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1981 Personal Computer Catalog

Posted by michael on from the old-skool dept.

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!"

15 of 437 comments (clear)

  1. 1981? Not Later? by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I suspect that was actually from later than 1981.

    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...

    --
    Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
    www.fogbound.net
  2. Oh man by ryanr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I really wanted one of those Corvus drives about that time. You could hook your Apple ][ up to them, several simultaneously, in fact. They functioned like a rudimentary network. If I coulda had a whole 10 *MB*... that would have been like having 70(!) simultaneous 143K floppy disks worth. The warez board I would have run....

    That remind me, I should pick up a few more drives, and finish off my home Terabyte...

    1. Re:Oh man by netringer · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I really wanted one of those Corvus drives about that time. You could hook your Apple ][ up to them, several simultaneously, in fact. They functioned like a rudimentary network.
      AND as I recall as Local Area Networks began viable Corvus took that file sharing idea and became known as....guess who?


      .......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.

      --
      Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
  3. marketing by shams42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To me, what is even more striking than the change in computer technology is the change in marketing! Everytime I see an early 80s advertisement, I just want to laugh at the naivete. Is this presentism, or have modern ads really become that much more compelling?

    1. Re:marketing by SmackCrackandPot · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Everytime I see an early 80s advertisement, I just want to laugh at the naivete. Is this presentism, or have modern ads really become that much more compelling?

      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

  4. Re:1981? Not Later? (geezing!) by Rick+Zeman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    n 1980, I spent $269 for 16k RAM for my TRS-80.

    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. :)

  5. Re:Credit Cards by Quill_28 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    hmmmm... I have actually shredded my credit cards and have one debit card used for gas and internet purchases.

    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.

  6. Things have changed? by evilviper · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Things have changed a bit since then!"

    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...
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  7. Re:$22 for 16k of RAM... by cliffy2000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, it would be $1,441,792. 22 * 1024^2 / 16. You forgot to multiply by 22/16. Close, though!

  8. That's because by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The credit card compaines got on them about it. Declared if you didn't offer credit for same as cash pricing, they'd yank your verification system so you couldn't take cards anymore. There are actually several ongoing lawsuits about this (companies claiming this an unfair practice).

  9. Just look how advanced we are! by chevybowtie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Since the average guy has to run the spam filter, virus scanner, Service Pack 12, pop-up blocker and spy-ware removal tools, his new Dell runs about the same today as those did. Why did we have to go from 4.77 Mhz to > 3000 Mhz and and not see near 1000 fold increase in snappyness? Because of all the freakin' 3l337 haxor d00d, because-I-can-spammer's, Gaim a**holes, MS programming school of buffer mangement & X10 snakeoil salesmen.

  10. 1990 Computer Shopper by suso · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Somewhere in my parent's house is a 1990 issue of Computer Shopper with the world's only 4GB hard drive at the time (by IBM). price: $20,000

    I kept that around just to look back at times like this.

  11. no promotions anymore by asv108 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Remember 15+ years ago when a lot of products would feature in advertisements that they were made in the USA? A lot of it was a reaction to perceived threat from Japan and the thought of NAFTA. In current times that is a rarity, globalization aside. Even though people are buying Mercedes made in Alabama and tech support from India, it would be interesting to see a return of promotional campaign designed to promote goods made in the US. Perhaps there can be a similar campaign designed to promote companies that don't use overseas labor?

  12. Something similar by danuary · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Check out this unix ad, also from 1981 (hi Bob! -dp). Brought to you by Bell Labs. It's amazing how times have changed......

  13. Re:Made in USA? by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think alot of people misunderstood my post. Probably my fault as I wasn't entirely clear.

    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.