Best Buy ad from 1996

[Zeze]

Imagine how we will look at computers in 2020.

"WTF, you guys would spend $50 on 8gb of ram! I have 8gb of internal cache on my smartphone's CPU, lol"

Imagine 2060 by the time I'm senile...

"LOL GRAMPS! Every household actually lugged around those big PC boxes? The PCs are the size of a deck of cards + displays are thin metal glass panel super rape definition!!! ALL WIRELESS LOL AC PLUGS!

 

[nageov3t]

pretty sure Warcraft 2 is still selling for the same price.


I never understood the point of picture-in-picture... although I do wish I could use the tivo gui without having to pause whatever I'm watching.

 

[aldamon]

hah...I used to have that $499 aiwa stereo in page 11

Me too. Did your CD carousel die too? There was a class action lawsuit, but I had already smashed it in frustration.

 

[waggy]

pretty sure Warcraft 2 is still selling for the same price.


I never understood the point of picture-in-picture... although I do wish I could use the netflix gui without having to pause whatever I'm watching.

my old tv had picture in picture. i would use it when watching 2 football games. if it looked like something exciting was going on i would flip it.

 

[artvscommerce]

Thank you for posting this!

 

[dud]

The dark ages of technology. D: Good thing I didn't really get into computers until like 1999. Things wern't that much more advanced though.

Amazing how PC's are so much cheaper but exponentially faster.


I bet the $400 laptop that can do all you need was an unheard of concept at that time.

The "dark" ages of technology? You must be pretty young. That was "advanced" tech for the day. I can remember NOT having to deal with people contantly talking on their cell phones ... and:

Imagine listening to your favorite music not on a flash-based ipod but on a 60's record player hand-me-down.

Imagine watching your favorite shows/movies on a 19" low-def TV ... and liking it!

Imagine getting cable TV for the first time (early 80's) and being amazed.



Those were indeed the days ...

 

[ultimatebob]

It's amazing how little refrigerators or charcoal grills have changed in 15 years. Almost everything else in that catalog looks like a museum piece except for those things.

 

[waggy]

The "dark" ages of technology? You must be pretty young. That was "advanced" tech for the day. I can remember NOT having to deal with people contantly talking on their cell phones ... and:

Imagine listening to your favorite music not on a flash-based ipod but on a 60's record player hand-me-down.

Imagine watching your favorite shows/movies on a 19" low-def TV ... and liking it!

Imagine getting cable TV for the first time (early 80's) and being amazed.



Those were indeed the days ...

I remember the first time we got cable tv. it was amazing. but with the prices scheme we only had it on one TV!

i think we got it in 85 or 86. lol

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Imagine how we will look at computers in 2020.

"WTF, you guys would spend $50 on 8gb of ram! I have 8gb of internal cache on my smartphone's CPU, lol"

I spent $375 on 8 MB of brand new EDO RAM in 1995.

 

[TwiceOver]

Heh... Audio CDs were actually cheaper back then.

 

[drebo]

Heh... Audio CDs were actually cheaper back then.

Not to mention waaaay better quality (and that's saying something, cause the late 90s was pretty crappy for music, too).

 

[HumblePie]

You fail. That is no dumblefuck. That is pure man genius Gandalf.

Except that even more man genius said that line first. Mr. Kesuke Miyagi played by Pat Norito. Except he said try is squish like grape.

Anyhow, 1996 was when I got my first PC when I graduated from High School. So that ad was about 6 months AFTER I got my first PC. I had a Pentium 133 and 6 months earlier those were going for $2.3K. After 6 months they were $1.9K. Pentium 166 PC's were going for over $3K and the Pentium 100's were going for $1.5K+.

What really sucked about buying a PC in those days was that you were forced to buy a package. You could not get just a tower. It came with a monitor, printer, assloads of cheap ass software CDs, speakers, and assorted junk. You paid for it all regardless. I still have my 4 GB quantum fireball hard drive from that system. Still works too! I ended up selling the PC in 1998 for $175. I think my parents were still making payments on the stupid thing too. It wasn't worth more than $175 at the time either. That's when I did my first PC build. Was a celeron 333 Mhz I got overclocked to 500 mhz when the fastest Pentium 2 was only 450 Mhz. Also paid a fraction of the cost. $60 for the celeron versus $800 for the P2 since the celerons were trying to compete with the cheap AMD K2's at the time.

So while I digressed there a bit, it's fun making trips down memory lane like that sometimes as long as it's not done too often. I still have some of the tech from that time period and it still works great. A huge Pioneer stereo system with 50 CD disc changer, a 200 Sony CD disc changer carousel, and a kenwood 500 watt powered subwoofer for my home theater (still sounds surprisingly good even to this day). I actually still USE those items to this day. I got a few junk items sitting in closest I don't use but they are small pieces. All the bigger items like the tube TV's I got rid of along ago.

Oh, I still have all my old software CD's from my 1996 PC. Things like my Encyclopedia Britanica, Blitz Football, You Don't know Jack, Office 95, Windows 95, and a bunch of junk.

 

[angminas]

DVDs weren't out yet. All the movies appear to be VHS. Ah, the good old days.

Yeah, you note they don't even have to say. From the future, it seems arrogant, like a restaurant with no prices on the menu...if you have to ask, they don't fit your machine, and get your Beta butt out of here!

 

[Wyndru]

Yeah, you note they don't even have to say. From the future, it seems arrogant, like a restaurant with no prices on the menu...if you have to ask, they don't fit your machine, and get your Beta butt out of here!

But beta has superior color quality

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

I remember paying for the first gen of hp cdrw drive for $400, in 'late 90s.

 

[Phokus]

http://gregarious24.imgur.com/best_buy_flyer_september_1996

Feels like ancient devices used by some pre-historic era.

 

[roguerower]

I laughed at the $400 3gb HDD. This thread makes me smile (and cry a little).

I also laughed at the $800 camcorder and thought about a gopro today for $300.

 

[AdamK47]

Jesus a $1800 PC (which is probably like $2200~ in today's dollar).

Who spends that much on PCs nowadays.

I spend more on my PC nowadays.

Currently, my main rig at home is around ~$4,500. All it's used for is browsing the web and gaming.

 

[dud]

I remember paying for the first gen of hp cdrw drive for $400, in 'late 90s.

How about $300 for an external floppy drive for an Atari computer back in 1984! That sucker stored a grand total of 88K per disk.

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

How about $300 for an external floppy drive for an Atari computer back in 1984! That sucker stored a grand total of 88K per disk.

Oh god damn

 

[nageov3t]

Jesus a $1800 PC (which is probably like $2200~ in today's dollar).

Who spends that much on PCs nowadays.

probably the same people who spent that much on a PC in 1996.

early adopters, power users, and anyone who buys a Mac.

 

[dank69]

Except that even more man genius said that line first. Mr. Kesuke Miyagi played by Pat Norito. Except he said try is squish like grape.

...

Displeased, Yoda is.

 

[ElFenix]

probably the same people who spent that much on a PC in 1996.

early adopters, power users, and anyone who buys a Mac.

eh? back in 1996 if you wanted a computer you were basically stuck with spending at least $1500, unless you went used. or obsolete. a cyrix media gx powered compaq was the first sub $1,000 pc from a major maker since the mid 80s (from the pricing info i've been able to find).

 

[ViviTheMage]

yeaaaaaaaaaah

 

[Zeze]

probably the same people who spent that much on a PC in 1996.

early adopters, power users, and anyone who buys a Mac.

No way. My first PC was 100mhz pentium with 16ram. I was a little teen back then and my parents bought it for me for $1500 (around 1997~).

There was no 'early adopter PC' back then. Having a PC period meant you're an early adopter.