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Topic: After Hours

Nostalgia Tech 2: 20 Retro PC Ads

Summary: Take a trip down memory lane with these old PC ads. We sure have come a long way since then -- on style and pricing.

Eileen Brown

By Eileen Brown for Social Business |

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Commodore VIC 20, Texas TI-994 and Dragon 32

All sold in Dixons

Nostalgia Tech: 15 cool Steampunk gadgets

 

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Topics: After Hours, Apple, Hardware, IBM, Microsoft, Unified Comms

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23 comments
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  • Interesting.

    I knew only 4 out of that list.
    Rama.NET
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Okay

      ... so let's get this straight: you were "involved" with the Radio Shack guy; the tacky, comb-over Exec', by the pool, with the C-64; the Honeywell guy, and the Franklin look alike.

      ... Well, no one could ever say you're not kinky.


      (p.s. by the way, that would have to make you like a complete dinosaur ... how old are you?)
      thx-1138_@...
      Reply Vote

      • Not sure where the attitude is coming from...

        I predate ALL of those products. It's more fun having seen all the steps it took to get to today's computers, to be honest.

        But hey - if you want to be a mindless consumer who buys what they're told to and doesn' t know better because you don't know anything more than 5 years old....

        Oh wait.. you are.
        TheWerewolf
        Reply Vote

  • Who says sex doesn't sell? I want Interlude today!

    Unfortunately, I sold my Apple II+ a long time ago. Darn. I wonder how she looks today? Grin.
    kenosha77a
    Reply 3 Votes

  • I remember most of those ads.

    Wow. What a great memory lane trip.
    Bruizer
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Whu....

    TEN MEGABYES for only $5995.00?!?!?!

    That's awesome, but how in the world could I ever fill TEN MEGABYES!!! I mean that's like 10 million double spaced, typed pages of information.

    I think I'll save a few bucks and go for the model with the 5 megabyte hard drive.
    dsf3g
    Reply 3 Votes

    • And the best part was 8.3 file names.

      No sub-directories:-)
      Bruizer
      Reply 3 Votes

    • Wait.. it gets better...

      That was in mid-1970s dollars. That's over $25,000 in today's dollars.

      To make it scarier - Apple's first try at the Macintosh - the Lisa - sold for $10,000 which would be around $40,000 today.
      TheWerewolf
      Reply Vote

    • RE: that's like 10 million double spaced, typed pages of information.

      No that's like 10 million characters.
      AnalogJoystick
      Reply Vote

  • Laughable

    Who would need a 16bit microprocessor when you get 8bit with the entry level.
    As if anyone's going to utilise the power of a 16bit model!
    Little Old Man
    Reply 3 Votes

  • Telecoms Breakthrough.

    Dial up 56 KBaud...

    How I miss those days....
    Bozzer
    Reply 1 Vote

  • This stuff is funny

    It's hilarious how 'hipster' is the new Nerd 2.0, but somehow that makes it cool.
    Joe_Raby
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Dates!!

    Really would like to see the dates for all of those models. ... and I lusted after many of them.
    Peter Sabin
    Reply Vote

  • The Vanguard Ad'

    I really liked that machine in the Vanguard ad' ... the I/O must've been great at the time.


    (... the freestanding, Vanguard computer mustn't have been too bad either [sic])
    thx-1138_@...
    Reply Vote

  • Higher Billing Rates...

    Ha! Imagine how much it would cost to get Bill Gates on your ads today!?!
    ReadandShare
    Reply Vote

  • Sexy Flashback

    Awesome set of ads Eileen. I remember many of these devices The first ad was super provocative and must have warmed up many pocket protectors and steamed up more than one pair of eye glasses :-)
    eBizROI
    Reply Vote

  • Love the Vanguard ad!

    But what's with the hairy guy sitting at the pool? Is he crazy!!
    zaine_ridling
    Reply Vote

  • What's funny

    What's funny is that the TRS80 came with a chicklet keyboard to save money, and to me that was a compromise that made it less than a "real" computer with a real keyboard with sculpted keycaps. And yet today, chicklet keyboards are pretty much standard on laptops and becoming more an more common on desktops. I guess the TRS80 was just ahead of its time!
    dsf3g
    Reply 2 Votes

    • Which is sad,

      there's nothing like a proper tactile keyboard vs those rubbish chicklet keys.

      what next, the Atari 400 membrane keypad replacing the chicklet keys? (Hurry up Apple, get there so you can say you invented it... oh, Apple, your chicklet keyboard is the first thing I shelved after unboxing my 2009 Mac Pro... and based on the open email, there's nothing conclusive suggesting a proper refresh is coming out in 2013... just vague wording that can mean anything. What does 'something special' mean, since it wasn't necessarily used in the context of 'Mac Pro', but I digress...)
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

  • Tha ads are awesome, thank you

    but you have got to do something with your slideshow. This blinking and jumping up and down makes it an awful experience.
    -nihilist-
    Reply Vote
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