http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-COMMODORE-ROTA ... dZViewItem
A commodore brand phone!
Gasp! A Commodore phone?
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Yeah, I remember here in Canada the VICmodem came boxed with a Northern Telecom phone like the one in the picture. I'm not completely sure why, but I think it might have been because in the 1970's and early 1980s, telephones in canada were ALL made by BELL/Northern Telelcom and you could not disconnect the handset from the cable. So this one (I believe), either came with a handset that could be disconnected (so once you dialed the number you could hook the wire into your VICmodem) or it came with a simple Y-splitter so you could have both your VICmodem and phone hooked up at the same time.
Anyway, I think it had to do with telecommunication laws in Canada at the time.
I know all of this because I remember the VICmodem in Canada was horrendously expensive (partly because it came with the phone). I was thinking about buying one in during a visit to the US, but after seeing the ones sold there didn't come with a phone (you had to hook the handset wire from your home phone into the modem after you dialed the number and heard the carrier) we didn't buy it (becuase we couldn't get a phone like that in Canada).
Sorry for the disjointed message above. I think you'll find all the phones that show up like this are Canadian.
Anyway, I think it had to do with telecommunication laws in Canada at the time.
I know all of this because I remember the VICmodem in Canada was horrendously expensive (partly because it came with the phone). I was thinking about buying one in during a visit to the US, but after seeing the ones sold there didn't come with a phone (you had to hook the handset wire from your home phone into the modem after you dialed the number and heard the carrier) we didn't buy it (becuase we couldn't get a phone like that in Canada).
Sorry for the disjointed message above. I think you'll find all the phones that show up like this are Canadian.
Yes I have one of those boxes. If I get a chance I'll read the small type and see what it says.carlsson wrote:That VIC-20 box is also decorated with what looks like the Candian Olympic Committee. How or why? There seems to have been a lot of co-operation like that I had no idea of. Could that VIC be sold at the time Calgary had applied for (but not yet awarded) Winter Olympics 1988?