A HOME computer?! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

jennymcc · 10-10-2006, 11:31 AM

Ok, this is mostly off-topic and may be moved...but it does relate to watching old TV shows on DVD...and it's about computers...so there may be a slender thread of attachment to the trading topic:

I was watching an episode of Password Plus from September 1979. I noticed the following exchange between Allen Ludden and one of the contestants:

A: So you've won over $14,000. Do you have any plans for that money?
C: Well my husband really wants a home computer, so I think we will get that for him now.
A: A home computer?!? What would you do with that?!

C: Well, he's rather brilliant and he likes to do things with statistics and he likes to make up games.
A: ok...you might be able to get one of those for $14,000 or $15,000
C: Oh no, you can get one for $2,000!
A: Wow, really! I had no idea!! A home computer!

...my how far we've come! These days most folks couldn't live without their computers!!!

Jenny

Lamont · 10-10-2006, 11:36 AM

its crazy some of those old game shows

i saw one a few weeks ago

the prize was a NEW FANGLED "digital display watch" MSRP of $300
(the same crappy watch u can get at wal-mart for $5 now---was $300 back then and that is most likely about $600 in todays market!!!)

or a HUGE 29 inch rca COLOR tv, msrp $500 --- in 1970s $$$$$

Crazy!

T-Greg · 10-10-2006, 11:46 AM

Electronics are always very expensive when they first hit the market. The first Texas Instruments hand held calculators were about $150.00.

savageamusement · 10-10-2006, 12:42 PM

Our First BETA player, notice I said BETA was 1400.00
and the remote was bigger than my head. With a cord running all the way to the machine and it had PLAY STOP REWIND FORWARD

that was it.

Then again, I remember when being ON the phone was LITERALLY ON the phone- No cordless, no cell.

And ours was the olive green color- the one EVERYONE had back then, with the rotary dial.

Ahhh technology.

lilhave · 10-10-2006, 12:54 PM

My first PC was purchased in 1992. Cost was $2,100 and it had really nothing. Was not top of the line. In 1995 I bought the first cd writer. It was the HP2021, 2 time write, 4 time read. Cost was $960.00 and cdr blanks were $8.00 a pop, with buffer underruns. The first dvd readers were 2 time reads for $300.00, not burners, just readers.

I had one of the first vcr's and the cost was almost a thousand dollars. Wasn't even a remote. The early ones had wired remote. Blanks, tdk brand were $15.00 a throw.

Harvey

T-Greg · 10-10-2006, 01:32 PM

My family's first home video recorder (purchased in about 1978) was probably about $1200. The base unit (with the video tape) was placed inside of a huge backpack, so you looked like one of the Ghostbusters walking around with it.

gilligan fanatic · 10-10-2006, 01:36 PM

On the Lets make a Deal episode of the Odd Couple Felix was upset because he could have won a Microwave. I never thought of that as a luxury item but apparently it was in the 70's.

T-Greg · 10-10-2006, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

On the Lets make a Deal episode of the Odd Couple Felix was upset because he could have won a Microwave. I never thought of that as a luxury item but apparently it was in the 70's.

Yes. It was a real luxury. It really made things much simpler to pop something in it to warm it up, rather than putting it on the stove or in a conventional oven.

Japs · 10-10-2006, 04:42 PM

A lecturer I used to have was into his computers in the 70's and he got a pay off from a job in industry and he bought a computer. Cost him around £4500 (about $9000). Mental. Now you would pay $2000 and want a really good one I would think

Lamont · 10-10-2006, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

On the Lets make a Deal episode of the Odd Couple Felix was upset because he could have won a Microwave. I never thought of that as a luxury item but apparently it was in the 70's.

the first microwave my family got was HUGE
like a mini stove

and costs like $600!

jie3 · 10-10-2006, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by savageamusement

Then again, I remember when being ON the phone was LITERALLY ON the phone- No cordless, no cell.

And ours was the olive green color- the one EVERYONE had back then, with the rotary dial.

I remeber as a kid in the early 80's, me and all my friends were fascinated by an early Motorola cell phone belonging to one of our uncles. It dewarfed our heads and didn't work over here, but it was certainly unique at the time, and cost like $3000!!

J

Bobby F. · 10-10-2006, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jie3

I remeber as a kid in the early 80's, me and all my friends were fascinated by an early Motorola cell phone belonging to one of our uncles. It dewarfed our heads and didn't work over here, but it was certainly unique at the time, and cost like $3000!!

J

Oh those wonderful life experiences.....

RedWhine56 · 10-10-2006, 09:54 PM

I've been writing computer software since 1977. I mainly worked on "super minis" that were for small businesses. You'd have these disc packs that held your data & measured ~18 x 18 x 3. If you wanted to update your accounts receivable to general ledger, everyone else would have to "return to menu" so you could swap out disc packs & put in the g/l disk pack. So data normally only got updated to G/L once a day, at the end of the day. There was no such thing as "real time" processing.

Our first "home" computer was a PC Junior (around 1990?) that was a total piece of crap. (Fortunately, we didn't buy it, but it was given to us by my husband's former boss.) Our next one was one I purchased from work for book value - an XT with 650K RAM (why would you need/want more?) that ran under DOS. (I still have a fondness for DOS!) That one actually was productive, since I did our books (w/Quicken) on it & was able to do personal correspondence, too. (Translate: word processor - not email!)

I even remember when if you belonged to Compuserve, you could not access the internet unless you had a SLIP account with another ISP. And you couldn't email anyone unless they were on Compuserve, too. Same thing with Prodigy and AOL. They just didn't talk to each other & none accessed the internet, such that it was at the time.

I remember having to PAY for Netscape browser. And then Bill Gates did the unthinkable and gave away his browser (Internet Explorer) for free.

My first color printer (HP 560C?) cost ~$500 and didn't print nearly as well as my latest, $80 HP color printer.

Scanners: When I got my first one, it was tres chic to have a color, flatbed. DH got me one for Christmas. Yet my current one (that wasw $150 - half the price of my first one is MUCH faster, HIGHER quality and does 16 slides at a time or a roll of negatives at a time.

My first digital camera cost a staggering $1000 and didn't even have a megapixel. Plus, it was very bulky, compared to the snifty ones that are commonplace today.

Cell phones...yes the big, bulky ones....argh.....

Skip to today...my 30 gig iPod video that fits in my pocket can contain more data than MANY of the disk packs (COMBINED!) I used to have to haul around back in the 70's. In fact, my iPod video currently has 7 books on tape, 6-two hour (plus) movies, several clips from home movies, 300 songs, 6 -three hour radio shows, about 20 - thirty minute tv shows, 15 photos and still has ~12 gigs free. And easily fits in one hand. Totally blows me away.

Lamont · 10-10-2006, 09:59 PM

CELL PHONES/CAR PHONES

in the early 1990s I had a car phone, that was ridiculously overpriced and I paid like 75 cents a minute for calls

I hardly ever used it, I just had it to look cool!

RedWhine56 · 10-10-2006, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamont

CELL PHONES/CAR PHONES

in the early 1990s I had a car phone, that was ridiculously overpriced and I paid like 75 cents a minute for calls

I hardly ever used it, I just had it to look cool!

That's when they had antennas. And if you sold your car and/or cancelled the car phone service, people would keep the antennas to look cool.

I remember when my husband traded his car phone for his first cell phone...I thought it was totally stupid...I mean, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CARRY YOUR PHONE WITH YOU???? (I'm not a visionary...!)

10-10-2006, 11:31 AM	#1
jennymcc VP:AmCanTranConComCo Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 13, 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 206	A HOME computer?! Ok, this is mostly off-topic and may be moved...but it does relate to watching old TV shows on DVD...and it's about computers...so there may be a slender thread of attachment to the trading topic: I was watching an episode of Password Plus from September 1979. I noticed the following exchange between Allen Ludden and one of the contestants: A: So you've won over $14,000. Do you have any plans for that money? C: Well my husband really wants a home computer, so I think we will get that for him now. A: A home computer?!? What would you do with that?! C: Well, he's rather brilliant and he likes to do things with statistics and he likes to make up games. A: ok...you might be able to get one of those for $14,000 or $15,000 C: Oh no, you can get one for $2,000! A: Wow, really! I had no idea!! A home computer! ...my how far we've come! These days most folks couldn't live without their computers!!! Jenny
	__________________

10-10-2006, 11:36 AM	#2
Lamont Lamont says Smile! Forum Veteran Join Date: May 28, 2005 Location: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere Posts: 5,217	its crazy some of those old game shows i saw one a few weeks ago the prize was a NEW FANGLED "digital display watch" MSRP of $300 (the same crappy watch u can get at wal-mart for $5 now---was $300 back then and that is most likely about $600 in todays market!!!) or a HUGE 29 inch rca COLOR tv, msrp $500 --- in 1970s $$$$$ Crazy!
	__________________ I have not been trading for some time now, so please do not ask---- sorry, i cannot help you!

10-10-2006, 12:42 PM	#4
savageamusement Cutest Couch Potato Senior Member Join Date: Oct 21, 2003 Posts: 2,103	yeahup Our First BETA player, notice I said BETA was 1400.00 and the remote was bigger than my head. With a cord running all the way to the machine and it had PLAY STOP REWIND FORWARD that was it. Then again, I remember when being ON the phone was LITERALLY ON the phone- No cordless, no cell. And ours was the olive green color- the one EVERYONE had back then, with the rotary dial. Ahhh technology.

10-10-2006, 01:36 PM	#7
gilligan fanatic Born to Be Bad Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: down by the Lagoon Posts: 9,954	On the Lets make a Deal episode of the Odd Couple Felix was upset because he could have won a Microwave. I never thought of that as a luxury item but apparently it was in the 70's.
	__________________ Matt Filmaf ~ Twitter ~ Last.FM

10-10-2006, 09:54 PM	#13
RedWhine56 Sleigh? What sleigh? Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 03, 2005 Location: In the "Secret Room" with the cronies! Posts: 756	I've been writing computer software since 1977. I mainly worked on "super minis" that were for small businesses. You'd have these disc packs that held your data & measured ~18 x 18 x 3. If you wanted to update your accounts receivable to general ledger, everyone else would have to "return to menu" so you could swap out disc packs & put in the g/l disk pack. So data normally only got updated to G/L once a day, at the end of the day. There was no such thing as "real time" processing. Our first "home" computer was a PC Junior (around 1990?) that was a total piece of crap. (Fortunately, we didn't buy it, but it was given to us by my husband's former boss.) Our next one was one I purchased from work for book value - an XT with 650K RAM (why would you need/want more?) that ran under DOS. (I still have a fondness for DOS!) That one actually was productive, since I did our books (w/Quicken) on it & was able to do personal correspondence, too. (Translate: word processor - not email!) I even remember when if you belonged to Compuserve, you could not access the internet unless you had a SLIP account with another ISP. And you couldn't email anyone unless they were on Compuserve, too. Same thing with Prodigy and AOL. They just didn't talk to each other & none accessed the internet, such that it was at the time. I remember having to PAY for Netscape browser. And then Bill Gates did the unthinkable and gave away his browser (Internet Explorer) for free. My first color printer (HP 560C?) cost ~$500 and didn't print nearly as well as my latest, $80 HP color printer. Scanners: When I got my first one, it was tres chic to have a color, flatbed. DH got me one for Christmas. Yet my current one (that wasw $150 - half the price of my first one is MUCH faster, HIGHER quality and does 16 slides at a time or a roll of negatives at a time. My first digital camera cost a staggering $1000 and didn't even have a megapixel. Plus, it was very bulky, compared to the snifty ones that are commonplace today. Cell phones...yes the big, bulky ones....argh..... Skip to today...my 30 gig iPod video that fits in my pocket can contain more data than MANY of the disk packs (COMBINED!) I used to have to haul around back in the 70's. In fact, my iPod video currently has 7 books on tape, 6-two hour (plus) movies, several clips from home movies, 300 songs, 6 -three hour radio shows, about 20 - thirty minute tv shows, 15 photos and still has ~12 gigs free. And easily fits in one hand. Totally blows me away.
	__________________ Off to Never, Never Land... ...Metallica Last edited by RedWhine56; 10-10-2006 at 10:12 PM.

10-10-2006, 11:46 AM	#3
T-Greg Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 17, 2003 Location: Louisiana Posts: 1,711	Electronics are always very expensive when they first hit the market. The first Texas Instruments hand held calculators were about $150.00.

10-10-2006, 12:54 PM	#5
lilhave Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 03, 2004 Location: N.Y.C. Posts: 2,294	My first PC was purchased in 1992. Cost was $2,100 and it had really nothing. Was not top of the line. In 1995 I bought the first cd writer. It was the HP2021, 2 time write, 4 time read. Cost was $960.00 and cdr blanks were $8.00 a pop, with buffer underruns. The first dvd readers were 2 time reads for $300.00, not burners, just readers. I had one of the first vcr's and the cost was almost a thousand dollars. Wasn't even a remote. The early ones had wired remote. Blanks, tdk brand were $15.00 a throw. Harvey

10-10-2006, 01:32 PM	#6
T-Greg Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 17, 2003 Location: Louisiana Posts: 1,711	My family's first home video recorder (purchased in about 1978) was probably about $1200. The base unit (with the video tape) was placed inside of a huge backpack, so you looked like one of the Ghostbusters walking around with it.

10-10-2006, 04:42 PM	#9
Japs Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 331	A lecturer I used to have was into his computers in the 70's and he got a pay off from a job in industry and he bought a computer. Cost him around £4500 (about $9000). Mental. Now you would pay $2000 and want a really good one I would think

10-10-2006, 09:59 PM	#14
Lamont Lamont says Smile! Forum Veteran Join Date: May 28, 2005 Location: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere Posts: 5,217	CELL PHONES/CAR PHONES in the early 1990s I had a car phone, that was ridiculously overpriced and I paid like 75 cents a minute for calls I hardly ever used it, I just had it to look cool!