OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum. Someone posted this site on my forum at PC Magazine and I had to repost it here. The crazy machine (above) is circa 1965. A classic. The site is phenomenal.
This odd-looking and almost laughable computer was released by Honeywell under the official name H316 Pedestal Model, but was featured on the cover of a Nieman-Marcus catalog under its more commonly-known name, the “Kitchen Computer.”
The Kitchen Computer is most likely where the classic recipe storage cliché originated, as this was the primary use advertised for the Kitchen Computer. In fact, storing recipes was about all the Kitchen Computer was capable of doing. The recipes were programmed into the computer and it would store them for you. In other words, it was an electronic recipe storage box, nothing more.
“In fact, storing recipes was about all the Kitchen Computer was capable of doing.”
Sadly, in the hands of the right individuals, that is still about all that many computers are capable of doing.
But imagine the excitement and sense of pride the first time one of these buyers sat down in his or her new kitchen computer for the first time….
I heard the total number of units sold was 0.