I found this old ad for an Apple Computer! It was advertised at the end of 1979 and it looks like an electric typewriter with a little monitor. I didn't own a computer until 1998 so I don't know how about the ancient days of the Apple Computer. Could you get internet access back then? What games could you play? Could it really help with everyday tasks? Is there anyone who could tell me?
3 comments:
What a find! J used to work with those old Apples...here's what he has to say:
Oh my oh my. Scary part is, I *remember* those ads. This was back when I worked for The Computer Store in Santa Monica, one of the first retail stores to sell computers. Okay, it was *the* first. But anyway -- to answer your questions:
Q: Could you get internet access back then?
A: Sort of. This was when the internet was actually Arpanet, and was populated by government labs and universities, and computer geeks. At the time, computer accounts at Harvard and MIT were free for the asking. There was no Google then, but then of course there was no spam, viruses, or X10/Netflix pop-unders.
Q: What games could you play?
A: Whatever you wrote. Well, there were a few others, such as text-based adventure games, text-based lemonade stand (you're selling lemonade to the neighbors), text-based chess with rudimentary graphics. Oh, and, of course, pong and breakout.
Q: Could it really help with everyday tasks?
A: Sure, if your everyday tasks were crunching numbers. The most consumer-friendly programs were a few checkbook ledgers, but you had to enter everything yourself (no dialup!)
Q: Is there anyone who could tell me?
A: Sure, but I'll probably just bore you to death.
Oh my gosh. I kinda remember that lemonade game. We used to have an Apple 2C, if I remember correctly (my mom's boyfriend at the time was a computer-guy). Nice history-in-brief, J!
The first computer I personally owned was a Mac Classic of some kind. I think my first brush with the internet was using AOL around 1990 or so.
Those were the days...(not).
Thank you for the info J! I keep thinking of so many 80s movies with those primative green characters! Glad to know that the Apple wasn't wasting our time back then.
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