Back in the '80s, Jim Butterfield was THE MAN regarding Commodore computers. I got the VIC-20 in '82 and the Commodore 64 in 1983. And used them through the '80s, for programming, getting on BBS systems with a modem, and learning about computing in general. And part of my computer education was reading books and magazine articles by this computer guru. Those of you making fun of his style or presentational gaffes in this video are totally clueless, ignorant, and missing the fact that Jim was a respected programmer, educator, and just a great guy. He was a pioneer in personal computing, and he is missed by all of us who were touched by his genius in one way or another.. RIP, Jim Butterfield.
This gives me goose bumps. I have so many great memories with my C16 and C128! It was a magical time. Those who did not experience it will never understand.
I'm a big c=64 enthusiast, it makes me very nostalgic. I remember as a kid getting the c=64 keyboard for xmas one year and connecting it to my mother's large console 25 inch colored TV and thinking it was the best! And within a month or 2 I had the 1541 disk drive, monitor and months later the dot matrix printer. I loved the video games and traded floppy disks etc with friends, I even tried my hand at programming. It kept me out of trouble as a teen.
When I learned how to cycle the colors of text in a rainbow using basic I thought I had unlocked the secrets of the ancients. Mr. Butterfield is a master historian, the true Indiana Jones.
Loved my Commodore 64 that I got for Christmas in 1983, but that stupid power brick overheated on the regular. Used to have a fan pointed at it in the summer to keep the computer from overheating.
My power supply died and let full current into the C64 and blew the fuse inside the C64. Took me a while to figure that out as a child. Then I went to the nerd guy store and bought a new fuse but a new power supply was impossible for me to get. In the end I had to call a number in computer magazin where he shipped me a overpriced used one, but at least my C64 was working again.
I wish I had seen this video back in its time. I remember spending a whole summer fiddling with the manuals and any kind of computer magazines I could get my hands on. My learning curve was very flat, I can tell you that. It's amazing how easy it is to find that kind of knowledge nowadays. Mr. Butterfield was a legend in the Commodore world back then and I remember reading anything he wrote, even if I could barely understand him.
Could this possibly be one of the earliest 'unboxing' videos on RU-vid? Great video though. I bet a lot of views were from people who bought their 64 on Ebay and didn't know how to use it.
Pretty funny his modified Basic version with that "Idiot Error" LOL Jim Butterfield was a very special person who had the great ability to explain complex things in a simple comprehensive way. RIP Jim
LOL! So true man, I could totally listen to this while I go to sleep. I'm spacing out to it right now on some over-the-counter sleep medication, he's helping too haha.
i was so young when i had this,i could just barely load games on it. my goodness what a nostalgia trip,not to mention its actually full of great "history",even shows the origin of certain terminologies . I think ill be hunting for a c64 for my retro collection now lol
Basic was the first time I got in contact with english language. Once I found out that the command wasnt "tehen" but "then" a whole new world opened up for me and from then on I wanted to learn more english. I was 9yrs old that time ;)
What amazing is I'm 28, and I remember using the commodore 64 back in elementary school. Whats funny is I have no clue how to operate the commodore 64, and I'm watching this video for that reason. Its actually still a very useful video, so thanks for the post. I merely want to use the C64 for playing games, and creating my own games on the Commodore 64.
Wow! What an amazing video! Wish I had this Video when I was a kid. The Commodore 64 was the first computer I ever had, followed by an Amiga 500+ Ah the memories... :)
Awesome Video! It's like ancient "IT" history. Didn't even use Windows! Great history lesson in the early days of computer. Jim Butterfield explains everything to answer questions My 12 year old couldn't stop watching it. She laugh all the way through with amazement.
You have to put yourself in the frame of mind of of a kid out of the 60's or so with the mindset that "computers" looked like a roomfull of tape recorder looking spools going start/stop & blinking lights & such and then experiencing this tabletop assembly that could transform itself into a checkbook balance device, then a game, then something that could teach you BASIC- not a lot of people bothered with whatever preceded "web" then- fascinating as all get out... magazines/books that you typed in programs keystroke by keystroke until HEY IT WORKS and all that... anybody snobby about this wonderful stage of home computers should try to make their own
plus your parents buy you one of these machines thinking they do EVERYTHING out of the box.. which was my case (with the c16) and so no software was ever bought and I had to program everything myself.
A huge amount of memory... Good old times where videos were not full of screams, flashes, useless background music destroying your ears.. I remember when I tried to load unsuccessfully my first game, paradroid😅
@33:20 Naughty Mr Butterfield, never run your freshly entered program before saving to tape or disk. An incorrect poke or data statement could lock up or reset your trusty 64 meaning your BASIC listing will be lost from view. And though still in WAM.. the chances of you being able to wecover it are slim at best. That said, what a guy!
Does anyone know of similar videos to this? I want to see more retro training/demonstration videos from the actual time period of the technology. Some 70s, 80s, even early 90s vids would be great.
In this day and age it's not really necessary for computers to come with training videos like this, but again more and more senior citizens are getting onto the internet, but my relatives who are in their 60's still find computers to be very daunting, ironically they had a Commodore 64 in the late 80's. But I think it would be a good idea for companies like Apple and Dell etc to produce training DVD's similar to this tape that show the basics of getting started with a new computer.
Mr. Butterfield is about to flip the bird while being a smart ass. 1:20 Jim: In here we have the Commodore User's Guide. BTW, that's a very useful book. You'll need that. Don't throw it away, *Proceeds to throw it away* Someone must have pissed him off. Time to go make popcorn.
