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Originally Posted by ImmortalA1000
I think you have completely missed the entire point of the series, luckily it's all explained on Youtube by Bil Herd. Shiraz Shivji pulled out the Timex computer and told Bil Herd Commodore were doing the TED project (looked same as Plus/4 except no shit software built in and a Mattel Aquarius type keyboard) prototype he worked to sell for $49.99 retail to wipe out such machines. That is what the 16kb Commodore TED machine was for, a rival to the ZX81/Timex.
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Yep, a shit computer to rival other shit computers - that was Tramiel's design.
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The 64k Commodore 264 was going to be $79. Everything after that is Irving Gould, including the Plus/4 costing the same as the C64.
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So you say. But whether 16k or 64k (even at $79, if that was possible) the fatal flaw was the same- a chipset that was less capable than the C64 and not compatible with it. That wasn't Gould's fault.
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16kb is not enough memory, you end up with simple VCS style games and it's impossible to do games like Green Beret properly with less than about 48k-64k. You can't do games like Commando, Ghosts n Goblins, Green Beret with 16kb. If you check out 64kb TED based games like Pets Rescue you will see the problem is memory not TED, that was my whole point.
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The same could be said about many other low-end computers of the time, including the ZX Spectrum (16k) and even the IBM PC (base model only had 64k). The ZX81 had a truly pathetic 1K and yet sold like hot cakes, and users loved it! What was the difference? They were new on the market, not trying to fill a niche that had already been taken.
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The Commodore 16 was for mugs, if you bought one you were an idiot, it was only £50 less than the Amstrad CPC464 and TV modulator package 
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CPC464 with TV modulator was awful. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even available in 1984. And £50 wasn't chickenfeed.
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Memory is one of the biggest reasons the C64 lasted so long as a viable product.
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Even with 64k the lack of sprites and SID etc. and other incompatibilities made the 264 series a poor cousin of the C64. To make matters worse the TED chip was delicate and had a tendency to fail for no obvious reason.
No matter how much you try to excuse Tramiel, the 264/C16 was his mistake. Gould should have just dropped it and cut his losses. Lucky for us he didn't though, because now we have another interesting machine to play with. How dull our lives would be if Commodore didn't make mistakes!