Exxon Information Systems ad from 1979

Imagine your interested in a computer, so you mailed a postcard to Apple, or IBM.
We did!

"We'll deliver a PDP-9 computer in 90 days. Seriously."
8K core memory, 1usec, expandable to 32K. 18 bit word. 200 nanosec adder. High Speed control memory. Real time clock. . . ..
No price given unfortunately, but there was a phone number for Digital and I'm sure they would hook you up with that.

I have this on my office wall - it was a choice find.

The Sol20 built by Processor Technology was probably the first PC to incorporate a keyboard , cassette recorder storage, and a b/w monitor with an 8080A chip, 64KRAM and 8K memory boards on the S100 buss in 1976. The ROM "personality modules" enabled start-up when powered on (previous computers had toggle switches or paper tape).

I have all issues of Personal Computing magazine from September 1977, a real source of pioneer home computer history.

... is the ad for one of the first IBM Portable PC's that graphically demonstrated just how portable it actually was. As I recall, the ad featured a sumo wrestler with a "portable" slung over his back! Now THAT was truth in advertising!

How times have changed! When they wheeled the first 1-GB storage unit into the IBM computing center where my IT career began, we were simply in awe: "Wow! What are we going to do with a GIGABYTE of storage?" The other day, while rummaging through a tray of junk, I came across a 1-GB thumb drive, looked at it and thought: "Huh! What use is there for a 1-GB flash drive?"

How many of us still have them?