Why Was the Commodore 1541 disk drive so slow?

UPDATE: I created a follow-up video to provide more accurate benchmark tests for the drives I discussed in this video:    • Update to my previous video on why th...  

Like millions of other kids, I had a Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive when I was growing up. For all the great memories I have of that system, I don't fondly remember how slow the disk drive was. All I wanted to do was play a game of Racing Destruction Set, but I'd have to wait seemingly forever for it to load. I preferred the instant option of playing games from cartridge, but all the great games were on disk. Fast loader solutions worked, so why didn't Commodore just make the 1541 faster in the first place?

This video explores Commodore's history in the disk drive market and explains the intentional cost-cutting and incredible bad luck that resulted in the 1541's dismal performance.

I worked on the technical parts of this video in collaboration with Andrè Fachat, and he did his own video on the technical details of the 6522 shift register bug where he gets deep in the weeds. Please take a look at his video if you enjoyed this one:    • 8bit-times Ep.24: The VIA Shift Regis...