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HP Is Advertising Its Real, Modern Printers on This Fake, Awkward '80s Computer Show (adweek.com)

Posted by msmash on from the nicely-done dept.

T.L. Stanley, writing for AdWeek: It's a fine line between effective '80s homage and clumsy retro spoof, with the latter usually involving a lot of overplayed visual gags like brick-sized cell phones and VHS tapes. Cue pointing and laughing. This new HP video, dubbed "Computer Show," hits the sweet spot perfectly with its recreation of a Reagan-era public access show about technology, but with a fish-out-of-water spin. The host is stuck in time -- stilted stage manner, goofy haircut and all -- but his guests are current-day tech pioneers. Awkward hilarity ensues. The short film, made by Giant Spoon and Sandwich Video for HP, sets up a print-off between HP's PageWide super-fast model and a dot matrix supplied by an employee of the neighborhood "Kwikopy."

14 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. How far they have fallen by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Remember when HP could compare their products to the actual competition (from the same era, no less) and come out looking... competitive? They have to compare their printer to a fictional dot matrix (what was that actually, anyway?) in order to make it look like something you'd want to buy?

    I really should have gone into advertising.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:How far they have fallen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      fictional dot matrix (what was that actually, anyway?)

      Not fictional. That's an Apple ImageWriter.

    2. Re:How far they have fallen by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Not fictional. That's an Apple ImageWriter.

      I thought it looked familiar. But they didn't call it an ImageWriter, did they? I only skimmed the video.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:How far they have fallen by sconeu · · Score: 2

      I remember when HP stood for "Built like a tank".

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    4. Re:How far they have fallen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The brand logos have been removed. The 1983 equipment consists of an ImageWriter attached to an Apple IIe with a Monitor II and a UniDisk 5.25 drive.

    5. Re:How far they have fallen by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Funny

      I remember when HP stood for "Built like a tank".

      It was at this point the founders realised that their marketing guy was in fact completely illiterate, and soon after were insisting that "HP" actually stood for "Hewlett Packard", honest.

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    6. Re:How far they have fallen by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2

      FWIW, I have a 12 year old HP Laserjet that deserves this accolade. Liked it so much it has a 9 year old brother as well.

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    7. Re:How far they have fallen by BitterOak · · Score: 2

      FWIW, I have a 12 year old HP Laserjet that deserves this accolade. Liked it so much it has a 9 year old brother as well.

      I've found Brother printers aren't nearly as well built as HP printers.

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      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
  2. HP Thanks You by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    HP thanks you for helping to propagate their advertisements.

  3. Re:Damn! What a fast printer for an inkjet! by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    And you only have to replace the cartridge after the whole page is printed!

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. As for the ink by Kevoco · · Score: 2

    it will cost something like $100 per ounce and anything from a third party will reliably foul up the entire works.

    PS: I'm assuming this is the MEMJet technology which was touted a while back and then seemed to disappear.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Z7RqRH3QQ

    1. Re:As for the ink by Guspaz · · Score: 2

      The low-end ones (they start at $380) have a single long bar of printheads that isn't replaceable, but the higher-end ones use replaceable printhead modules. All of them have both the normal printhead cleaning routines, and they have optical sensors to detect individual clogged nozzles. A clogged nozzle is dealt with in a variety of ways depending on where it's located and which type it is. The individual printheads are staggered and overlap a bit, and a clogged nozzle in the overlap area is just replaced by the overlapping one. A clogged black nozzle that isn't overlapped is replaced on a per-nozzle basis by colour nozzles, and if that isn't available, then it just relies on the fact at at 1200dpi, the dots spread enough to overlap anyhow and a single missing nozzle won't really show up on the page (you'd need two or more adjacent clogged nozzles to produce a visible streak).

      It's important to note that these are all business and professional printers, though. They're designed for high volume where nozzles clogged from lack of use isn't a problem.

  5. Re:Computer Chronicles by Guspaz · · Score: 2

    It's obviously a sendup of the '80s version of The Computer Chronicles. Their set is a close match for layout (including the table shape), their segments are the same, and even the rainbow-coloured title card from the 80s they used.

    And yes, the Computer Chronicles was excellent: it didn't run uninterrupted for 19 years without good reason. It was ultimately the Internet that killed it, not lack of quality.

    For anyone who would like to see for themselves, most of the 19 year run of the show is available on The Internet Archive:

    https://archive.org/details/co...

    Watching early episodes involving the introduction of things like the CD-ROM or the 486 is really fun.

  6. Now this by s.petry · · Score: 2

    is Funny! :)

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.