Blast from the Past: Old Computer Commercials

Bill Cosby image from ComputerCloset.org

I'm going through some computer woes with my MacBook Pro (more about that later), so I have been running through my past experience with the dreaded beasts. My experience with computing goes back to the Commodore 64 if you're talking hands-on experience with keyboarded computers. Prior to that, I had some exposure to my uncle's Commodore Vic-20, and the early home gaming units like Sears Tele-Systems (Atari) Pong, and the RCA Studio II gaming console. Of course, after that I've had some experience with countless gaming systems, and numerous other computers, to the point that I'm considered something of a guru, though sadly not with the Apple iUniverse.

Back in the early days, everyone was a novice. And picking which system to align yourself with was all guesswork. Commodore won out for a long time--at least with home systems--but eventually collapsed. Strong contenders were Atari, Texas Instruments and Radio Shack, all of which eventually died off. But it was a fun time, and there's a reason I included gaming systems. . .there was significant cross-over between them and dedicated computers, to the point that they usually took gaming cartridges.  Here are some of the commercials from the days when computers were nerdier versions of video games. See if you remember them. Or if you're too young, see what you missed!

#1 - Commodore 64 - This was the best of the bunch. A computer console with a scant 64K of memory, but endless expandability and creativity. They pushed this baby as far as it could go, and it was wildly successful for many years.

#2 - Atari 400 - This is a generic ad for an Atari computer from 1981, probably the 400. Atari tried so hard to capitalize on their arcade and home video game successes with a home computer. But they never really caught on. Noble effort though, and a great commercial.



#3 - TRS-80 - This commercial is from a later model. Radio Shack's little computer chugged along for years on fumes. I remember a friend touting the superiority of his first-generation TRS 80 to our Commodore 64. The truth was, his TRaSh 80 was little more than half-step past Pong.

#4 - Texas Instruments TI99/4a - TI made it big with calculators, and so they tried to get in on the home computer craze. The case was cheesy, and the computer was lame. But they got Bill Cosby for their ad!

#5 - Coleco Adam - Adam was the logical outgrowth of the popular ColecoVision, and both systems had adapters for the Atari 2600 game cartridges. Probably was a victim--like the others--of trying too hard too soon. Technology just wasn't there to make these things practical workhorses.

#6 - Apple II - Apple probably got to where it is today by insinuating itself into schools early. Every school with a computer lab in the early 80s had the Apple II, Apple IIc, Apple IIe or Apple III. I knew nobody who had them at home, but this was right before the first Macintosh, and really is where they got their start as a known entity.

Sadly, I couldn't find commercials for other early computers like the Timex Sinclair, and after that they get pretty obscure anyway. Of course. Atari, Commodore, Radio Shack and Texas Instruments tried other models, and some were moderately successful for a while. But when first the Mac and then Windows caught on as home systems, it was all she wrote for these other guys.

So, that's it for this weekend's edition. Have a great week, everyone. Happy Monday!

Atari Files for Bankruptcy

I love this picture. I'm sure there are full grown adults who have
no idea what it is. Image from source, HuffPo.

Again? I know that Atari has been owned by many different companies (it was Warner Brothers at one time), and gone through huge ups and downs. But I really didn't know "Atari" was still a stand-alone company. This is like me thinking that Conrad Bain, Jack Klugman and Charles Durning were long dead, and not just recently so. What has happened to my pop culture knowledge? Man, it sucks getting old!

[Excerpt]

Atari's U.S. Operations File For Bankruptcy

Video game maker Atari's U.S. operations have filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company. In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Blast from the Past: All I Want for Christmas (in the 70s!)

This week's Blast from the Past features all those things kids wanted in the 1970s. The oh-so-cool things we saw in the J C Penney catalog, or on TV on Saturday mornings. The things that--if we were lucky enough to get them--we played with a few times then forgot about, then sold at a yard sale later! But they were so enticing. Kids today probably would look at most of this stuff and go, really? But we were easier to please. . .

The Snoopy Snow Cone Machine is the only one I never had, though I believe the Gnip Gnop, Operation, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots and the Easy Bake Oven were all trash picked or second hand. The rest had a legit place in our rec room. The Lite Brite infuriated my mother, who kept finding the pegs in the shag carpeting (usually with her feet or the vacuum cleaner). Spirograph fascination was very short-lived, as was our Slinky love. SSP Smash Up Derby was fun on Christmas day, forgotten thereafter. Operation and Connect Four aren't half as much fun as they looked, and Skittle Pool was just a variation on all of the other Skittles (there were several). Of all of these, the Atari VCS (2600) was the one with the most hours of obsessiveness. I think we played ours for four or five years.

And that will do it for this week's installment. I hope Santa brings you all the toys you really want (even if they end up stuffed in a closet by New Year's). Meanwhile, have a great last week before Christmas, everybody!

Blast from the Past: Old Computers!

I have a little blogger's block today. I've been all over the political and news blogs, and can't find much else that wows me. And I try not to post things that don't interest me. So, I got to thinking about some of the frivolous stuff that gets my brain going. I started thinking about the "Wiki" holes I've found myself in: hours whiled away on Wikipedia reading about this and that.

One of the topics that lost me for hours was reading the histories of early computers and video games. The nostalgia bug just bites me, and I can read about the intricacies of the "console wars" between Commodore, Atari and Texas Instruments, and for whatever reason, I find it interesting. You might not be so inclined. This post will deal with computers.

Here are some of the commercials from the days when computers were nerdier versions of video games. See if you remember them. Or if you're too young, see what you missed!





#1 - Commodore 64 - This was the best of the bunch. A computer console with a scant 64K of memory, but endless expandability and creativity. They pushed this baby as far as it could go, and it was wildly successful for many years.

#2 - Atari 400 - This is a generic ad for an Atari computer from 1981, probably the 400. Atari tried so hard to capitalize on their arcade and home video game successes with a home computer. But they never really caught on. Noble effort though, and a great commercial.

#3 - TRS-80 - This commercial is from a later model. Radio Shack's little computer chugged along for years on fumes. I remember a friend touting the superiority of his first-generation TRS 80 to our Commodore 64. The truth was, his TRaSh 80 was little more than half-step past Pong.

#4 - Texas Instruments TI99/4a - TI made it big with calculators, and so they tried to get in on the home computer craze. The case was cheesy, and the computer was lame. But they got Bill Cosby for their ad!