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Hilarious Antique IT Advertisements
PetManimal writes "Computerworld has gone back through forty years worth of magazines, and came up with some entertaining IT-related advertising gems from decades past. Highlights include The Personal Mainframe, an image of the earliest screenless briefcase portables, and Elvira hawking engineering software. From the article: 'Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark? Besides appearing on TV in features like Elvira's Movie Macabre Halloween Special, Elvira also invited Computerworld readers to "cut through paper-based CASE [computer-aided software engineering] methods with LBMS" software. "The scariest thing about CASE is the several hundred pounds of books that land on your desk and for which you've paid fifteen gazillion dollars, when you buy off on a CASE development methodology," she writes. Can you guess what year Elvira appeared in this Computerworld ad? Headline hint: "IBM delays notebook arrival in U.S."'"
Um...1991? (Check the "copyright" at the bottom of the image.) Jeez.
Old technology pwns!
Learn from the past a bit now that we're on the subject.
Give Kashyyyk back to the Wookies
Never underestimate the persistence of the pre-pubescent teen that has the ability to amuse themselves. Think 'fart sniffing' of the digital age.
;)
Yes, it's sad really. And nothing can be done to make them stop or go away. Respond, and you reinforce their immaturity. Don't respond and you reinforce their immaturity. Ignore and they'll try harder. Confront and they'll try harder still.
They're really just cries for 'mommy' after all. Poor lost souls
No Comment.
You kids.
Do a Google search for "acoustic coupler" and educate yourself. That ad isn't bamboozling anybody.
Thats still true today.
You both missed the real last line, and it's a beaut - on the ad, the _second_ tick box on the response form:
"[ ] I'd just like a glossy reprint of this ad."
Now _that_ is knowing you target audience...
Beautiful marketing - probably not even allowed these days.
Yes we know technology progresses. But it is not funny because of the age/under power of the tecnology but the advertising used to describe it. These system were advertised like they can do anything. Todays modern computers are advertised of just doing things better then their old version. As well the prices, Today say they have a 20 Terra byte storage solution that costs 10k-12k they will not be advertising it in PC World, or in those type of adds and they definatly wont be giving the cost. The level of optimism for these things at the time is halarious. The old thinking machiene for the UniVax, The talking Prime Computer.... The way they were advertised is more funny then the fact that the equiptment was underpowered.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Yes, that's precisely what the joke is.
Realistically, it's not like they could only make a limited number of chips. Engineers and scientists were buying their cards just like gamers were.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I guess it's no problem running something IT's never heard of instead.
Credo sim. - I think I am.