1981 Personal Computer Catalog 437
edibobb writes "I just fired up my scanner and uploaded the 35-page 1981 (+/- 1 year) personal computer catalog from American Small Business Computers. 16K RAM for $22; 10 megabyte hard drive, 5 meg fixed and 5 removeable, with 14-inch platters; 25-character per second printer. Things have changed a bit since then!"
Made in USA? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Made in USA? (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Made in USA? (Score:3, Insightful)
no promotions anymore (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:no promotions anymore (Score:4, Insightful)
It was Ronald Reagan that started the phase anyone who taxes or offers a higher price is a theif and that corporatism is a reward for sucess and creates jobs, etc.
The second factor is percentage of Americans who own stocks. I know former hard core democrats who are voting for Bush/CHeney, because they have 401k's and Ira's and want corporate rights upheld and lower taxes. They feel the greed system is for them and not the top 2% of all Americans sadly.
Anyway this is why the made in USA does not work. People want lower prices and view those who dont outsource as theives from their wallets as well as 401k's and Ira's.
Re:no promotions anymore (Score:4, Insightful)
It's like saying you should buy Microsoft Windows XP instead of SuSE Linux (even though SuSE is now American) because Microsoft is an American company.
Re:no promotions anymore (Score:3, Insightful)
And the ownership economy is for everyone. That's a good thing. It means that workers have a voice because they are also owners. It's a better solution than unions, that's for sure. Ask my co-worker, who was once kicked out of a union (and t
Re:no promotions anymore (Score:3, Insightful)
If you advertise something as "Made in America", unless every single component was developed, manufactured and assembled in America, you'll get torn to pieces on a slow news day.
Re:Made in USA? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think it's a shame that this has happened. I just think it's interesting. It's a throwback to a different era, when even little nowhere towns in the middle of Pennsylvania could fabricate chips, and tiny tech startups were happening in Florida and Oklahoma and everywhere. I really have no position whatsoever on whether or not it's better this way or that way, I just thought it was interesting.
Blast from the Past (Score:5, Funny)
Oblig. Apollo 13 quote (Score:5, Funny)
Oh the hair and the suits. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh the hair and the suits. (Score:5, Funny)
spot the geek (Score:3, Funny)
In this picture [xpda.com] which one do you think is the compsci geek and which one is in league with the devil (aka the Marketing guy)?
1981? Not Later? (Score:5, Interesting)
In 1980, I spent $269 for 16k RAM for my TRS-80.
That was 4116s, too. I can't believe I spent nearly an order of magnitude too much, since I watched prices in 80-Micro and Byte like a hawk.
My (ahem) memory could be failing, but I think this may have been more recent than 1981...
Re:1981? Not Later? (geezing!) (Score:5, Interesting)
Ugh, that's way worse than me first populating my Apple II 1mb RAM card at about $100 per 128k with those silly bank of 8 chips. I was forever bending those little feet. I almost got a woody when Macs with SIMMS came along.
Re:1981? Not Later? (geezing!) (Score:3, Informative)
The Mac Plus was the first one with SIMMs; four slots, you had to put SIMMs in in pairs (they were 8 bits wide, and the Mac had a 16-bit data bus), and you could put in 256K or 1Mbit SIMMs.
I have, in my attic, an Apple II computer with a little over a Meg of RAM (1 MB RamWorks card, plus 64K on the motherboard, and another 64K buffer on the printer card), and a Mac Plus with 2.5 Mb of RAM. I should plug them in and see if they still work...
Re:1981? Not Later? (Score:5, Funny)
1 year at 75% duty cycle. That's AWFUL....unlike my modern Lexmark, which only cost me $40, I mean that thing lasted.....oh wait
At least todays crappy printers don't weigh 44 freakin pounds..
Re:1981? Not Later? (Score:3, Interesting)
That was before the PC, where the "big three" were Commodore, Apple and Radio Shack or Atari.
Too Pricey (Score:5, Funny)
Here I sit (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Here I sit (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Here I sit (Score:5, Funny)
Holy shit
That is the FUNNIEST fucking comment EVER. I have preserved a screenshot in case it ever changes at http://www.simple-sam.com/ass_in_gap.png [simple-sam.com]
I am so drunk..... (because I took off work tomorrow). WAIT! I'm not drunk enough to not qualify my statement.... and I made the link into a link.... so I'm... uh... not drunk?
Re:Here I sit (Score:5, Funny)
Phone number (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Phone number (Score:5, Informative)
If you've ever been to Pryor, OK, you'd be amazed that anything technical would have come from a town like that.
Check out those hairdos and moustaches... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Check out those hairdos and moustaches... (Score:3, Interesting)
a blast from the present (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, the Slashdot effect hadn't been invented yet.
Oh man (Score:5, Interesting)
That remind me, I should pick up a few more drives, and finish off my home Terabyte...
Re:Oh man (Score:5, Interesting)
.......Novell!
Ethernet was WAY too expensive. At first we used 4mb/sec Arcnet. It had a maximum of 256 nodes and you had to set the address of each one by hand on DIP switches.
Re:Oh man (Score:2)
Re:Oh man (Score:3, Informative)
"This corresponds to a conservative baud rate of 1.1 megabaud...."
Megabaud? WTF? Is that some arbitrary unit of measurement that they invented to sound like this was wicked fast?
In it's defense, 100 megabytes of removable storange in 1981 was like 2 terrabytes of storage today.. so that was pretty cool.
Re:Oh man (Score:3, Informative)
At slow speeds, only one bit of information (signaling element) is encoded in each electrical change. The baud, therefore, indicates the number of bits per second that are transmitted. For example, 300 baud means that 300 bits are transmitted each second (abbreviated 300 bps ). Assuming asynchronous communication, which requires 10 bits per charac
Wow (Score:3, Funny)
I will say
Definition of server masochism (n): (Score:5, Funny)
Mirror... (Score:5, Informative)
I'll take it down if he wants me to, of course, but I thought it would help.
marketing (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:marketing (Score:5, Interesting)
I think modern adverts are much more serious; Back in the 80's everything was much more laid back and relaxed. I've got a collection of old Byte magazines from this time; For those adverts in color, the advertisers usually took the companies name literally (Eg. Smoke Signal Systems would have a company meeting with everyone looking as if they were having an 1850's fancy dress party). If that didn't work, then a beautiful woman in cocktail party dress was an alternative. Alternatively, using D&D characters (wizards, trolls) wouldn't be too bad either.
A good retro web page is TheOldComputer.Com [theoldcomputer.com]
Re:marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
I am guessing you were marketing to a more informed crowd.
Re:marketing (Score:2)
The only thing they compell me to do is throw up.
Things were a lot different then.... (Score:2, Insightful)
No threat of some lawsuit company charging you $699 for innocently using a nifty free OS.
Virus checker? Who needs it.
No DRM either
Coincidentally... (Score:2, Funny)
ah, the trs-80 color computer (Score:3)
trs-80 color computer [oldcomputers.net]
Re:ah, the trs-80 color computer (Score:5, Informative)
Re:ah, the trs-80 color computer (Score:3, Funny)
Sorta... (Score:3, Informative)
Joke I played (Score:5, Funny)
It's a stupid story, but I thought it was funny.
Credit Cards (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Credit Cards (Score:5, Interesting)
Cash makes the perfect budget, can spend what you don't have.
Just remember I think it is Sears that makes more money on financing than they do selling stuff. My understanding is that this is becoming the norm.
Yes, I know my post if offtopic.
Bah, Cash only makes "the perfect budget"... (Score:5, Insightful)
I have had a credit card since I was 18, I charge over $1000 on my cards a month.. I buy everything on credit card, including pay my bills. This way I maximize the free "points" my credit card gives me.
Guess how much I have paid in finance charges the past 6 years? I would say a max of 25 dollars *total*??? ( and that was only due to purposeful "letting it ride" for a few weeks since I was on vacation ).
50 dollars in finances for well over 600 dollars in rewards.
Seriously, credit cards are only "the devil" to people who have no will power. Just because I have thousands worth of credit in my pocket, doesn't mean I am about to go buy a car on my visa.
Not to mention if you charge something and you break it or it is stolen in the first 3 months, you can usually get a free replacement.. or if you get ripped off you can contest the charges. Try that with cash.
Re:Credit Cards (Score:3, Interesting)
That's because (Score:5, Interesting)
THINGS HAVEN'T CHANGED AT ALL. (Score:5, Funny)
SOME OF US DO NOT HAVE THE FANCY MONEY TO SPEND ON 300 BAUD MODEMS AND EGA SCREENS AND HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH WHAT WE HAVE GOT. I RECENTLY SAVED UP TEN BUCKS TO BUY A 32K EXPANSION PACK FOR MY COMMODORE PET. IT IS NOT PRETTY BUT IT WORKS.
BEFORE YOU ASK HOW I AM ON THE ARPANET, I AM ACCESSING VIA PACKET RADIO SERVICE. MY NEAREST REPEATER IS 25 MILES AWAY AND THEN THE NEXT REPEATER ON HAS A FOURTEEN POINT FOUR KILOBIT MODEM CONNECTION TO THE ARPANET. I WAS SENT THIS MAIL BY A FRIEND OF A FRIEND WHO HAS WINDOWS AND HAVE READ IT AND AM WRITING THIS REPLY ON MY COMMODORE PET USING KA9Q AND PINE.
BEST REGARDS AND 73S
PETER COOPER
STATION WS47X
Re:THINGS HAVEN'T CHANGED AT ALL. (Score:4, Funny)
The hair in the pic.. (Score:2, Funny)
Slashdot effect (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Slashdot effect (Score:4, Funny)
hmmm Fasssst Memory! (Score:2)
I still have a bunch of old Apple magazines from about the
same error. Computers were a lot more fun then. People
spent a lot more time hacking hardware rather than figuring out why the OS just bsod again.. oh well
My ENIAC boasts unbreakable security! (Score:5, Funny)
You think that's advanced technology, eh? You should come to my place sometime and check out my ENIAC. You have to be the 1337est of the '1337 to operate this thing. No hard drive. No mouse. No graphics... hell, there ain't even a CLI for cryin' out loud! (Real Programmers don't need no stinkin' user interface.) To enter commands into this baby, you gotta connect hundreds upon hundreds of wires, kind of like they did in the old telephone switchboards, where a human operator connected your call.
And best of all, this computer does it all.
von neumann? (Score:3, Interesting)
Awwww... (Score:2)
Thanks for sharing!
mirror anyone? (Score:2, Funny)
What's interesting.... (Score:2, Interesting)
$22 for 16k of RAM... (Score:4, Interesting)
Prices sure have come down huh?
Re:$22 for 16k of RAM... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:$22 for 16k of RAM... (Score:3, Funny)
Some things haven't.. (Score:2, Funny)
Ah, the daisy-wheel printer (Score:3, Interesting)
I once reprogramming the horizontal and vertical motion rates and printing lots and lots of periods to print really ugly bitmap images.
Catalog of Value (Score:2)
as opposed to the catalog of scandalous [theinquirer.net] corruptions [theregister.co.uk] that we have to live with today. Computer memory prices go up? Computer device prices should always be going down in comparison to what you get. F*ck the cartels.
Things have changed? (Score:5, Interesting)
They have?
I don't know about the rest of you, but I've still got a terminal from '81 still up and working within arms reach of me. Poor thing doesn't even know vt100, fortunately some OSes still have qvt in their termcap (most don't
I've got a new Tandy Color Computer 80 with monitor in my closet (new in box, only opened and used once!). (I can also get a hold of one that is still in mint condition, outer box hasn't even been opened.
If it wasn't for the multi-GHz computer I'm tying on, it would still be 1981 around here...
Woah! (Score:2)
whithe rthe MX-70 (Score:2, Funny)
seriously though, I wonder what would happen if you were to call Epson tech support about a problem with your TRS-80 and the MX-70 printer.
you had catalogs!?! (Score:5, Funny)
And we liked it.
Old computer magazine (Score:3, Informative)
the classic computer magazine archive at http://www.atarimagazines.com/ has the text from some issues of Antic, STart, and Creative Computing magazines.
Just look how advanced we are! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Just look how advanced we are! (Score:5, Insightful)
For all that developers have a bit too much ease of use vs efficiency, today's PC has apps that just weren't possible with that old gear. Non-linear video editing and audio compression just isn't going to happen on a 12 Mhz 286.
In another 10 or 15 years, I believe that computing will cease to be sexy in any way shape or form. Don't get me wrong; advances will still be occuring but they won't be hot topics. Most major applications will have well understood methodologies for accomplishing them. APIs and architectures will be settled down more. That is the point where there will be value in making things a bit more efficient and maintainable. Hell, I even think the IP tulip mania will be mostly over with by then. But things will stay chaotic as long as Moore's Law still has steam in it.
1990 Computer Shopper (Score:5, Interesting)
I kept that around just to look back at times like this.
Save time - read the obligatory Slashdot comments (Score:5, Funny)
"Yes, but does it run Linux?"
"Bill Gates said 640K ought to be enough for everyone." which is then followed by 10 variations of "Actually, Gates never said that."
"I actually owned one of those (insert archaic by modern standards technology here)" which is followed by another 10 variations of "That's nothing. We didn't even have those abovementioned technology because Big Bang just occurred and we only had hydoren and helium available, you insensitive clod!!"
Snooze...
ObPython (Score:4, Funny)
Something similar (Score:5, Interesting)
I was building my own computer in 1981 (Score:3, Interesting)
I was building my own computer [electrongate.com] in 1981. It had a 1 MHz 6502 processor, 1024 bytes of RAM, Teletype terminal, and paper tape program storage.
Wikipedia (Score:5, Informative)
Magic Wand (software) [wikipedia.org]
Copyright (Score:3, Insightful)
Does that make ANY sense in the real world?
Blame the mouse... (Score:2)
Q.
MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:3, Troll)
Re:MOD PARENT DOWN - DISGUSTING PHOTO (Score:3, Informative)
Not bad, not bad. (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh, that'll last. (Score:2, Insightful)
BTW thanks for the mirror, quick thinking.
I think I will start selling
Re:A link on swbell.net? Oh, that'll last. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:A link on swbell.net? Oh, that'll last. (Score:2, Funny)
For MORE Vintage Computing goodness... (Score:3, Informative)
ByteCellar.com [bytecellar.com]
Lend your support!
blakespot
Re:Remember Bill Gate's quote? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Remember Bill Gate's quote? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Remember Bill Gate's quote? (Score:2)
Re:Remember Bill Gate's quote? (Score:2)
At least it would be if A) we hadn't already read it a thousand times already, and B) it weren't apocrypal.
Re:Idiot... (Score:2)
think before you start calling people idiots.
No. This would be an idiot. (Score:3, Funny)
from the never-attended-skool dept.
idiotbob writes "I just fired up my scanner and uploaded the 1650-page (+/- 100 pages) 1998 Fall/Winter catalog from Sear and Roebuck in 300dpi, 24bit color, even the b&w pages! 100% Cotton V neck T-shirts (3 pack) for $12; Black and Decker cordless screwdriver, 40" Big screen Color TV, with remote control; Kingsize polyester bedspread ensembles in solid or floral pattern! Hosted on my home ISDN connection. Wow, things we
Re:Long advertisements (Score:3, Interesting)
Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was working for a small computer company that also advertised in Byte and our ads (some done in part by yours truly) were just like that. The reason was that at the time most such companies were selling to engineers and other technical people who wanted *specs* above all. Pictures were nice, but they wanted technical details. If we skimped on detail and tried to insert product photos ins