computer
market in the early 1980s, those responsible for its development acted more like a team
of collaborative artists rather than a true, by-the-book engineering team. This allowed
them to develop the first computer that sold over one million units and created the home
computing market. This analysis also demonstrates that this form of development no
longer has a place in today’s computer development world.