Kaypro: The Complete Computer Commercial

[reknowvator11]

Peggy Hill brought me here

[polowres]

@reknowvator11 I'm watching that episode right now.

[nicheprof]

Remember it???? Shoot I used it as the system for a content analysis rhetorical criticism for my Ph.D. in the early 1980's. I owned (and still have) a Kaypro IV with dual floppies (356 kb each) and paid just a shade over $2000 for it complete with software and a Juki Daisy Wheel 12 CPS letter quality printer in 1982. I remember also coveting a Kaypro 10 with a 10 MEGABYTE ...yeah you read that right.... a 10 Meg. HD. I couldn't afford the few hundred extra it would have cost me at the time.

[Toyman1982]

My watch has more memory then that piece of crap!

[SkySkrapinEnt]

@Toyman1982 you know what i think......... nut job

[DrTarpon1974]

@Toyman1982 You wouldn't be watching this video or typing on your keyboard if it wasn't for that "piece of crap" and similiar early computer technology. Kaypros were good computers and like other computers of that era, were built to last. I own several and they still work--and probably will continue to do so many years beyond your computer!

[aaronpapanos]

Mine somehow still works! Ah...old technology.

[combo360]

dont let looks fool you, that thing can run crysis at the highest settings, of course im joking, that piece of turd cant even run a internet flash game

[Qkumber1]

@combo360 You're doing it wrong.

[deadman12078]

These were top of the line computers.

If you want top of the line today your going to pay about the same price today.

You wouldn't go to a store or custum shop today and buy a quad core with a top of the line vid card, memory OS, perdy case and accesories like speakers you'll pay $1,500 easy.

Yeah the "supercomputer" for the home user back then only had an 8MB hdd or ran off floppies but it was the quad core of it's day.

It cost me nearly $800 to build my own "top of the line" 486x-75.

[autisticotakugirl]

My mom used to have one of these Kaypro computers years ago. I believe it was a Kaypro 2. It had a metallic blue frame. I think she said it was just a word processing type of computer which didn't have graphics capabilities.

[wentworthist]

Kaypro sounds like todays Dell

[outlier1985]

Geez... could you imagine paying that much cash for a system with the specs that thing had, NOW? It had the processing power of a Gameboy!

*checks* No, scratch that... HALF the processing power of the original Gameboy. XD

[Sheepy007]

you can say the exact same thing about todays computers in 12 years, so who cares?

[outlier1985]

The difference is, computers now don't cost that much for that little power and ability. The only exceptions are the highest-end PC's, and it'll take a bit longer than 12 years for them to be regarded as so inferior as to be unusable.

[Sheepy007]

O RLY? Okay, pretty exact 12 years ago the first Pentium 2 with 233 mhz got introduced. Would you call this really Usable in any way by now? A Psp, a "modern Gameboy", has more processing power by now. Every 18 months, the average processing power of the modern Pc doubles, so in 12 years, there WILL be a portable gaming system with 3 ghz quad core processing power.

[outlier1985]

My point is that YES, today's cutting-edge tech will obviously one day be inferior, but it'll take a bit longer than 12 years to be almost unusable. A Kaypro, for instance, is not useful for... anything today, really.

A computer from just 12 years ago, though, can still be used in today's world. Granted, it'll be inferior and lack a lot of abilities, but it isn't just a brick. The more powerful computers get, at faster rates, the longer it takes for complete obsolescence.

[hitssquad]

@Sheepy007

Pentium II 300 MHz was released in late 1997.

en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pentium_II

Overclockable to 400MHz, some were even capable of overclocking to 450MHz.

google. com/search?pentium+2+overclock­+450mhz

Overclocking potential is not as high with today's cpu's.

[pick169311]

In 1985, we had a Kaypro IV, that cost about $1500, when IBM type computers went for $5,000. Kaypro's CPM operating system worked much faster than DOS. I was the first person in our company to use a home computer to make sales presentations and communicate with customer's computers. There were government and university bulletin boards to connect with, since we didn't have the world wide web. A simple machine, almost indestructible, portable and easy to operate.

[madhatter5353]

Man. My friend in high school's dad paid over $2300 for a 286 computer upgraded to a 20MB hard drive. My keyboarding teacher Mr. Ellington had and used a Kaypro II / Tandy 1000 8088 and some 286/386s on a LAN. Total vintage. Thing weighed a TON and on CBM.

[jarkoer]

Sounds like my phone company. "How much is the $60 plan?" "$120 a month." Ugh....

[cs512tr]

sounds like telstra...

(if your in australia you will know lol)

[DRNEGOLICIS]

i own a kaypro II its a good computer i have every program that was made for it tons of floppys its a verry good computer weighs a ton though

[ilikefriedfood]

peggy hil has one

[outlier1985]

I noticed that. The episode where she replaces it with an iMac G3 was on Adult Swim earlier tonight. XD

[schulzcreative]

I worked for Kaypro in the early 1980s. It was owned by the Kay family. As our San Diego newspaper once said, "Too may Kays, not enough pros."

[alexchrisccc]

thats wierd looking xD

[cadefulp]

i got a kaypro too but idont have the OS floppy

[testforecho2]

I also have a Kaypro! It was one of the first laptops ever made. Mine is from 1982, and is identical to that.

[atarian345]

wtf is a Kaypro?

[Adrian4Evar]

This wasnt made in our Modern Age =] Prbably no one knwos what a Kaypro is

[DRNEGOLICIS]

i do and im 18 i own one ill poast a vid

[dwarfer777]

after 20 years they're still selling with nines! jesus when will the general public stop lettin companies screw us

[johnbonham1980]

People screw themselves if they don't factor in the real cost of what they're buying...

[loneknight97]

$1295! ZOMG! I bought a 2007 Vista computer with full packages, and high speed programs for like $500! Came with printer and monitor! WOW! for that old computer, its like $30

[johnbonham1980]

Amazing what 20 years and cheap outsourced labor will do, isn't it...

[spillz09]

i have a kaypro 2....just dont have the os floppy.

[bakhtn]

computers are cheaper nowadays with so much power. why were computers so expensive back then.

[johnbonham1980]

Supply and demand, among other things...

[creepingnet]

The technology was newer and harder to manufacture. Most of the main Manufacturing was done in Japan and the USA, therefore, construction quality and materials was top notch and built to last for years, as due to the price computers were considered a "high quality" item. And the low power was because the technology was in it's infancy, you have t o crawl before you can walk or run, and that's the case with technology.

[georgeniehaus]

Hey did anyone ever notice that the guy who tries to sell the Kaypro computer for "$1500 complete" sounds just like HAL 9000!!

Interesting stuff...

[DJNesSimepolys]

OMG YOU UPLOADED THIS ?? THIS IS THE COMPUTER COMMERCIAL IN THE FILM ELECTRIC DREAMS THAT APPEARS ON MILES HARDING's TV

[ArchTymeWizard]

I happen to have a Kaypro that still works to this day.

[TupolevTech]

Kaypro ruled!

[earlcurl]

i had a kaypro II when i was a kid too.

[MrInternet69]

But, can it run Windows Vista or XP Professional?

[dunitpazza]

I want one, where can I get hold of one?

[stablejelly]

One word: ebay..

[bkalathi]

old computers I love it!

[stablejelly]

Still have my Kaypro IV..worked about 10yrs ago when I turned it on..I remember getting on the MCI network with in back in the mid-80's..Thought it was the coolest thing in the world to have access to an encyclopedia. Ran up a $500 bill; must've charged by the minute then..

[mr3urious]

LOL! Peggy Hill had one!

[cssniper06]

Haha Yes! Exactly what I was thinking! Until she got an iMac G3 for Christmas.

[boschreurs]

I own the Kaypro II. Weighs a ton, but I love it.

[erik1980]

Kaypro was a CP/M business machine, and yes it was complete. 80 column phosphor screen, CP/M 2.2, Dual 5 1/4 190k drives (proprietary format), full keyboard with num pad, and 64k memory. They did everything they said it would. Hell my dad had one and I used it back in the 80's to get on CompuServe, back when CompuServe was REAL. These were quite popular with accountants, because they were somewhat portable and two plugs and you were setup.