Commodore 64
Launched in January 1982, the Commodore 64, named for its 64 kilobytes of RAM, holds the Guinness World Record for the best-selling desktop computer model of all time with estimated sales between 12.5 and 17 million units. By the mid-1980s, the C64 commanded a 30% to 40% share of the US market, selling two million units annually, surpassing IBM PC compatibles the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. Initially priced at US$595 and sold in regular retail stores rather than specialist shops, it made an emerging technology accessible through affordable mass production—the personal computer equivalent of the Ford Model T.
