Filed under: Cult of Mac
Blast from the Past: Apple II Commercial with Dick Cavett
It's the "appliance for the '80s". Or so Dick Cavett would have had us believe. This is an actual Apple II commercial from waybackwhen(TM), pointing out all the advantages an Apple computer could make in our lives. Like balancing the budget. And tracking recipes. Fortunately, the commercial's writers had a pretty good sense of humor and there's a nice comic punch at the end.
Check out the two external floppy disk drives, that awful keyboard and the teeny screen in the big case.
_thumbnail.jpg "Take a stroll down memory lane")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Perez said 8:43AM on 12-11-2006
Oohhhh my GOD.... i think that lady is Nina Hartley... the adult film star..... Steve i love it.
Reply
Rus said 8:54AM on 12-11-2006
I would be certain that's Nina Hartley as well ...
http://www.nina.com/tour/p1.gif
Reply
Sherman Homan said 9:13AM on 12-11-2006
Where does she plug in her iPod?
Reply
Ron Martinez said 10:49AM on 12-11-2006
Clicked on the link and got:
The url contained a malformed video id.
Reply
Billy K said 11:04AM on 12-11-2006
"Awful keyboard?"
Um...that's the computer itself. And as far as the keys go, it was a much better typing experience than the current Apple keyboards.
-Ex-owner of "two external floppy disk drives, awful keyboard and teeny screen in big case."
Reply
Electric Sheep said 11:30AM on 12-11-2006
What are you, a teenager? :rolleyes: Are you that shocked to see an Apple ][ computer?
That's arguably the most historically significant personal computer EVER. It was the first computer to ship complete in a plastic case with a TV output. Apple sold over 2 million of them. It was the defacto standard in schools. It quite literally ushered in the personal computer era.
Reply
Jason said 12:00PM on 12-11-2006
I still have my //e with amber monitor and 2 floppy drives, and joystick. Still works great, as do about 80% of my old floppy disks. Karateka, Bilestoad, Conan The Barbarian, Pinball Construction Set... Good times.
Reply
The Jeremy said 12:53PM on 12-11-2006
So, Apple had Dick Cavett while Commodore had William Shatner and Atari had Alan Alda. Oh yeah, and Intellivision had George Plimpton.
Someone at the ad agencies were smoking some powerful stuff back then...
Reply
Michael McDaniel said 1:34PM on 12-11-2006
Couldn't understand the joke at the end. What is she saying?
Reply
Jeff Garbers said 2:24PM on 12-11-2006
She said "I also own a small steel mill." At least that's what it sounded like to me.
Reply
Billy K said 3:06PM on 12-11-2006
Jason, you're bringing back some good memories. Karateka, Bilestoad, & Pinball Construction Set indeed! PBC was an amazing game considering the limitations in 1981(?).
May I throw Stellar 7, Wizardry and the original Ultimas on the pile?
(Wishing I hadn't donated my //e)
Reply
Splashman said 5:14PM on 12-11-2006
Good find. Fix the link!
Reply
rjlawrencejr said 1:21AM on 12-12-2006
#1 & #2 - Uh, no. While they do share similar facial structures, the woman in the commercial is NOT Nina Hartley. Totally different voice.
#9 & #10 - Yes, the tag line is "I also own a small steel mill" which is a play on the fact that Cavett is only suggesting to her how the computer can make her home life so much easier.
Reply