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15 Vintage Tech Ads

Posted by kdawson on from the when-we-were-young-and-some-of-us-weren't-even-born dept.

JimLynch writes "Tech ads just aren't what they used to be. Sure, you have your robot phone wars and naked spokeswomen in bathtubs (what was she selling, again?). But missing are the cheesy songs, silly slogans, and giant gadgets that made the tech ads of yesteryear so wonderful to watch. Check out these 15 vintage tech commercials for yourself. If all the obsolete technology doesn't put a smile on your face, surely the cameo by a young William Shatner will." Apple's "1984" is included, and it has a strange and unanticipated resonance these days.

3 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Priceless by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not sure which one I laughed at more, the MS-DOS 5.0 upgrade or Steve Balmer mocking himself while pitching Windows 1.0.

  2. Re:Ill-Informed Public by lemur3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you must recall what 'tech illiterate' meant back then.

    back then you got a 'computer' and it came with a big book of BASIC code telling you how to code your own games! right out of the box!

    now? you get a 'computer' and the odds of you coding your own games are quite unlikely.. even most 'literate' computer users wouldnt know where to start

  3. Re:Ill-Informed Public by bughunter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you must recall what 'tech illiterate' meant back then

    Back then it meant 'the parents'. Those commercials are mostly aimed at the parents of teenagers who wanted a computer. I know I constantly begged my parents for a Trash-80, but I never got one. (By the time the Amiga and the Mac came out, I was making my own purchases.)

    Today the young computer-literate parents are grown up and buying their own toys. Thus, the commercials now are more practical and informative, since their audience will be the users, too.

    --
    I can see the fnords!