'80 Mbytes of storage for under $12k!' and other ad favorites through the years

By Sharon Machlis

June 14, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Comments

(11)

Computerworld - It's rare for us to spend an hour-long staff meeting in nonstop laughter.

But that's pretty much what happened when we gathered to go through old print issues of Computerworld as part of our 40th anniversary celebration.

The original idea of hauling those Computerworld issues out of storage was to look at important stories and people throughout the years. But we couldn't get over the ads!

"80 Mbytes of storage for less than $12,000!" boasts one. In another, a woman in hot pants touts a modem that's, yes, "maybe even sexy." There's even a campy B movie celebrity hawking development software.

It was too much fun not to share. So after one of the best meetings ever, we bring you 10 of our favorite, most entertaining IT ads from four decades of Computerworld. If you'd like, you can try to guess what year the ad ran before clicking the image to find out. Click through, and you'll also find out the top Computerworld stories from the issue, as well as a larger version of the image.

Such a deal

You can purchase this 80MB disk system for less than $12k -- and even better, 300MB for under $20k!

Not very irresistible today, but apparently a bargain back when this was published. So good, in fact, that prices were valid only for resellers buying at least 40 systems.

Have an idea when this might have been published? We'll offer this headline hint from the front page of the same issue: "Mainframes Not Always a Must, Citibank Officer Advises Users."

You can purchase this 80-Mbyte disk system for less than $12k -- and even better, 300 Mbytes for under $20k!

Click to see a larger version of the ad, what year it ran and more top news from that issue.

What the heck is electronic mail?

That's the question posed in this Honeywell ad, which explains: "Simply put, it means high-speed information transportation.

Comment Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

EFD vs. HDD - What You Need to Know

Enterprise flash drives provide a new Tier 0 storage layer capable of delivering high I/O performance at a very low latency. Proper use of EFDs in an Oracle environment can deliver increased performance compared to fibre channel drives. Read the recommendations for identification of the best DB components for EFDs.

WHITE PAPER

Gartner Research Report: Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers, 2009

The market for products to improve the delivery of application software over networks remains dynamic and innovative. Vendors focused on solving enterprises' most-pressing application problems have become the top players.

WHITE PAPER

Eight Criteria for Server Load Balancing

Server load balancers are a simple yet highly effective means to scale an application environment while ensuring its availability. Today's solutions should also address application performance and security. Read about the top eight criteria you should consider when choosing a server load balancer and how Citrix NetScaler meets those requirements.

What People Are Saying

11 comments | Add new

See all comments (11) | Add new

White Papers & Webcasts

Foxwoods, the World's Largest Resort Casino Bets on SEPATON
Download Now

Tape Killed the IT Guy
Watch Now

Cache Tier Memory Efficiency with Gear6 Web Cache
Download this valuable white paper!

Data Protection is not an Insurance Policy - You Cannot Buy-back Lost Data.
Download Now

Managing the Tidal Wave of Data Tivoli Storage Management
Download Now

Customer Video: Cardinal Health
Download Now

Connecting to the Cloud with F5 and VMware VMotion
F5 and VMware partner to enable live application and storage migrations between datacenters and clouds, over short or long distances.

Virtualize Microsoft Applications on VMware
Register for this live webcast now!

F5 Virtualization Guide: Seven Key Challenges You Can't Ignore
Seven Key Challenges You Can't Ignore

Strategic ECM Webinar
Learn what new strategic business benefits can be realized through ECM!

All White Papers | All Webcasts