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How Old Computer Advertisements Look Like

Still remember the good ol’ days with joysticks and bulky monitors? 1TB hard disks may now be a common sight, but did you know that people used to be excited over ads promoting 10MB hard disks? Modems were the size of radios, the Macintosh computer looked like a typewriter, and laptops reminded us of toolboxes.

We may have outlived 3.5-inch floppy disk slots, and today 10 MB is the limit for an email attachment. It took us (a mere) few decades for us to come this far. In comparison, we can now carry 64 GB (that’s 64,000 MB) of information in a drive that is the size of our thumb!

We’ve unearthed some retro computer ads to give you a firsthand look into what made the tech headlines before the age of keynote presentations, ultrabooks and tablets. You’ll never look at your gadgets the same way again.

Vintage Advertisement of Modern Technology

Vintage design is always described as outdated, old looking design with most updated products like Facebook or Nintendo... Read more

The Hard Disk You’ve Been Waiting For . Definitely one hard disk we won’t be waiting for in 2012, but still, this ad must be pretty impressive back then.

(Image Source: boingboing )

80 Mbytes For Under $12K / 300 Mbytes For Under $20K . Talk about cut-throat prices; luckily our hard disks don’t cost as much today.

(Image Source: Coyote Blog)

Seagate ST4096 . But Seagate, it’s a different story today – The capacity is no longer high. The price probably is.

(Image Source: Aresluna )

$3,459 For 10 Megabytes Hard Disk . Hmm, you can get a Mac for that price.

(Image Source: Vintage Computing )

10 Megabyte Hard Disk System: $3,695 . No matter what we’re comparing, you’re definitely losing out in today’s tech market.

(Image Source: VC&G )

Low-cost Hard Disk Computers Are Here . Ah, those were the days when floppy disks were the ‘in’ thing.

(Image Source:Nova Scotia)

Lotus Magellan 2.0 . Yes, Lotus, we get your message. We still love your ‘Search’ function.

(Image Source: adFlip)

Shugart Disk Drive . So that’s what a digital safe looks like. They are humongous!

(Image Source: Old Computer Ads)

Can Your Processor Pass This Screen Test ? It’s a black and white print but I’m pretty sure that’s green text on a black background.

(Image Source: Grikdog’s Blog)

Computer Operation in Real-Time . The definition of "real-time" has definitely been redefined. At that time.

(Image Source: Modern Mechanix)

Sexy Penril Modem . This is probably the reason why they stopped using "sexy" and "modem" in the same line any more.

(Image Source: Bionic Works)

1976 Apple 1 Ad . If the price doesn’t scare you away, just look at Apple’s less-than-fruity logo tucked at the bottom of the ad.

(Image Source: Mac Mothership )

Apple Makes Great Carrots . Here’s an early Apple ad with the kind of advertising tone they have today. At least they are carrying a more updated company logo in this one.

(Image Source:Image Source: Aresluna )

Two Bytes Are Better Than One . However, I’m not so sure what you can do with two bytes.

The New 16K RAM Card That Turns Your Computer into A Working Giant . It does require your computer to be a bulky giant. Just look at the size of that thing.

(Image Source: hardwareBG)

2 Cents A Byte! Sink your teeth into a helping of RAM without burning a hole in your wallet.

(Image Source:Image Source: izismile )

ExtenSys 64K for $1495 . Complete with Write Protection!

(Image Source: KrakLog)

1-2-3 Advertisement from Byte . Works at the speed of a… superbike?

Borge Specifies Verbatim . In the ad, Borge prefers recording his concert music with Verbatim. I think he’d love what today’s computers can do for music.

(Image Source:Image Source: VC&G )

Sony 3.5" Floppy Disk . "… all the way to two megabytes". I hope you know how lucky you are that we have gone beyond the floppy disk era.

Logitech HiREZ Mouse . The ad aside, we probably have not even seen this Logitech mouse before!

First Microsoft Mouse . Microsoft sets the standard with this gem that will be the blueprint of future mice.

Computers: ZX80 . A personal computer for just under $200? Sounds like a great deal! Except, it kinda’ looks like the lovechild of a calculator and an intercom.

(Image Source: Planet Sinclair )

Apple IIc . It might be a far cry from Apple’s super thin Macbook Air today, but back in those days, this nifty computer was the breakthrough.

1979 Apple II “Adam” . A cheeky jab at a good use for the forbidden fruit. Well, we can do better than Adam, can’t we?

The Imagination Machine . Hmm, there’s color, sound and the price is coming out pretty decent.

(Image Source: My Crazy Town)

Apple II and III . Apple has a way with getting celebrities and famous personalities to help with their ads, even when they lived more than two centuries ago.

Image Source: Aresluna )

The Small Computer That Won’t Fence You In . If you want a powerful processor, go with Sol. At least I think that’s what they are trying to say.

(Image Source: ruanyifeng )

Commodore VIC-20 . The computer is shrinking! And so are the prices. And it’s about time.

Osborne Computer . Ironically, if you still carry that Osborne model, you’d get the same reaction, but for different reasons today.

(Image Source: Reg Hardware)

IBM 5510 Computing System . Yep, extraodinary. In size, and in price.

TRS-80 Model 100 Video . Do you believe that this was what a portable computer look like? Imagine lugging that TV around.

Putting Color to Work in Computers . This is probably equivalent to us getting retina display today.

What Kind of Man Owns His Own Computer? These days we have a higher chance of owning a computer than a kite.

Commodore 64 . They asked a very good question. In fact, it’s still relevant today.

What The Heck is Electronic Mail ? E-mails may require no introduction today, but back then, Honeywell actually had to promote the use of e-mail with this quirky ad.

(Image Source: MoPo)

1984 Newsweek Macintosh Introduction . Ahh, cut and paste. One of the best functions ever introduced.

How to Turn A Sea of Data into Data You Can See . Now, isn’t the sea of data, easier to see? Pun fully intended!

How to Send Mail At 670 Million mph . Tons of letters to send? Save your time and money on stamps, and let Apple be your messenger.

(Image Source: n4p0 )

Keystick: Keyboard Joystick . If you put up this ad today, people would probably think that it’s a fake toy you’re trying to sell! Pity they no longer use this cute keystick.

Pocket-lint

Remember these the most iconic computing print ads of all time.

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If you ever want to see just how far technology has come over the past 50 years, print adverts can act as time capsules in a way that no number of Wikipedia pages or product photos ever could.

• 38 incredibly clever solutions to modern problems

From Raspberry-Pi-style computer kits sold by DigiComp to the first electronic calculators, the mega mechanical machines of IBM and the launch of the Apple 1, old computer ads offer a fascinating glimpse into what was once considered flagship technology, and what was once deemed “affordable.”

Take a journey back through our technological past with this selection of ads dating from the 1960s to 1990s.

• 40 obsolete technologies that will baffle modern generations

Digi Comp 1

The Digi Comp 1 could be seen as a forerunner to the Raspberry Pi. A digital computer, sold in kit form from 1963 for just $4.99, early models of this educational machine were made of polystyrene and plastic.

They could be programmed to play maths-based games, such as the strategy game Nim, as well as make computations by moving its wires and levers. This advert calls the “electronic computer brain” of the Digi Comp 1 a “miracle of the modern space age.”

HP 150 Touchscreen

Proving the touchscreen has been around for much longer than many of us would think, this double-page spread from the 1984 January issue of Forbes advertises the Hewlett Packard 150.

Having launched in the October before, and developed under the codename Magic, the HP 150’s screen wasn’t a touchscreen as we know them today. Instead, it consisted of a 9in Sony CRT display surrounded by infrared emitters and detectors. This system was able to detect the position of any non-transparent object, i.e a finger, and respond accordingly. The downside to this setup is that the small holes containing the emitters and detectors could fill with dust, causing the screen to fail.

Apple Personal Computer

As the price of PCs in the 1970s and 80s put them out of reach of the everyday consumer, many were bought and marketed at businesses, as this somewhat bizarre Apple ad proves. Not only is it being modelled by a moustachioed businessman, Apple lists all the ways its computers can be used to forecast business models and does so by comparing it to the “age-old business tool” a crystal ball.

At the time of this advert, Apple states that more than 300,000 Apple computers had been sold. To put this into perspective, more than 5.3 million Macs were sold in the last three months of 2018 alone.

The price tag on this 1975 computer may seem high but it’s even more incredible to think that was the bulk discount price if you bought 50, plus in modern-day money that’s equivalent to a staggering $83k[3].

Yet at a time when the likes of Apple and IBM were promising kilobytes, 15 megabytes was next-level computing. The size, and price, of the MX65 aimed it squarely at large businesses.

Sinclair pocket calculator

The innovations developed by companies such as Friden paved the way for Sinclair’s pocket calculator, pictured in this Playboy advert from 1973.

Positioning it as a status symbol, the ad describes it as the “world’s lightest, thinnest electronic calculator,” sounding remarkably similar to the kind of language Apple now uses for its own devices. It was considered such a fashion accessory, Sinclair sold it in department stores and jewellers.

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Electronic calculator by Friden

As a precursor to early personal computers, this electronic calculator by Friden was fundamental in the move away from large mechanical machines to desktop and compact devices in the early 1960s.

Its computational software was far-reaching in its capabilities and the display used on the Friden 130 represented a further breakthrough because it proved such displays could be made relatively cheaply. That said, this advert lists it as costing “only $1,695”, cheap in comparison to the previous machines but hardly a bargain. The ad also shows the Friden 130 being marketed as an education tool yet it was also common in payroll and account departments.

Tandy computer

One of the first computers marketed at consumers and schools, the TRS-80 Color Computer 2, also known as the Tandy Color Computer or CoCo, went on sale in 1983. Sold exclusively in Radio Shack stores, CoCo computers connected to a TV and, as the advert describes, could be used to “prepare a household budget”, play games and teach children to read and write using educational software from the likes of Disney and Sesame Street.

Its ability to play games pit it against the Commodore 64 yet its educational software gave it a significant USP. It was succeeded in 1986 by the Color Computer 3.

Many adverts from the early days of personal computing spent vast magazine real estate explaining the ins and outs, and benefits of getting a PC.

With the Apple I costing $666.66, the equivalent of almost $3,000 in modern-day terms, this was a hard sell. So much so, Apple placed this ad aimed at helping Playboy readers buy a personal computer. You still needed a degree of technical know-how to program and use the Apple II but as the ad explains: "The more you learn about computers, the more your imagination will demand. So you'll want a computer that can grow with you as your skill and experience with computers grows. Apple's the one."

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Commodore 64

Speaking of the Commodore 64, this advert takes aim at the high prices being demanded of Apple, IBM and Tandy with the tagline: “If personal computers are for everybody, how come they’re priced for nobody?” It describes the $600 Commodore 64 as a high-powered computer you don’t need to take out a second mortgage to afford and promises the ability to play “terrific” games.

This marketing certainly paid off. Commodore Computers dominated 40% of the market during the 1980s, outselling IBM, Apple and Atari.

Imsai computer with a 10MB hard drive

How about this beauty? An Imsai computer with a 10MB hard drive for a mere $5995! What a bargain. 64K or RAM, an 8-bit processor and a 12-inch monitor too. What a beast! Incredibly this price equates to just under $19,000 in today's money.

IBM Personal Computer

True to its word, one of the “good things” still to come was the IBM Personal Computer, released a decade later. Launching over 40 years ago, in August 1981, the IBM PC marked a turning point for the company as well as the industry as a whole.

Previous IBM computers could cost as much as $9 million[1] , take up entire rooms and require air-conditioning units and 60 engineers to operate. The company’s early PC models not only shrunk this technology, they did so at an “affordable” price. This ad plays up to this, although a 64KB diskette drive for $2,108 doesn’t feel that affordable now.

IBM Computing

Calling itself “The company behind the computer”, this double-page spread from a 1971 issue of Time magazine showcases IBM’s range of computers, tape drives, storage units as well as 88 computer programs.

Initially, the reserve of large, highly-specialised companies, this ad wanted to highlight its technology was for “businessmen, scientists, and educators” and was “just the beginning of a lot more good things to come.”

8K bytes RAM in 16 chips! 960 easy-to-read characters! This advert for the original Apple I, or Apple Computer I as the ad describes it, is poles apart from the firm’s flashy and stylish marketing today.

This was long before Apple was a global household name – three decades before the iPhone launched – and when personal computing was still in its infancy. This particular ad was published in both the September and October issues of Interface Age magazine in 1976. It was on sale for just 18 months before its successor, the Apple II hit shelves.

From 1978 this advert attempts to sell the $18,000 IBM 5110 as affordable and "easy to use".

So easy to use, the advert says that "...your own people could learn to operate the 5110 in just a few days".

Incredible.

XComp 10MB hard disk

Here it is, the hard disk you've been waiting for. 10MB of storage for the bargain price of $3398.

This wonderful bit of hard drive goodness ca,e with software for testing and formatting it should you need to and promised 10 times fewer errors than floppy drives.

The Spartan

The Spartan was a $599 upgrade for your Commodore 64 which added support for Apple II software and hardware as well as other highlights like 64K RAM expansion, four cartridge slots and an affordable price tag.

Rather than buying an Apple II, buyers were just encouraged to modify their Commodore 64 instead. Quite a marvel.

Sinclair ZX80

The Sinclair ZX80 made some bold claims of being a "powerful, full-function computer" that was capable of "matching or surpassing other personal computers costing several times more."

It also purported to be easy to use with the Basic language making it simple to program on your TV. The advert even promised you'd be writing complex programs within a week.

You could only order the ZX80 by snail mail but it did come with a 30-day money-back guarantee so that was something.

Apple II Plus

The Apple II Plus was a "complete" computer system which came with Basic, a lightweight carrying case and various options including "business software".

This computer sold 380,000 units before it was obsolete, which is fairly impressive given the quality of this advert. Apple surely has come a long way.

The Imagination Machine

The APF Imagination Machine was a mix of home computer and video game machine that released in 1979. It was quite a sight indeed, with a design intended to compete with Atari's offering at the time.

The Imagination Machine purported to offer more for its price tag than the majority of other machines available at the time. And it even came with two built-in game controllers so you could not only program on it but game until your heart was content too.

Sears Video Arcade

In the late 1970s, Atari had a relationship with American retail brand Sears which meant the latter company was seen selling the Atari VCS rebranded as the "Sears Video Arcade".

Sears even took Atari games and re-branded them with different titles as well.

The Sears Video Arcade promised 27 exciting video games to play with and colour TV support as well as a low price of a smidge under $180.

The Atari 400 was a personal computer system that put a focus on education, by helping teachers create computer programs on various different subjects including everything from history to the principles of economics.

The Atari 400 also had four joystick ports, but despite being an Atari product it had very few games to play.

• Atari VCS initial review: Imagine the SNES Classic Mini and Nvidia Shield TV combined

What These Weird, Wild Computer Ads Reveal About Our Changing Relationship With Technology

Words by Emily Gosling

Published on January 27th, 2020

It’s always interesting to see how yesterday’s imagined futures compare to today’s realities. At a time when the digital sphere merges so seamlessly with the physical one, that sentiment may be especially true when it comes to the history of the computer. How did those past utopian visions of the computer, a technology that promised to make us happier and more productive, really pan out?

It’s this question that makes a new book, Do You Compute?, so compelling. Compiled, art directed, and designed by cultural anthropologist and designer  Ryan Mungia, the book showcases the way that technology was sold and advertised in the years between 1950 and 1999. Seen together, this compendium of computer ads also reveals broader societal shifts around the nature of the workplace, changing gender roles, and emerging fears of robots taking over (which continue to this day with the emergence of AI). It also traces the computer’s trajectory from an enormous, expensive, purely big-business tool to a personal commodity—and hints at the future of computational technology that we recognize today.

Looking back on 20th-century perceptions of computer technology is both fascinating and amusing, satisfying a nostalgia for the quainter, at times almost sci-fi, visions of a future that we now know as the past. In the book, these ads are ordered chronologically and broken into sections that serve to show certain trends or the advent of various technologies over the years. These categories include ads during computing’s initial uses in aerospace and accounting in the ’50s; the proliferation of personal computers that was in its naissance in the ’70s; and finally what’s dubbed the “cybernetic meadow” of the ’90s, the decade when computer tech found its way into every aspect of life—from self expression in platforms like Blogger and LiveJournal to 1992’s launch of the jpg file format. It’s also interesting to learn how different many of our lives could have been without a certain investment deal that was struck in 1997. As told in the book’s introduction, Apple was facing financial ruin at the time, until Bill Gates pumped a whopping $150 million into the company to save it.

Mungia first discovered the strangeness and beauty of old tech ads around four years ago when, while researching for a different project, he found himself in a collector’s barn-based storage facility packed “floor to ceiling” with old magazines. In a Fortune magazine from the 1950s, he found a Remington Rand UNIVAC ad with classic, mid-century design and an image of a massive mainframe computer. “It was probably the first computer ad that I ever saw, and I was immediately taken with it,” he says.

After that, he became obsessed with the idea of old computer ads and began looking through more old copies of Fortune, which turned out to be a goldmine. “ Fortune is a trade magazine geared towards business people, and back then computers were only really aimed at big businesses and corporations,” says Mungia.

As such, the ads of the era fall into a few broad camps. There are the straightforward, no-nonsense typographic campaigns that contain a product’s name and a slick but gently futuristic strapline (IBM’s 1958 ad simply reads “electrons at work”). There are also photo- or illustration-heavy posters demonstrating the use of computers in the modern workplace (“a person standing next to a big computer and turning some knobs,” as Mungia adroitly sums it up), and the sci-fi-esque approaches that feel a bit like movie posters. Finally, there are the ads that use dense copy to explain to those holding the corporation purse strings how vital computing power could be for them.

“As the business machine field evolved from producing analog calculating machines to mainframes for voluminous data processing… computer companies were more dependent on strong brand strategies and design to help earn success.”

While today products like iPhones are marketed to all, back in the ’50s and ’60s there was no point whatsoever in appealing to the everyman. Computing was about investing in your company’s future, or advancing highly scientific fields like aerospace: a s Steven Heller notes his introduction to the book, the huge investment of buying a computer in the 1950s meant selling them was a challenge for agencies and marketers. “As the business machine field evolved from producing analog calculating machines to mainframes for voluminous data processing, the small handful of computer companies were more dependent on strong brand strategies and design to help earn their own recognition and success.”

One of the things that most interested Mungia as he was putting together the book was the relationship between design approaches and the pop culture and cinema references to computing, tech, and robots during the decades the book examines. Mungia says that the ways these “aesthetics merged” really starts to show in the ’70s and ’80s when ads, like movies, began using an approach that was “sort of pixelated, Atari-esque. The colors are very acidic, and while there’s lots of different typefaces, they all have a certain look—sort of a ‘computer’ typeface that you would see on an old arcade game.”

Heller, for his part, states that “the sexiest” computer ad he’s seen wasn’t actually for computers, but rather about them. The movie poster for Fritz Lang’s 1927 movie Metropolis features “an arresting graphic of the Maschinemensch (‘machine-person’ or robot), a shiny, metallic automaton shaped like a woman.” This figure became “the archetype for all the movie androids that followed—yet what is most important is that the Maschinemensch is by any other name a computer.”

This observation could be seen to prefigure the sort of computers-but-not-computers that are a seamless part of many people’s lives today (and often anthropomorphized as women, like Siri and Alexa). But while it would be easy to assume the ads of yesterday would play into the misogyny of the past, too, there’s not actually too much evidence of this. Mungia’s aim in curating the images—which he cut own from an initial selection of 1000 to around 350—was to have a narrative, “so it wasn’t just a collection of cool images: I really wanted it to tell a story.” Design-wise, this meant letting the images do the talking for the most part, accompanied by simple text captions set in Surveyor by Hoefler&Co.

The main thread of this narrative, according to Mungia, was how the invention of the microchip saw computers and the ads that sold them “shift from business people to regular consumers.” This led to designs being “a lot more freewheeling, with more off color humor,” he says, which paralleled how advertising in general changed in the ’80s and ’90s. “The earlier images with just a picture of a computer became much less common,” says Mungia. “They no longer needed to show the machine, it was more about conveying an idea. Graphics-wise, that freed up designers to explore other ideas.”

As Mungia points out, the ads become increasingly slick over the years. However, I found the spreads showing images from around the late ’70s, with designs created in-house, to be some of the most compelling.  Perhaps that’s because I’m a sucker for “ugly design,” and many of the ads in this category were either hilarious, terrible, or embarrassing, but there’s a ton of charm in the sheer absurdity of an ad in which a trio of computers sit together in a verdant field. Or a thoroughly baffling, very trippy poster from 1979 with the slogan “cast a spell. Win a sorcerer” as a terrifying man hovers over a keyboard, with multiple hands and maniacal grin on his face.

Such designs make today’s tech ads seem incredibly vanilla and dry, but then again, tech in 2020 is so seamlessly integrated into our lives as to go almost unnoticed. Even the Y2K panic of just 20 years ago seems sweetly daft. “The   seismic shift that occurred in our collective consciousness during this time period is significant,” writes Mungia in the introduction of the book. “What we initially understood computers to be—e.g. benign devices on which to do your homework, play video games, or keep track of payroll—suddenly morphed into something much more nebulous and nefarious.”

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These Old Retro Computer Ads Show The Amazing Evolution Of PC Technology

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Small Business Trends

15 vintage computer ads that show how far we’ve come.

Vintage Computer Ads

Ford instrument co..

Back in the 1950’s, computers didn’t really even resemble what we think of as computers today. But this vintage ad from Ford Instrument Co. shows how massive and different these devices used to be.

IBM System 360

Ibm small business computers.

Today, small businesses can’t get by without a computer. So it seems strange that back in the 1980’s, companies had to actually be convinced that having a computer could benefit them. But that’s exactly the purpose of this IBM ad. The commercial is aimed squarely at small businesses and shows how many different types of industries could benefit from adding just one device.

Radio Shack TRS-80

Atari 520st, commodore 64.

Can the whole family benefit from having a personal computer at home? Now, this seems like an obvious yes. But back in the 1980’s people had to be convinced about the versatility of such a device. That’s the basic premise behind this “day in the life” ad for the Commodore 64. It shows the computer being used by a dad to check the stock market, mom to pay bills, and kids to learn letters and numbers.

Texas Instruments Home Computer

Timex sinclair 1000, sinclair zx spectrum, apple macintosh.

This Apple commercial that aired during the 1984 Super Bowl is perhaps one of the most iconic tech ads of its generation. The ad introduced the Macintosh computer, but didn’t actually feature the device. Instead, it caught people’s attention by referencing 1984 the book.

Commodore 128

Dell for students, apple for kids, gateway astro pc.

And finally, computers were officially aiming to reach people of all ages with this Rugrats themed Gateway commercial from the 1990s. The ad showcased how software programs for kids could help them learn and have fun.

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30+ Retro Print Computer Ads from the 90s – Vintage Geek Design Nostalgia

Remember when a an 8 GIG Hard Drive was standard on a $3,000 computer? I do. Those were the days. I was thinking about my first computer the other day – It was a 150 MHZ Intel Pentium with an 8 GB hard drive and 64 MB’s of Ram & a 14.4k dial up modem I believe. Twas a beast. It was 1995 and the internet and computers were new to us all for the most part. I have rounded up some inspirational print ads from that era that I am sure some of you remember seeing – even if you don’t remember it, you can read the specs on the computers and remember how ridiculous it was haha. Hope you enjoy this retro print ad nostalgia!

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Do you remember any of these? Do you remember your FIRST computer? Tell us about it below! (IN TEH COMMENTS!)

You like this? Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @andysowards and like us on facebook @andysowardsfan ! We are also on that new fangled G+ doohikey .

By Andy Sowards

Im a professional Freelancer specializing in Web Developer, Design, Programming web applications. Im an Avid member of the Design/Development community and a Serial Blogger. follow me on Twitter @AndySowards

View all articles by Andy Sowards

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I stumbled on your site while looking for an old print ad I had but have misplaced. It was a seagate ad, i think. It depicted a track event with a really rotund man winning a foot race and his two thin competitors looking on in shock. The statement was: Increase your capacity while maintaining world class speed. If you have this, would you post it? It was on the wall on our computer shop for years and I would like to see it again.

Also, I remember most of these ads from Computer Digest and PC World, to mention a few. One thing they all did, was influence me to learn to build my own.

Thanks and take care,

First computer touched:Appe IIe (High School!) .

Soon after purchased my very own Apple IIc…

Watched movie Wargames (loved it!) Shocked that it based on actual functional technology, like wow … computers can really talk out load as well as to one another over analog phone lines???? Researched like crazy, ending up purchasing an Apple 300 Baud Modem along with a Mocking Board sound card, joined Compuserve, downloaded a war dialer , found a Backdoor Pirate BBS with a Uload to Dloads Ratio!…

Pulled off everything Mathew Brod. did in that movie had my friends and family amazed .. Have never looked back.. I Love Computers…!!!

First computer was in 1982, an Atari 400 with 16K and a flat keyboard. Boarded the endless upgrade train, going to 48K (max)… then adding a floppy disk drive from Indus (started with cassette tape) that had a digital display that counted sectors. Even added a real external keyboard later. Programmed in BASIC, had a pretty good (for the day) Word Processor and a dot-matrix printer from Sekoisha with no real descenders.

Later upgraded to an Atari 128XE which could never really access the whole 128K… who would need to, anyway?

By college I had experience working with both Apple IIs and DOS machines… but I went for the Mac (an SE with a 20meg hard drive) and haven’t looked back since.

My first Pc was a Packard Bell purchased at Sears back in 1995. It was a Pentium with an 8 gb hdd, 32 mb of ram and 33.6 modem running Windows 95. I spent 5 hours on the phone with tech support to have me reload windows 95. It is the reason why I’m an IT specialist today, got tired of calling tech support now I take care of my own stuff and get paid for doing it.

You pay yourself to work on your own computer? Seems…redundant.

The first computer I used was a Wang 2200T mini with the full 16k of memory. Later I progressed through their various system 20 and System 30 WP systems and larger MVP and low end VS (80 & 100) systems. My first PC was a 286 overclocked to 26MHz and a full 1Mb RAM – all of which I built. It was added to, becoming a 386/33 with 4Mb RAM and Windows 2 and then 3.0. Oh, those were the days … when a 2400 baud modem made others envious.

‎1986: 10 Mhz PC-AT with EGA 640*350*16 colors, 8.5″ AND 3.5″ floppies, 40Mb HD but no CD for a princely US$6,500 (US$13,000 today)… But wait! Windows 1.0 came free with RAM upgrade TO 1Mb. And I was king with 9600bps modem on Compu$erve

First real computer was a North Star Horizon running CPM. 56k of memory and dual double sided, double density floppies that held an amazing 360k each. Later upgraded to a Morrow still running CPM but with a 4mb HD. I had more storage than I could possibly use. Back in those days most of the software programs needed only needed 200kb in order to fit on a floppy so 4mb was huge.

Great memories. My 1st real programming experience was Fortran on an IBM 1800 analog/digital computer, used to power up massive 100,000 volt generators for Indianapolis Power & Light. It used removable 1/2 meg disk platters about the size of a double sized Frisbee. The first “portable” computer ever I played with was an Osborn around 1980. It was in a like suitcase contraption with a 4″ monochrome screen with 16K of ram, the OS was CP/M, and had dual 5″ floppies. My wristwatch would run circles around it today.

My first computer was a TRS-80 Model 1 which had a Z80 processor running at 1mhz. It came with 16k of ram. That will make you write efficent code!

it would be great to go back to those simpler days of discovery and wonder – and my first computer was a v-20

I was there pretty close to the start… I was a sales rep for a company that added the 8088 IBM Desktop as a sideline, after thought. Only wish I knew then yada yada… Went on to the Heath Co. that had been bought by Zenith Electronics to acquire the computer manufacturing division. Zenith computer engineers developed Z-dos and z-web to text between factories and the home office, the start of the the internet ? or close to it ? maybe… We couldn’t believe how fast things changed at the beginning.. the future came at us in days and hours rather then weeks or months… Over night we went from acoustic modems we rubber banded to land-lines and 5 mb hard drives… Once had my tech guy pause giving me a 10 mg upgrade for fear, “I’d get lost in it”… In those days we had to find the correct directory and then type in the correct command with the correct perimeters to run the simplest programs. All the bosses on “mahogany row” had the latest equipment, but were afraid to turn them on, or didn’t know how. The tech guys built plywood computers (they’d take a sheet of plywood and tack components out of the trash and made them work) to do the real work. As a sales guy, I’d go back there and tell them what I promised the customer… mirrored hard drives, image scanning etc. and they’d say I was nuts… now those things are simple and everyday… Those guys got hired by MS and Intel… Again, wish I knew then… yada yada…..

My first computer like most was a Commodore64 with 38911 bytes of RAM unless you used ML routines and then could use the whole 64K. I have computer Ad’s from the late 70’s how’s that for retro! 🙂

Started with a Vic-20 then went to a TI 99-4A, which I still had and worked until a flood about a year ago (miss that thing). Then I got my Mac Daddy Magnavox 386-16SX with 1mb memory, both size floppy drives and a 40mb hard drive. I upgraded to 5 mb of ram for about $400. It came with Lotus Magellan and as INFMOM said above, it was the best.

I learned a lot on the Magnavox and it is why I am in IT today. Best $2000 I ever spent. Now my coffee pot is more powerful but the clock was easier to set on the Magnavox.

My first computer was a Commodore VIC-20 which, along with the Timex Sinclair, was considered the first affordable computer for the masses. The VIC-20 had 20 KB of memory, and used an optional audio cassette recording device for hard storage. I’d program in Basic, storing finished programs on cassettes.

First was the Timex Sinclair. Next was a Osborne portable. Looked like a sewing machine case. Two 5 1/4 floppy drives, 5″ b/w screen and ran on CP/M. Then came a C128 I found in a dumpster. Ran for two hours at a time before it would shut down. After that a Tandy 8086, a clone 386, home built 486, then I can’t remember what I built until I finally bought my current Lenovo. Can hardly wait to see what the next 30 years bring us.

Lotus Magellan was without a doubt the best disk/file manager ever created. And fie on Lotus for letting it die.

I still have my first computer too. It’s a TI 99-4A, and still working. My C64 I sold in order to buy a C128 which I still have too. Next came the whole range of IBM compatibles starting with a 4.77 MHz XT over 286, 386, 486, Pentium, P-II, P-III, P-IV and a dual-core Running at 3 GHz. Quite a difference between the first and last one… Ahh, the memories… 😉

First used: Pentium II, 128 MB RAM, 5GB? HDD.

First Mac used: Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD.

First PC my own was given to me: P4, 3GB RAM, 160GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce 7050 integrated graphics. And I never want to go there again.

Built one last year with a Phenom II X4, 8GB RAM, 500GB enterprise HDD, and a GTX 570. THAT is a nice box.

I still have my first computer, a PET 2001N-32, and it still works!

that is awesome! Sadly I don’t have my first computer 🙁 We sold it long long time ago when we got our second computer (It’s funny to think most people resold their old computers like cars then, now old computers are like junk now haha)

I would like to use these ads for a post on Inside That Ad (www.Insidethatad.com).

just be sure to link back to us! 😀 thanks!

First computer: Sinclair ZX81 – I remember buying books of Basic programs and then spending hours typing in code to get a black square to move across the screen above a row of black squares that I had to destroy by pressing the spacebar to launch a black square at them… Oh and then the joys of saving to and loading from a tape-deck!

Oh, this is pure nostlagia! Me too, my first was a Sinclair ZX81 back in 1982, with a 10k ram pack (the wobbly one that crashed the machine when you just looked at it). I used to buy a magazine called Sinclair Programs (looked like a SF comic), and I’d type in program after program. Yes, moving black blocks around… great times! Did you ever play a game called 3D Monster Maze? No sound, big black blocks, but in glorious 3D, and there was a T-Rex chasing you around a maze. Far scarier than any modern Doom game! And yes, the tape deck. it was insane! listening constantly for the right place to start the program. I sold the ’81 two years later to get a ZX Spectrum (colour! Sound! Rubber keys!) and learned to program in BASIC to a pretty good standard, I was always tinkering (but still the insanity of the cassette recorder!). Then a few years later, the Commodore Amiga! Now that was a computer! The good old days…..

First computer: Sinclair ZX81 – I remember buying books of Basic programs and then spending hours typing in the code to get a square to move across the screen above a row of squares that I had to destroy by pressing the spacebar to launch another square at them!

My first computer was an HP desktop! Purchased back in’98 it ran a 300 Mhz Intel PRocesser, 8 GiG HDD and 64 MB of RAM. Best part? Floppy Drive 😀

ha bookmarking this!

First computer used… Macintosh 128k.

First computer bought… Macintosh SE30.

Jumpstarted my career and I’ve not looked back since… (well, except for checking out these awesome old ads… brings back many memories.)

That is awesome! I actually never encountered a mac until about 2 years after I got my first computer, and never messed with it again after that until college, for 1 class – then 2 years ago I bought my macbook pro and its been AMAZINNGGG

Love it! My first computer experience was programming ‘basic’ multiple choice trivia games in 1983!!

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We’re obsessed with these 19 amazing retro computer ads from the late 1980s

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Ultima IV, 1986

Though Gary Gygax may have created the role-playing genre with Dungeons & Dragons, Richard Garriott’s Ultima series (1981-1999) is considered the forefather of RPG computer games.

Maxell Floppy Disks, 1986

Throughout the late 1980s, data storage company Maxell ran a number of ads for its 5 1/4-inch floppy disks featuring a golden C-3PO-like android.

In this particular ad, he’s running a business meeting…

Maxell Floppy Disks, 1987

In this ad from 1987, Maxell’s golden bot is being served a floppy disk meal…

Maxell Floppy Disks, 1989

By the end of the decade, Maxell’s robots had moved on to … giving TED talks?

A-Star II Computer, 1986

IBM was a dominant computer company in the 1980s, but its expensive machines faced increasing competition as the decade went on.

Not all those competitors would be successful, however: Wells American positioned its made-in-America computers as IBM killers, but Wells American itself would file for bankruptcy in 1991.

Samsung Electron Devices, 1986

Samsung began to rise as a major IBM competitor in the late 1980s, as well. This jingoistic ad from 1986 positioned the South Korean electronics manufacturer as a company with an increasingly American presence.

Puma RS Computer Shoe, 1986

In 1985, Puma introduced a computerized running shoe that tracked distance, speed and calories burned when connected to your Apple IIe, IBM or Commodore computer.

The bulky, $100-plus shoes were hardly a commercial success.

Gateway 2000, 1987

Founded in 1985, Gateway (then called Gateway 2000) rose to prominence as one of the first direct-to-consumer PC companies. The company always played up its Midwest roots, introducing its iconic cow-print boxes in 1991.

Gateway was ultimately acquired by Acer in 2007.

Dell Computer, 1988

The other major direct-by-mail PC company in the mid 1980s was, of course, Dell. It was started by 19-year-old Michael Dell in his dorm room in 1984, just four years before this ad ran in Byte magazine.

Compuserve, 1989

Online service provider Compuserve continued to grow through the late 1980s with its offering of stock quotes, news and — yes, even online gaming.

In 1987, Compuserve had roughly 380,000 subscribers.

Toshiba T3200 Laptop, 1988

By the late 1980s, Toshiba was making big waves in the laptop market. Its T3200, seen here, was designed to be not just portable, but a full 286 desktop replacement machine.

Compaq Computers, 1989

Of course, no discussion of late 1980s computers would be complete without a mention of Compaq. By 1987, the company was selling $1 billion worth of computers.

Irwin Tape Backup, 1986

While 5 1/4-inch floppies were enough for lightweight file storage in the mid 1980s, larger backups required magnetic tape storage. That didn’t come cheap, though: This Irwin 40MB tape backup sold for “less than $1,000.”

Microsoft Excel, 1987

Introduced for the Mac in 1985 and for the PC in 1987, Microsoft’s Excel found much success as the first spreadsheet program with an easy-to-use graphical user interface.

Lotus Manuscript, 1987

In the late 1980s, Microsoft faced heavy competition from Lotus, who made the DOS based word processor Lotus Manuscript touted here, as well as the popular Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program.

Lotus failed to keep up with the move to Microsoft Windows in the early 1990s, ultimately dooming the company.

Citizen Tribute 224, 1987

The home printer market really began to take off in the late 1980s. This particular dot matrix printer was made by Japanese watch company Citizen.

HP DeskJet Printer, 1988

Though HP made its first inkjet printers in 1984, it wasn’t until 1988 that the company introduced its first-ever DeskJet branded model.

The technology was revolutionary, delivering 300 dpi quality. But it was also expensive ($1,000) and slow (2 PPM).

Logitech HiRez Mouse, 1988

Throughout the late 1980s, computers began to increasingly embrace graphical user interfaces, creating a growing market for computer mice. This particular Logitech HiRez mouse offered three buttons, a dirt-resistant roller ball and 320 dpi sensitivity for $99 MSRP.

Logitech ScanMan, 1989

If you wanted to scan a picture into your computer in the late 1980s, chances are you would have used a device like the handheld Logitech ScanMan ($309). The monochrome device is rudimentary by today’s standards, but being able to scan your own photos was a huge deal in 1989, even in grayscale.

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These Vintage Computer Ads Show We’ve Come a Long, Long Way

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An interesting photo collection of retro personal computer ads from the 1980s

This photo collection of vintage ads gives a glimpse into how the computer industry developed in the early 1980s.

Magazines were rife with these types of ads emphasizing a few particular selling points such as the new computer tech being educational, would help with your homework, would bring the whole family together in joy and harmony, and that would help the kids succeed.

During this time technology developed to a point where manufacturers could place millions of transistors on a single circuit chip.

This was called monolithic integrated circuit technology. It also heralded the invention of the Intel 4004 chip which was the first microprocessor to become commercially available in 1971.

This invention led to the dawn of the personal computer industry. By the mid-70s, personal computers such as the Altair 8800 became available to the public in the form of kits and required assembly.

The magazine stated that “a desirable contemporary personal computer has 64 K of memory, about 500 K bytes of mass storage online, any old competently designed computer architecture, upper and lowercase video terminal, printer, and high-level languages”.

The author reported that when he needed to purchase such a computer quickly he did so at a local store for $6000 in cash, and cited it as an example of “what the state of the art is at present … as a mass-produced product”.

By early that year Radio Shack, Commodore, and Apple manufactured the vast majority of the one half-million microcomputers that existed.

As component prices continued to fall, many companies entered the computer business. This led to an explosion of low-cost machines known as home computers that sold millions of units before the market imploded in a price war in the early 1980s.

The innovative machine was bundled with about $1,500-2,000 worth of software, and the whole package sold for $1,899.

The first laptop computer also arrived in 1981, the Epson HX-20 (a.k.a. Geneva). The HX-20 was about 8.5″ by 11″ and maybe 1.5-2″ thick and used a microcassette to store data. It displayed 4 lines of 20 characters on an LCD screen above the keyboard.

Of course, the most significant event of 1981 for the personal computing industry was the introduction of the IBM PC on August 12.

This computer ran a 16-bit CPU on an 8-bit bus (the Intel 8088), had five expansion slots, included at least 16 KB of RAM, and had two full-height 5.25″ drive bays.

Time magazine called 1982 “The Year of the Computer” as the industry grew up. By 1983, the industry estimated that 10 million personal computers were in use in the United States alone.

Ever since IBM entered the market, the term PC has taken on a different meaning. Although it retains the original meaning of “personal computer”, the IBM architecture has so dominated the industry that it soon came to mean IBM-compatible computers to the exclusion of other machines.

“MusicSystem generates the sound of any musical instrument – real or imagined! Solo or sextet. Rock or classical. Laid-back or loud. At home, the concert hall, or the classroom. MusicSystem sets new standards for computer generated music… Drop by your Apple Dealer and ask to hear Mountain Music for yourself. Now only $395.00”. 1982.

“With a calculator, pencil and paper you can spend hours planning, projecting, writing, estimating, calculating, revising, erasing and recalculating as you work toward a decision. Or with Personal Software VisiCalc program and your Apple II you can explore many more options with a fraction of the time and effort you’ve spent before. ” 1980.

“The North Star Horizon computer can be found everywhere computers are used: business, engineering, home – even the classroom. Low cost, performance, reliability and software availability are the obvious reasons for Horizon’s popularity. But when a college bookstore orders our BASIC manuals, we know we have done the job from A to Z.” 1980.

“Let’s face it. We all have to make decisions. Decisions that can change our lives. Decisions that make us happy or unhappy. Decisions that could win us fame or fortune. Now, DecisionMaster can help you make the best decisions of your life. Use Bayesian theory to peer into the future… even if you’ve never heard of the Bayes’ Rule…. If you buy only one computer program this year, make it DecisionMaster. And when it speaks, listen.” (1980)

Creative Computing magazine. 1981.

“We’re Corona Data Systems and we’ve made Starfire, a Winchester disk just for Apple II. What’s in it for you? 5 million characters of storage. And that’s not all. You’ll get Corona’s Disk Partitioning which allows for up to 16 separate operating systems such as Apple DOS and Pascal, all sharing the same disk.” 1982.

“Magic Window transforms your Apple Computer into a sophisticated word processor unlike any other. Streamlined to meet all professional needs yet be easy to understand and operate. Magic Windo can be used by anyone in minutes. Simulating a standard typewriter, everyone has immediate rapport with the system as no special training is required….. Magic Window solves the Apple’s display problem without expensive hardware additions. Using your video screen as a “window” you view what you type from any position selected with a single keystroke….” 1982.

Creative Computing magazine. 1982.

“If you guessed that a Practical Peripherals Microbuffer printer buffer saves time, you’re right. For the way it works, this inexpensive product is the most practical addition to your microcomputer system ever. With Microbuffer, you don’t have to wait for your printer to finish before you resume using your computer. Data is received and stored at fast speeds, then released from Microbuffer’s memory to your printer. This is called buffering. The more you print, the more productive it makes your workflow.” 1983.

“If you’re tired of inflexible personal software, it’s time for SAVVY. SAVVY teaches your computer to adapt to you. It’s part hardware, part software, and part remarkable. It lets your computer see things as you see them. do things the way you like to do them. It even allows for those unavoidable entry errors that we all sometimes make. What’s the secret? SAVVY can recognize patterns (other software products can only recognize exact duplicates) and you can teach it to recognize your language. That means it will carry out your commands instead of flashing ‘error’ messages.” 1983.

Advanced Logic Systems (ALS) CP/M Card for Apple II.

Creative Computing magazine. 1983.

Creative Computing. 1985.

Kilobaud Microcomputing magazine. 1979.

Računar magazine. 1987.

Računari magazine. 1988.

BodyLink COMET (Computerized Muscle Exerciser and Trainer). 1986.

“The system is packaged in a totally shielded single case, housing two full-size dual-sided floppy disk drives, a full sized 12″ video monitor, the keyboard and the SDS-100 computer power. For the more technical features: 32K Random Access Memory, 1,025,024 Bytes of on line disk storage…”

(Photo credit: Pinterest / Flickr / Wikimedia Commons / Personal Computer History: 1975-1984 by Daniel Knight).

Updated on: October 7, 2022

Any factual error or typo?  Let us know.

THE FLASHBAK SHOP

Visit the shop

Personal Computer Ads from the 1980s

It's the early eighties, and the computer was finally entering the home in a big way.  Of course, most of us had no idea how to use these things ...

It’s the early eighties, and the computer was finally entering the home in a big way.  Of course, most of us had no idea how to use these things … and software and hardware companies were only too quick to tell us exactly what we needed to buy.  Whether it was a dot matrix printer for the home or word processing software for small businesses, the booming eighties economies meant a seemingly unlimited supply of consumers rabidly gobbling up any tech put before them.  So, let’s have a look at few items for sale…

“Let’s face it.  We all have to make decisions.  Decisions that can change our lives.  Decisions that make us happy or unhappy.  Decisions that could win us fame or fortune. Now, DecisionMaster can help you make the best decisions of your life. Use Bayesian theory to peer into the future… even if you’ve never heard of the Bayes’ Rule…. If you buy only one computer program this year, make it DecisionMaster. And when it speaks, listen .” (1980)

Personal Computer ads, whether it be software or hardware, promised the moon in their advertising.  By the end of the eighties, the promises became tempered by a growing consumer awareness of what a personal computer could really do.  The above ad literally sets expectations that your PC can be used as a crystal ball.

For more on unrealistic expectations see: 1980s Home Computers Will Make Our Dumb Kids Smart

Also:  Getting WAY Too Excited About Computers: Open-Mouthed Wonderment in 80s Tech Adverts

Creative Computing magazine (October 1981)

Kilobaud Microcomputing magazine (June 1979)

“The North Star Horizon computer can be found everywhere computers are used: business, engineering, home – even the classroom.  Low cost, performance, reliability and software availability are the obvious reasons for Horizon’s popularity.  But when a college bookstore orders our BASIC manuals, we know we have done the job from A to Z. Don’t take our word for it.  Read what these instructors have to say about the North Star Horizon:

‘The Horizon is the best computer I could find for my class.  It has an almost unlimted amount of software to choose from.  And the dual diskette drives mean that we don’t have to waste valuable classroom time loading programs, as with computers using cassette drives.'” (1980)

“MusicSystem generates the sound of any musical instrument – real or imagined! Solo or sextet.  Rock or classical.  Laid-back or loud.  At home, the concert hall, or the classroom.  MusicSystem sets new standards for computer generated music…. Drop by your Apple Dealer and ask to hear Mountain Music for yourself.  Now only $395.00” (1982)

Props to Tandy, which started as a leather goods company and ended up leading the personal computer revolution along with Apple and Commodore.

“With a calculator, pencil and paper you can spend hours planning, projecting, writing, estimating, calculating, revising, erasing and recalculating as you work toward a decision.  Or with Personal Software VisiCalc program and your Apple II you can explore many more options with a fraction of the time and effort you’ve spent before. ”  (1980)

Creative Computing magazine, August 1982

“The system is packaged in a totally shielded single case, housing two full-size dual-sided floppy disk drives, a full sized 12″ video monitor, the keyboard and the SDS-100 computer power.  For the more technical features: 32K Random Access Memory, 1,025,024 Bytes of on line disk storage…”

Računari magazine, 1988

For more Yugoslavian computer magazine splendor see:  Yugoslavian Computer Magazine Cover Girls of the 1980s-90s

Računar magazine, 1987

Creative Computing, January 1985

“We’re Corona Data Systems and we’ve made Starfire, a Winchester disk just for Apple II.  What’s in it for you?  5 million characters of storage.  And that’s not all.  You’ll get Corona’s Disk Partitioning which allows for up to 16 separate operating systems such as Apple DOS and Pascal, all sharing the same disk.” (1982)

“Magic Window transforms your Apple Computer into a sophisticated word processor unlike any other.  Streamlined to meet all professional needs yet be easy to understand and operate.  Magic Windo can be used by anyone in minutes.  Simulating a standard typewriter, everyone has immediate rapport with the system as no special training is required….. Magic Window solves the Apple’s display problem without expensive hardware additions.  Using your video screen as a “window” you view what you type from any position selected with a single keystroke….”  (1982)

1986 – BodyLink COMET (COmputerized Muscle Exerciser and Trainer)

Creative Computing magazine, September 1983

“If you guessed that a Practical Peripherals Microbuffer printer buffer saves time, you’re right.  For the way it works, this inexpensive product is the most practical addition to your microcomputer system ever.  With Microbuffer, you don’t have to wait for your printer to finish before you resume using your computer.  Data is received and stored at fast speeds, then released from Microbuffer’s memory to your printer.  This is called buffering.  The more you print, the more productive it makes your workflow.”  (1983)

Advanced Logic Systems (ALS) CP/M Card for Apple II

“If you’re tired of inflexible personal software, it’s time for SAVVY.  SAVVY teaches your computer to adapt to you.  It’s part hardware, part software, and part remarkable.  It lets your computer see things as you see them.  do things the way you like to do them.  It even allows for those unavoidable entry errors that we all sometimes make.  What’s the secret? SAVVY can recognize patterns (other software products can only recognize exact duplicates) and you can teach it to recognize your language.  That means it will carry out your commands instead of flashing ‘error’ messages.” (1983)

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How to sell the future

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When Apple releases the iPhone 12 in 2020, it won’t have to do much explaining about how it works, or what an iPhone or smartphone is, or how it could be useful in daily life. That wasn’t always the case. In “ Do You Compute? Selling Tech from the Atomic Age to the Y2K Bug ,” Ryan Mungia and Steven Heller comb through decades of advertisements for computers and other technology, asking: How does one sell the future?

“I think it was a big challenge for ad agencies, the people who were making the ads, to present the material in an interesting way,” Mungia said. “I mean, the concept of selling the future or, at the time, what was a very abstract concept to many people, was a challenge.”

Early advertisements, like the above IBM ad from 1934 for an accounting machine, relied on a lot of sales copy to explain the product.

“These really early computer ads were almost exclusively marketed towards large corporations [and] business people,” Mungia said. “The only place you could really find them was in Fortune magazine, which was a trade magazine for business people.”

By the mid-90s, IBM was a computing powerhouse and public perception around computers had changed. “In contrast to the earlier ad, this ad doesn’t explain the technology in lots of sales copy,” Mungia said. “It’s very visual, it’s very simple. It’s more about branding at this point.”

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The World of Personal Computers in the 1980s Was A Wacky, Wonderful Place

You can experience early video games and operating systems yourself through retrocomputing and ads

Maris Fessenden

Former correspondent

Computers have been around long enough that retrocomputing is a thing. People take the time and effort to make new computers run old operating systems and programs, collect the older machines or even build retro-styled computers. 

In a beautiful essay , programmer and writer  Paul Ford delves into the how-tos, the whys of retrocomputing along with the memories it stirs up for him, of his friend Tom who has just passed away. But the piece is also about a person growing up with computers and what computers might mean about the connections we make. Ford writes:

The typical story of technology is one of progress; your floppies get old and decrepit and you can’t see your old data, that’s basically your fault, and who wants to live in the past? But human networks often stick around for decades, half-centuries. People have been working on Smalltalk for more than 40 years, for as long as I have been alive. Just continually thinking about it, how to improve it, how to make it popular, how to get the world to acknowledge it. It binds them together.

If retrocomputing appeals to you, there are resources available online and people who are serious about this hobby. But Ford also cautions that this world is "scattered, chaotic, murky, and legally suspect," although, as far as he knows, "no one has ever been prosecuted for downloading twenty-year-old word processing software."

Along with the actual systems and machines themselves, there's another way to dig through the history of personal computers—computer commercials.

Vintage ads  reflect  how people thought and felt about things in a certain era—or at least how a certain group of people hoped consumers thought and felt. In early personal computer ads, there’s a conscious link to a sci-fi version of the future but also a push to convince you that these machines are fun: Just look at the excitement on this family’s faces! For people looking to take a trip into the past, here are some fantastic computer commercials:

An Apple II advertisement with a very processed voice-over:

Magnavox Odyssey, the "first commercial home video game," had you put translucent plastic sheets over your television screen to simulate color graphics:

A very futuristic ad for Amiga:

Only Amiga Makes it Possible:

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Maris Fessenden | | READ MORE

Maris Fessenden is a freelance science writer and artist who appreciates small things and wide open spaces.

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