ranzware
The now-ancient Commodore 64 should hold a place in the heart of every computing enthusiast, as it’s technically the highest-selling single computer model of all time. Several of them also appear to be in use in a doughnut shop in Indiana, showing that there’s still some (probably sticky) life left in the old dog yet.
A recent series of photos on X attracted a lot of attention this week, as it showed staff at the Hilligoss Bakery apparently processing orders on a Commodore 64-based register system. Commenters pointed out that the last publicly posted picture of the register was taken in 2021, so Tom’s Hardware decided to give them a call—and staff duly verified that the systems were still in use.
Apparently, a Doughnut shop in U.S. is still using a Commodore 64 for business. pic.twitter.com/i7gO90JAZ4December 16, 2024
Our American friends love to point and laugh at a British-ism, so I’ll duly point out that I am well aware our spelling of doughnut looks ridiculous, and that donut is better. However, the hardware team informs me that as a tea-drinking, yellow-toothed Brit, doughnut is what I should be going with.
Anyway, it’s genuinely impressive that these 42-year-old machines are still trucking away in the front of what looks like a busy bakery, having presumably spent their lives being covered in sugar, flour, and probably a fair amount of sweat.
The shop’s been open since 1974, while the earliest Commodore 64s were released in 1982—meaning there was at least an eight year gap when the bakery used something else to handle transactions, presumably Charles Babbage’s difference engine or an Antikythera mechanism.
Even at release, the Commodore 64 wasn’t known for being particularly powerful. Featuring either a 1.023 or 0.985 MHz CPU, 64 kB of RAM (hence the name) and capable of a 320 x 200 display resolution, it’s now the sort of machine that hobbyists go to great lengths to acquire and repurpose.
It’s a piece of history after all, and thereby has become a go-to for those looking for retro-based project ideas.
Like this man who turned his into a theremin, and later joined two of them together to make an accordion. Or this ambitious project to force one into AI image generation duties, despite the fact that most of them have been retired to museum-piece duty.
So the C64 lives on and seems to be a vital piece of infrastructure keeping the small town of Brownsburg supplied with delicious sugary treats. My local bakery uses an iPad-based system that constantly breaks, so perhaps there’s something in relying on the old-school stalwarts of computers past to ensure that fresh baked goods remain readily available at all times.
Kurt Indovina
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