News Indiana bakery still using Commodore 64s originally released in 1982 as Point of Sale terminals — Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg sticks to the basics

[Admin]

The Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg, Indiana proves the modern day efficacy of retro hardware by still using a Commodore 64s for business transactions.

Indiana bakery still using Commodore 64s originally released in 1982 as Point of Sale terminals — Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg sticks to the basics : Read more

 

[Eximo]

I see what you did there.

 

[chemistu]

if they work, they work I guess. I know for a fact BBC model B microcomputers were being used to calibrate some avionics on Concorde right up until it's last flight.

 

[bigdragon]

I love seeing 40+ year old computers still in action. An amazing number of things from 40+ years ago still do their job just fine. Really makes me question why a 4 year old Samsung device seems intent on self destructing or not doing its job.

 

[CaptRiker]

fond memories of my C64 back in the early 80's. also had a C128 then an Amiga 500.
did TONS of early gaming on the platforms.. was really sad when Commodore went belly up in 1994 🙁

 

[magbarn]

I love seeing 40+ year old computers still in action. An amazing number of things from 40+ years ago still do their job just fine. Really makes me question why a 4 year old Samsung device seems intent on self destructing or not doing its job.

It's called planned obsolescence. Even almost 50 year old V'ger is still working in interstellar space lol.

I'm surprised they're (the C64s) still going. I went through about 3 of them in the 80's with heavy gaming. Even the updated white one died on me.

 

[spongiemaster]

How do they print out receipts? Is there a full sized dot matrix printer connected to those? While they may be able to "do the job," I question whether they really can. They obviously can't have a credit card processor connected to those, so if they accept credit cards, they would need a separate device for that. There are dirt cheap options that could replace those and bring the shop into the modern age.

 

[Eximo]

Credit card machines would be separate, yes, they are regulated and change with updated security. Running inventory and sales figures through the Commodore would still be adequate.

 

[King_V]

Alright, this brought a big smile to my face, as, while I was introduced to computers and BASIC programming with the TRS-80 in school, the Commodore 64 was my first home computer, which was later replaced by the C128, remaining in use until 1996, when I finally got an x86-based PC (with a Pentium 133 CPU and Windows 95)

 

[why_wolf]

How do they print out receipts? Is there a full sized dot matrix printer connected to those? While they may be able to "do the job," I question whether they really can. They obviously can't have a credit card processor connected to those, so if they accept credit cards, they would need a separate device for that. There are dirt cheap options that could replace those and bring the shop into the modern age.

Most likely its a two stage process. 1) work up internal record on the C64 and get the final price. 2) input that price on a standalone credit card terminal, customer can have a copy of that receipt.

You see a similar setup at old school diners and some mom n' pop convenience stores that haven't been smoothed talked into an all-in-one POS terminal.

 

[BFG-9000]

It's called planned obsolescence. Even almost 50 year old V'ger is still working in interstellar space lol.

I'm surprised they're (the C64s) still going. I went through about 3 of them in the 80's with heavy gaming. Even the updated white one died on me.

You know if you had paid NASA to design and build you a pickup truck for $865 Million back then (equivalent to nearly $4 Billion today), it would probably still be running on one of its backup engines today. These C64s are kind of more impressive because they were designed to be really cheap to make and have no redundant systems, only single points of failure... and they haven't yet.

 

[AmigaBlitter]

C64 Rocks! I still using today (Got The c64 maxi from retrogames.biz).
Wonderful machine. It's incredible what you can do with a 1 mhz machine!
Other news: c64 used in car reparing services: https://www.quartamarcia.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/commodore-65-polonia.jpg

 

[Pei-chen]

People that took photo of the registers are also using digital cameras from the 80s’

 

[Sluggotg]

People that took photo of the registers are also using digital cameras from the 80s’

There were no commercial Digital Camera's in the 80's. You could use an Amiga to get frame grabs from a video camera using the Video Snappy, (I still have mine). The first digital camera I ever ran into was a Sony one with a built in floppy drive at work in the 90's.
The era of the C64 and the Amigas was awesome. It was very cool and very exciting.

 

[BFG-9000]

Kodak developed a 1.3Mpixel digital camera in 1987 and sold it to the public (generally to professional news or studio photographers due to the high cost) in 1991 as the DCS 100. I have one and it has a SCSI HDD in it.

What Pei-Chen is referring to is the modern photo in 2024 which was apparently taken with the type of camera legally required to be used when taking bigfoot or UFO pictures.

 

[Eximo]

Studio digital cameras hit the scene a little before the first consumer cameras. They were large, had full size lenses, and at least the one I found had a bank of hard drives.

Those floppy disk cameras were very common. Schools tended to buy them. They didn't really become super amazing until they made those SD to floppy adapters, then you weren't limited to so few pictures.

 

[husker]

I wonder who wrote the software it uses. Are they still running a home-grown program written by the original owner's kid? Has it been modified over the years to give them specific reports or other functions they find useful? Did the software survive Y2K intact? This is the kind of log-term relevance software developers can only dream of today.

 

[USAFRet]

Kodak developed a 1.3Mpixel digital camera in 1987 and sold it to the public (generally to professional news or studio photographers due to the high cost) in 1991 as the DCS 100. I have one and it has a SCSI HDD in it.

Kodak had the original patent on "digital photography" in 1977.

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2016/06/leading-innovation-through-the-chicanes/

They then dropped the ball. Massively.

 

[Kallan007]

Business must be good to rely on a such a reliable piece of equipment.