Editing VIC-20 (section)

== Applications ==
[[File:Commodore-Datasette-C2N-Mk2-Front.jpg|thumb|The Commodore 1530 C2N-B [[Commodore Datasette|Datasette]] provided inexpensive external storage for the VIC-20.]]

The VIC-20's BASIC is compatible with the PET's, and the [[Commodore Datasette|Datasette]] format is the same.<ref name="butterfield198104">{{Cite magazine |last=Butterfield |first=JIm |author-link=Jim Butterfield |date=April 1981 |title=Advice to PET Owners: How To Be A VIC Expert |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue11/17_1_ADVICE_TO_PET_OWNERS_HOW_TO_BE_A_VIC_EXPERT.php |magazine=Compute! |issue=11 |page=34}}</ref> Before the computer's release, a Commodore executive promised it would have "enough additional documentation to enable an experienced programmer/hobbyist to get inside and let his imagination work".<ref name="kb198009">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/kilobaudmagazine-1980-09/Kilobaud_Microcomputing_1980_September#page/n23/mode/2up | title=Commodore: New Products, New Philosophies | work=Kilobaud | date=September 1980 | access-date=23 June 2014 | pages=26–28}}</ref> ''[[Compute!]]'' favorably contrasted the company's encouragement of "cottage industry software developers" to [[Texas Instruments]] discouraging [[third-party software]].<ref name="thornburg198104">{{Cite magazine |last=Thornburg |first=David D. |date=April 1981 |title=The Commodore VIC-20: A First Look |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue11/12_1_THE_COMMODORE_VIC-20_A_FIRST_LOOK.php |magazine=Compute! |page=26}}</ref> Because of its small memory and low-resolution display compared to some other computers of the time, the VIC-20 was primarily used for educational software and games. However, productivity [[software application|application]]s such as home finance programs, spreadsheets, and [[terminal emulator|communication terminal programs]] were also made for the machine.

The VIC had a sizable library of [[public domain]] and [[freeware]] software. This software was distributed via [[online service provider|online services]] such as CompuServe, [[Bulletin board system|BBS]]s, as well as offline by mail order and by user groups. Several [[computer magazine]]s sold on newsstands, such as ''[[Compute!]]'', ''[[Family Computing]]'', ''[[Run (magazine)|RUN]]'', ''Ahoy!'', and the CBM-produced ''[[Commodore Power/Play]]'', offered programming tips and [[type-in program]]s for the VIC-20.

An estimated 300 commercial titles were available on [[ROM cartridge|cartridge]] and another 500+ were available on tape.{{According to whom|date=February 2020}} A handful of disk applications were released.

The VIC's low cost led to it being used by the [[Fort Pierce, Florida]], Utilities Authority to measure the input and output of two of their generators and display the results on monitors throughout the plant. The utility was able to purchase multiple VIC and C64 systems for the cost of one [[IBM PC compatible]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/run-magazine-34/Run_Issue_34_1986_Oct#page/n59/mode/2up|title=RUN Magazine Issue 34|date=October 1986}}</ref>