Vintage Computer Advertisements from the late 1970s

On a recent attic cleaning expedition, I encountered a box of Scientific American magazines from the late 70s. Each magazine is full of computer advertisements that provide an interesting peek back at the beginning of the computing industry. In this gallery, I will show you what I found.

Originally published in April 2011.

Images compiled by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic

Altair 8800 ad from 1977

The Altair 8800 was basically the system that started the microcomputer revolution and provided a platform for Microsoft's first product, Altair BASIC. The Altair 8800 was sold by mail order through advertisements like this one.

From the advertisement: Innovative Technology and proficient design are just some of the factors that spawned the growth of personal computers. The Altair 8800 microcomputer from MITS Inc., was the initial result of these developments and the pacesetter of this new industry.

Look! It’s a portable computer!

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IMSAI Megabyte Micro ad from 1977

IMSAI or IMS Associates, Inc, was an early success story in the microcomputer industry because they immediately recognized the success of the Altair 8800 and developed a similar unit that has become known as the first clone computer.

From the advertisement: Until today, the largest memory you could fit and address in a single microcomputer CPU was 65K. Now, IMSAI presents an incredible memory system for micros 16 times more powerful that yesterday’s best. Imagine, a full megabyte of power from sixteen 65K RAM boards.

Check out the price list!

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TRS-80 ad from 1978

Tandy Corporation’s TRS-80 computer became very popular because they were easily accessible via the company’s vast network of Radio Shack stores.

From the advertisement:The amazing new 32K/Level II/2-disk/line printer system at $3874

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Apple II ad from 1978

By 1978, the Apple II was well on its way to successfully producing what would become one of the first mass-produced microcomputer products. This is the first page of a full color two-page advertisement.

From the advertisement: Apple is a fully tested and assembled mainframe computer. You won’t need to spend weeks and months in assembly. Just take an Apple home, plug it in, hook up your color TV and any cassette deck tape deck—and the fun begins.

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Apple II ad from 1978

This is the second page of Apple’s full color two-page advertisement.

From the advertisement:  Apple is a state-of-the-art single board computer, with advances LSI design to keep component count to a minimum.

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Byte magazine ad from 1978

By 1978, BYTE Magazine was already claiming more the 100,000 subscribers.

From the advertisement: Over 30,000 BYTE readers have already built, or bought, their own systems and half of these have 8K bytes or more.

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Q1 Corporation ad from 1978

HP System 35 ad from 1978

Hewlett-Packard has been in the desktop computer business for a long time and their second system was the System 35.

From the advertisement: System 35 is especially easy to use. With its built-in HP BASIC operating system, it’s ready to begin solving problems as soon as you turn it on. There are no complicated startup procedures, no operating system to load, no compiling to puzzle out… Prices for the HP System 35 start at $9,900 with CRT, and at $8,700 with single-line LED display.

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IBM ad from 1978

In this ad, IBM uses an image of a shrinking Alice in Wonderland to draw a parallel to the shrinking prices of computer time.

From the advertisement: A set of computations that cost $1.26 on and IM computer in 1952 costs only 7/10ths of a cent today. That’s because IBM scientists and engineers have put their imagination to work to create and improve information technology.

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Apple ad from 1978

A full page color ad from Apple encourages readers to learn more about personal computing.

From the advertisement: Suddenly everyone is talking about personal computers. Are you ready for one? The best way to find out is to read Apple Computer’s “Consumer Guide to Personal Computing.”

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Commodore Pet ad from 1979

The PET was Commodore’s first full featured 8-bit computer.

From the advertisement:It’s the inexpensive PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) home computer by Commodore. Complete systems are priced from just $795.

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OnComputing magazine ad from 1979

With computers becoming more appealing to the average consumer, there was a need for making computers, software, and technical jargon easy to understand and OnComputing magazine was there to fill that need.

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Siemens Corporation ad from 1979

Siemens specialized in office communications systems and claimed sales of over $300 million.

This ad features a picture of the all electronic teleprinter with mini-disk storage and editing unit.

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ComputerLand ad from 1979

As the IMSAI microcomputer started to face more competition, the owners of the company decided to branch out founded ComputerLand retail computer store, so that they could benefit from their competitors successes.

This advertisement features the Atari 800, the H/S Data Systems WH11A, and the TI-99/4

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Apple Ad from 1979

In this advertisement, Apple implies that if computers were around in Ben Franklin’s day, he would have used an Apple.

From the advertisement: Time waiting for access to your company’s big mainframe is time wasted. What you need in your department—on your desk—is a computer that answers only to you…Apple Computer.

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Exxon Information Systems ad from 1979

Who knew that Exxon sold microcomputers and other office equipment in the 70s?

This two page ad features the Vydek 4000 19-inch two-page display word processor, Qwip Two facsimile machine, Qyx Intellignet Typewriter, and the Zilog MCZ-1/70 microcomputer system.

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Exxon Information Systems ad from 1979

This is the second page of Exxon Information Systems’ full color two-page advertisement.

Exxon Information Systems’s product line: From the top left- Vydek 4000, Qwip Two, Qyx, and Zilog MCZ-1/70.

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HP 9800 System 45B ad from 1979

Aimed at technical professionals, the System 45B’s typical configuration provided 187K of read/write memory and sold for $22,500.

From the advertisement: You and your technical staff can address a problem through HP System 45B’s typewriter-like keyboard, check the results on the CRT, perform related computations, restate the problem based on those computations, and print out the hard copy on its built-in thermal printer—all without breaking the rhythm of the problem-solving process.

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Creative Computing magazine ad from 1979

Creative computing magazine featured articles on computer application as well as in-depth computer reviews.

From the advertisement: At Creative computing, we obtain new systems as they are announced.  We put them through their paces in our software Center and also in the environment for which that are intended—home, business, or school.

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Perkin-Elmer 3220 ad from 1979

While microcomputers were causing the storm, minicomputers were along for the ride.

From the advertisement: Only a few years ago, big data manipulation jobs such as handling reservations for an airline were strictly the province of large, powerful, and expensive mainframe computers… Now Perkin-Elmer has introduced the first of the next generation of 32-bit “superminis”—the 3220.

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Harris Communication and Information Processing ad from 1979

Harris specialized in multi-function distributed data processing systems for business and government.

This Harris ad features a picture of the Harris 1680 distributed data processing system at General Foods.

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Intecolor 3621 ad from 1979

The big selling point for Intelligent Systems’ computers was their high quality color graphics.

From the advertisement: Our new Intecolor 3621 puts the color advantage in a desk-top computer. The 13-inch screen can display 32 lines of 64 ASCII characters, as well as plot graphics on a 128 x 128 grid—in eight brilliant colors.

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ITT ad from 1979

ITT World Communication created a world wide data transmission network to make data easily accessible to professionals everywhere.

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Radio Shack ad from 1979

This Radio Shack advertisement features a 14 year old computer consultant and shows of the TRS-80 Model II.

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