New Zealand Vintage Computer Forums

While this didn't occur in NZ, but the USA, I thought it worth sharing here. The following is from the Wikipedia entry for Commodore 64:

"Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the North American video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore offered a $100 rebate in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to anyone trading in another video game console or computer.[27] To take advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers offered a Timex Sinclair 1000 for as little as $10 with purchase of a C64, so the consumer could send the TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference; Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year."

That would have to be one of the most craziest things to happen in computer retail...

Philip

I do remember a local (chch) dealer offering $100 off a DX2-66 back in the day if you traded in anything you could compute with, they were even accepting calculators. I'm glad I went to a more reputable dealer for my DX4-100 as a couple of my friends who took up that deal had nothing but problems with their machines.

pavery wrote:While this didn't occur in NZ, but the USA, I thought it worth sharing here. The following is from the Wikipedia entry for Commodore 64:

"Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the North American video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore offered a $100 rebate in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to anyone trading in another video game console or computer.[27] To take advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers offered a Timex Sinclair 1000 for as little as $10 with purchase of a C64, so the consumer could send the TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference; Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year."

That would have to be one of the most craziest things to happen in computer retail...

Philip

Yep. They mention it in Company On The Edge, apparently there was stacks of Sinclair 1000s lined up in the hallways of Commodore HQ for months.

Ahhh this explains why they used them as doorstops in their HQ!

I watched a video of the last day at commodore and the guy briefly pointed at the floor and pointed out the Timex Sinclair (zx81) holding the door open! I was always a sinclair person but that video still made me sad.