It did have a number of ace cards in its hand, though. It had become the standard system for business applications worldwide (most of its rivals only enjoyed success in certain territories), a large number of manufacturers offered systems and it was upgradable. For these reasons, and the fact that software publishers were desperate to get away from having to create their masterpieces in so many different editions, it came to dominate the industry.

Commodore, despite having built their business on the success of the Amiga, could clearly see that the future was PC-shaped, and this week 10 years ago they unveiled their attempt at capturing the consumer and low end business PC market. They, like their rivals Atari, had dabbled in the market before, but also like Atari, they'd never achieved significant success. Now, though, their biggest ever marketing spend (£3 million) was put behind their PC Starter Pack range. TV spots, national press ads and poster sites were all used to get the message across and each machine came in a large, brightly coloured box - a first for PCs - together with a tutorial video hosted by Tim Brooke-Taylor to guide the new user through those difficult first steps.

Another trick Commodore had picked up from the success of the Amiga was the importance of bundling software with the system, and each model in the PC range came with an integrated office suite and tutorial programs. The range started at £650 for the PC10, which came with a single disk drive and a mono monitor, and High Street retailers eagerly jumped aboard the Commodore bandwagon.

Given the nature of the advertising and the consumer-friendly packaging and approach, perhaps Commodore should also have thrown in some games too, but they were terrified of scaring off the low-end business buyer. This low-end business buyer was the same person they had targeted with the Amiga 1000 five years previously, though. He had been a disappointment then and it was only when the games boys had got to grips with the Amiga that the format became a success. Sadly for Commodore, despite their best efforts, he didn't bite this time either. A certain number were sold, both to consumers and businesses, but not enough to justify their efforts and marketing spend. Besides, a PC was a PC so there were heaps of rivals that, without Commodore's infrastructure to support, could cheerfully undercut them on price. This same factor also led to Amstrad bailing out of the market they had done so much to build a few years later.

After this 'learning experience' Commodore decided to return to proprietary technology with a CD-based home multimedia system called CDTV - but that's another story...