How the MOS 6502 Sparked a Computing Revolution

In this episode we discuss a microprocessor that helped revive home video game consoles, sparked Steve Job’s personal computer revolution, and made home computers widely available to the public: The MOS 6502.

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[pkparks]

I first learned programming on the 6502. About 40 years ago now. Starting on the Rockwell AIM 65. It had no assembler, you had to write the program on paper, assemble by hand and then enter the hex code to the computer.I later progressed to the more advanced BBC Micro. Ours was used as a development system for 6502 processors embedded in medical intrumentation.🙂

[CommandLineCowboy]

Perhaps another legacy of the 6502 are the ARM processors that are now in everything that doesn't need to run windows. Acorn computers wanted a upgrade from the 6502, they visited Westerm Design Center who were creating a 16 bit follow on from the 6502 the 65816. That didn't impress Acorn, but they noted that Western Digital was basically a one person company, if WDC could design a processor maybe Acorn could too. The result was the ARM a 32 bit RISC design that like the 6502 was cheap (25, 000 transistors) and had fast interrupt response so I/O could be done cheaply using the processor rather than needing DMA chips. WDC's 65816 was a design somewhat like Intel's 8086 with segmented memory. The deal breaker for Acorn was the 65816's block to block memory copy that took too many cycles for fast interrupts to work. I guess the idea of making a 6502 that could compete with the 8086 was attractive for Apple and Commodore, it gave them an upgrade path to PC memery sizes. Both companies ultimately went with Motorola's 68000 a much more elegant design with flat memory addressing, like the ARM.

[thebitbarn]

You missed one important fact the 6502 was also in the Atari 2600. Great video I have subscibed. And I will look into the book you mentioned. I have been programing in assembly for over 34 years if you questions I have time. Thanks for sharing... By the way I also repair everything Commodore... 8 bit in general...

[videooblivion]

Those stunning C64 demos also involve mastery of the subtleties of two MOS Technology chips, the 6567/VIC-II and 6581/SID. Those guys and gals at MOS were simply amazing. Many went on to work for other semiconductor companies and create architectures we’re using today. A special shout out to one of my heroes, Bob Yannes.

[g.davidturnblom]

One great thing about the 6502 is that the ISA (instruction set architecture) is one of the easiest to memorize since all of the instructions have straight-forward mnemonics.

[ytgadfly]

I started out on the commodore PET in 1980 then bought a vic 20 not long after. People are beyond spoiled by tech these days. The vic 20 had 5K not megs or ram. It is amazing what people can do with the c64 nowdays. Some of the new games written for it would have blown our minds back in the day. I suspect you are too young to have used these products when they came out but glad to see the younger generations taking an interest in this old tech.

[vwestlife]

Silicon, not silicone. And don't forget the 6502's main rival, the Zilog Z80, which powered computers by companies like Radio Shack, Sinclair, and Amstrad, as well as a whole slew of computers running CP/M, video game consoles like the ColecoVision and Sega Master System, and Texas Instruments graphing calculators even today.

[ComputerHistoryArchivesProject]

A very nice introduction to the 6502 chip! Nicely done, fun to watch. Thank you for creating and sharing this! ~

[RMCRetro]

Hey that was a fun video, nicely done

[halomary]

WOW Excellent Presentation. You seem yo be very humble and intelligent. Thanks for the great vid.

[fauxscot]

Nice video. Well done and I'm picky. (That was my era, and I'm familiar with 1802's, 9900s, 8008, 4004, 6800/68000, 8051/2 (and variants), 8096( and variants) and the usual pile of intel hardware, plus a few bit slice micros and the National Semi micros. ) Not sure what else you should talk about, but the big thing back then was the Harvard v. Von Neumann architectures and the contest between Intel, Motorola and National for the direction of technology. A slug fest. A lot of outfits came and went in the micro space. Fascinating time to be an engineer.

[jeremykrak]

Love this video! Who is this guy?! He needs to show people how Quantum Computing works

[Link-channel]

This video is really well done and edited! With experience the guy could become mainstream, but I think he has to change the part when he is talking: maybe learning fron channels like "Technology connections" or "Retro recipes"

[kimlebrocqu]

A nice piece of computing history nicely executed and presented 😁😁😁Kim😁😁😁

[PeterK]

Nice video, I am going 4C to bed now.

[charleshines]

I have a Commodore 64. It may not be the fastest computer there is (or even close) but it was a fun computer to play games on. I don't know how its sound compared to other computers of its time but it has the famous SID chip. Has anyone ever made reproductions of the SID chip?

[HelloKittyFanMan.]

Even some of Commodore's disk drives, like the venerable 1541 (and maybe the 20- and 4040), etc., use the 6502. The other drives like 9090, 1551, 1001, 1570/1, and 1581, use a similar processor too, if I understand right.

[MajeureX]

Sounds the 6502 was the Ford Model T of microprocessors - just as the Model T was the first affordable car for the masses, so was the 6502.

[fsim]

Am I the only one that did a double-take at seeing a MOS-labeled 6502 that was built in the 62nd week of 2017? :) Nice video!

[SilverSpoon_]

>the first Nintendo console
>guy uses a SNES paddle.

also how many companies did the same when it comes from >licensing a design that is more successful than the original.
>AMD Athlons allowed people to build decent gaming rigs
>AMD Opterons dominated the server and HPC world for a while
>Ryzen and Epyc are keeping on this direction.