• Tag Archives apple

  • Family Computing (June 1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Family Computing – Issue Number 10 – June 1984

    Family Computing was a 1980s U.S. computer magazine published by Scholastic, Inc. It covered all the major home computer platforms of the day including the Apple II series, Commodore Vic 20 and 64, Atari 8-bit family as well as the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh among others. The June 1984 issue includes:

    Features

    • The “Hard-Boiled” School of Software – An interview with Infocom’s revolutionary adventure-game designers., the creators of Zork, Starcross, and The Witness.
    • Whistle While You Word Process – There’s a new crop of word-processing programs that are perfect for family use – they’re inexpensive and easy to operate. Inside…find out how they rate. Plus: How to Judge Word-Processing Software
    • Looking For A Summer Job? – Ten ways to earn money with the help of your computer.
    • A New-Age Mom-And-Pop Business – Many people dream of running a computer store. The Seran family of Colorado took the plunge. Plus: Starting A Computer Store – Tips From The Serans
    • Five-Year-Old Authors – IBM’s Writing to Read System has kindergartners reading and writing as if they were born knowing how.
    • Buyer’s Guide to Computers – A look at the 10 leading models for home use, with a comparison of prices, graphics capabilities, and other features.
    • A Preview: Apple IIc – Apple heads for the home market with its new product: a sleek 7.5-pound transportable computer with a built-in disk drive.

    Programming

    • The Programmer – For enthusiasts of all levels.
    • Beginner Programs – Print disk labels and create an original Father’s Day gift for your dad with programs for ADAM, Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM, TI, Timex, and TRS-80 computers.
    • Puzzle – Recipe for Disaster: Can you retrieve the stolen recipe in time for the culinary competition?
    • Programming P.S. – Sorry, we goofed. Here are some corrections for programs from previous months, plus some program enhancements from readers.
    • Reader-Written Program – Fishtank: Create a sea of tropical fish on your computer screen.

    Products

    • What’s In Store – Ten pages of product announcements and reviews.
    • New Hardware Announcements – The latest in the field: the IBM Portable Computer; a new Kaypro 4; the Smart-Cable 817, a module that connects to the serial port on many computers; the MicroRam 64K Memory Board for the Atari 600XL; and Mikel’s serial interface for the Ti-99/4A.
    • Software Guide – Quick takes on two dozen new and noteworthy programs.
    • Software Reviews

    Departments

    • Editor’s Note
    • Letters
    • Behind The Screens – Keeping your Timex ticking; a programmer’s windfall; microfloppies; and more.
    • Home-School Connection – Tomorrow’s VisiFarmers: In Ortonville, Minnesota, teenagers are applying what they learn in school about computers to help their parents run the family farm.
    • Home Business – Keeping the Lincoln (Illinois) Log: The Strasmas tell how they run a national computer information service from their rec room.
    • Computer Clinic – Questions from readers are answered.
    • Games – Games People Play: The state of the art and a survey of your gaming habits.
    • BASIC Booth – A monthly cartoon.
    • Books
    • The Primer – A reference guide that appears each month.
    • Classified
    • Advertisers’ Index

    …and more!


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  • Pronto, The Home Banking System (1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Family Computing – Issue Number 10 – June 1984

    Haha, all you newbs who think online banking got started with the Internet era…

    Pronto was the name of an online banking system from Chemical Bank. They called it “The Home Banking System”. While the ad above from 1984 is promoting software for Apple and IBM PC computers, it actually got its start on Atari computers in 1982. This was considered to be the first personal computer based banking system.

    This reminds me vaguely of the first time I saw my friend’s Commodore 64. This would have been some time in 1985 and I asked him what this brown boxy looking thing next to the Commodore was. He told me it was something you could use to break into banks and stuff. It was a modem. I’m pretty sure I didn’t use a computer to access a bank until my bank started offering online services some time well after the year 2000. I don’t remember when it was actually but it wasn’t THAT long ago.

    While sounding vaguely familiar, I wasn’t even sure who Chemical Bank was. Apparently, it was founded in 1823 as the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company by Balthazar P. Melick. Anybody else think that Balthazar is a bad-ass name or is that just me? At the end of 1995 it was the 3rd largest bank in the U.S. At that time, Chemical acquired Chase Manhattan to create the largest financial institution in the U.S. and started using that name.

    Anyway, Chemical’s initial online banking system wasn’t terribly popular. Part of the reason was the high subscription fees. By 1984 it was “only” $12 a month but I believe it was even higher earlier on. This service carried on in one form or another until 1989 when it was discontinued. But in the early 1980s, they were decades ahead of their time.

    The ad above is from the June 1984 issue of Family Computing. Check out this New York Times article from December 7th, 1983 on this system.


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  • The Bottom Line (Apple II)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: inCider – Issue Number 1 – January 1983



    This particular ad is from the premiere issue of inCider from January 1983. inCider was a magazine dedicated to the Apple II line of computers. Back in the day, there were tons of computer mail order places advertised in computer magazines. I’m more familiar with those specializing in Commodore 64 related items but many of these places sold systems of all types. “The Bottom Line” is not one I recognize but this is a few years before I got my first computer and obviously in this ad thay are pushing Apple II related items.

    The price for the Apple compatible Franklin Ace 1000 was $1549. That includes a disk drive and amber monitor. That sounds like a lot (and it was) but it’s a bargain compared to the price of real Apple equipment at the time. But who wants an amber monitor? Not much good for games…

    It’s amazing how much a dot matrix printer cost. The Star Micronics Gemini-10, quite a popular printer at the time, was $419.88 in 1983. That number already sounds expensive but adjusted for inflation, that would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,300 today.

    Modems weren’t much better. An abysmally slow 300 Baud modem was $239. A more respectable 1200bps would cost you $569. And that was about as fast as you could get at the time.

    But for a real demonstration of just how far prices for technology have fallen, take a look at the hard drive prices. A whopping 5 MB would cost you at least $2000. That’s more like $5,400 in today’s dollars. For some more fun, take a look at the RAM prices…


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