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VIC-20: History, Applications & Measurement

The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in September 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units…

Language: English [EN]
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VIC-20 topic overview

The analysis highlights History, Applications and Measurement as prominent areas in the source structure around VIC-20.

Related topics
125
Source areas
6
Connected nodes
131
Extracted relationships
231
Concept neighborhoods
29
Bridge connections
131

What this topic covers Research coverage

Source areas are shown by the number of related topics found in each part of the analysis. Use smaller areas too: they can reveal specialized angles and content gaps.

Design · 59 topics
History · 35 topics
Applications · 16 topics
Marketing and retail · 7 topics
Overview · 6 topics
Reception · 2 topics

Smaller areas are not necessarily less important. They contain fewer connections in this analysis and can be useful for finding specialized angles or coverage gaps.

Key facts & relationships

High-confidence facts extracted from structured source data. Use them as anchors for further research.

CPU
MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.108 MHz (PAL) @ 1.02 MHz (NTSC)
Discontinued
January 1985; 41 years ago (1985-01)
Display
Commodore 1701; 176 × 184, 16-color composite palette
Graphics
MOS Technology VIC
Introductory price
US$299.95 (equivalent to $1,060 in 2025)
Lifespan
5 years

Explore all related topics Closing gaps

Browse the complete topic structure, not only the most central items. Less prominent entities and concepts can reveal missing angles, specialized context and useful research gaps. Each item opens a new analysis centered on that subject.

Overview

History

Design

Applications

Marketing and retail

Reception

Advanced semantic analysis

Deeper signals for content research, entity SEO and topical coverage. The plain-language headings explain what each technical view is useful for.

How VIC-20 connects Entity context

The extracted context around VIC-20 shows recurring relationship patterns in the source. For example, VIC-20 → Adding, An Insider's Account, April, Arnold, Bagnall, Beginning, Brian, Bruce Makoto, BYTE, Byte Memory Board, Chichester, Co, Cole, Coley, Commodore, Commodore Business Machines, Commodore VIC-20, COMPUTE, Connecting Serial RS-232C Peripherals, Ellis Horwood Ltd Another extracted example is VIC-20 → Commodore, Germany, Henry Morgan, I've Got, It, K-Mart, PET, Secret, Star Trek, Television, The VIC-20, The Wonder Computer, TV, VC-20, VolksComputer, Volksempfänger, Volkswagen, While, Why, William Shatner. Use these groups to spot repeated connection types before inspecting the individual relationships.

VIC-20

Top relations

related to Further reading · 63
VIC-20 → Adding, An Insider's Account, April, Arnold, Bagnall, Beginning, Brian, Bruce Makoto, BYTE, Byte Memory Board, Chichester, Co, Cole, Coley, Commodore, Commodore Business Machines, Commodore VIC-20, COMPUTE, Connecting Serial RS-232C Peripherals, Ellis Horwood Ltd
related to Marketing and retail · 20
VIC-20 → Commodore, Germany, Henry Morgan, I've Got, It, K-Mart, PET, Secret, Star Trek, Television, The VIC-20, The Wonder Computer, TV, VC-20, VolksComputer, Volksempfänger, Volkswagen, While, Why, William Shatner
has application · 18
VIC-20 → Ahoy, BBSs, Because, Before, CBM-produced Commodore Power/Play, Commodore, CompuServe, Compute, Datasette, Family Computing, PET's, Productivity, RUN, Several, Texas Instruments, The VIC, The VIC-20's BASIC, This
related to Design · 17
VIC-20 → Al Charpentier, BASIC, Commodore, CPU, It, KB, KB BASIC, MOS, MOS Technology VIC, PET, PETs, RAM, ROMs, The VIC-20, The VIC-20's, There, While
related to Graphics · 17
VIC-20 → Additionally, At, BASIC, It, Just, Normally, NTSC, Omega Race, PAL, PET, RAM-based, Since, The, The Super Expander, The VIC, This, VIC
related to Reception · 17
VIC-20 → Apple II, Atari, But, BYTE, Compute, Describing, Even, KERNAL, Looking, Radio Shack TRS-80, RAM, The, This, TRS-80 Color Computer, TRS-80 Pocket Computer, VIC, While
related to Decline · 14
VIC-20 → Ahoy, Believe, C64, Commodore, In, Initial, January, KB, Perhaps, RAM, The VIC-20, VIC, VIC-Talker, We
related to Evolution · 13
VIC-20 → C64, C64 PSU, C64s, First-year, It, Older Revision, PET-style, PSU, Revision, The, The VIC-20, VIC's PSU, VIC-20s
related to Memory · 11
VIC-20 → BASIC, Commodore, KB, KB RAM, KERNAL, Only, PET, ROM-resident Commodore BASIC, The, The VIC-20, Unlike
related to Peripherals and expansion · 11
VIC-20 → Atari, Atari VCS, CBM-488, Centronics, PET's IEEE-488, PET-standard Datassette, RS-232, The VIC-20, There, TTL-level, VIC-1540

Important terminology

Use these terms to understand the vocabulary surrounding the topic, not as a checklist for keyword stuffing.

Important terminology

computer commodore vic memory used kb ram cartridge first basic 20 home design pet graphics chip port one also machine

VIC-20 relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

TTTA extracted 231 structured relationships around VIC-20. Examples in this analysis include VIC-20 → CPU → MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.108 MHz (PAL) @ 1.02 MHz (NTSC) and VIC-20 → Discontinued → January 1985; 41 years ago (1985-01). The table shows each extracted connection, where it came from and its confidence.

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
VIC-20CPUMOS Technology 6502 @ 1.108 MHz (PAL) @ 1.02 MHz (NTSC)1.00infobox
VIC-20DiscontinuedJanuary 1985; 41 years ago (1985-01)1.00infobox
VIC-20DisplayCommodore 1701; 176 × 184, 16-color composite palette1.00infobox
VIC-20GraphicsMOS Technology VIC1.00infobox
VIC-20Introductory priceUS$299.95 (equivalent to $1,060 in 2025)1.00infobox
VIC-20Lifespan5 years1.00infobox
VIC-20ManufacturerCommodore Business Machines1.00infobox
VIC-20Memory20 KB ROM + 5 KB (3.5 KB free) RAM (expandable to 32 KB) 3.5 KB for BASIC (expandable to 27.5 KB)[a]1.00infobox
VIC-20Operating systemCommodore KERNAL Commodore BASIC 2.01.00infobox
VIC-20ReleasedJapan: 1980; 46 years ago (1980), Worldwide: 1981; 45 years ago (1981)1.00infobox
VIC-20SoundMOS Technology VIC; 1 noise and 3 square channels1.00infobox
VIC-20StorageCompact Cassette, floppy disk1.00infobox
VIC-20SuccessorCommodore 64, MAX Machine1.00infobox
VIC-20TypeHome computer1.00infobox
VIC-20Units sold2.5 million1.00infobox

Related concept clusters Concept neighborhoods

The concept neighborhoods around VIC-20 bring nearby vocabulary together. In this analysis, examples include Computer, Memory and Commodore. Use the clusters to find adjacent concepts and terminology that may deserve separate research.

  • VIC-20
    • Computer
    • Memory
    • Commodore
    • System
    • Basic
    • Kb
    • Used
    • Sold
    • First
    • Machine
    • Pet
    • Million
  • vic-20
    • Computer
    • Memory
    • Commodore
    • System
    • Basic
    • Kb
    • Used
    • Sold
    • First
    • Machine
    • Pet
    • Million
  • home computer
    • Computer
    • Home
    • Also
    • Tramiel
    • Commodore
    • Japan
    • Sold
    • First
    • Vic-20
    • Machine
    • New
    • Price
  • commodore business machines
    • Computer
    • Home
    • Tramiel
    • Vic-20
    • Japan
    • Design
    • Ram
    • Basic
    • Kb
    • Rom
    • Sold
    • Vic
  • personal computer
    • Home
    • Tramiel
    • Commodore
    • Sold
    • First
    • Vic-20
    • New
    • Price
    • Million
    • Japan
    • Computers
    • Design
  • computer
    • Home
    • Tramiel
    • Commodore
    • Sold
    • First
    • Vic-20
    • New
    • Price
    • Million
    • Japan
    • Computers
    • Design
  • color computer
    • Home
    • Tramiel
    • Commodore
    • Sold
    • First
    • Vic-20
    • New
    • Price
    • Million
    • Japan
    • Computers
    • Design
  • basic interpreter
    • Kb
    • System
    • Rom
    • Ram
    • Design
    • Memory
    • Used
    • Cartridges
    • Machine
    • Character
    • Vic-20
    • Commodore

Connections between topic areas Semantic bridges

For VIC-20, one of the stronger structural bridges in this analysis connects VIC-20 with Design. Bridges highlight paths between different parts of the map and can reveal research angles that are easy to miss in a flat list.

Min side: 3
VIC-20 — Design · splits 72 ⟂ 60
VIC-20 — History · splits 96 ⟂ 36
VIC-20 — Applications · splits 115 ⟂ 17
VIC-20 — Marketing and retail · splits 124 ⟂ 8
VIC-20 — Overview · splits 125 ⟂ 7
VIC-20 — Reception · splits 129 ⟂ 3

Map overview Semantic statistics

VIC-20

Nodes132
Edges131
Triples231
Avg. degree1.98
Density0.015152
Components1

Source & methodology

TTTA analyzes the structure around VIC-20 to surface related topics, entities, relationships, concept neighborhoods and bridge connections. Use the map to explore areas such as History, Applications & Measurement, including less central topics that may reveal useful research gaps. Automatically extracted connections are research leads rather than rewritten encyclopedia content.

Source: Wikipedia — VIC-20 · EN edition · Analysis: TopicsToTalkAbout

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