Re: DEC retail stores in the 1980s

From: John Vottero (John_at_mvpsi.com)
Date: 11/24/04 

Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 17:08:38 GMT

"Lee Roth" <leeroth@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:d0e744c9.0411231910.3ddb521@posting.google.com...
> Speaking of retail... in the pre-PC era...
>
> Anyone remember the DEC retail stores? A few of these
> stores appeared about the time that the "Super Trio" of
> systems all appeared in the same form-factor boxes:
>
> The Rainbow (8088/Z80) - http://tinyurl.com/6hc4f
> The Professional (PDP11-based) - http://tinyurl.com/4ftfn
> DECmate II (PDP8-on-a-chip based) - http://tinyurl.com/6eksz
>
> I think all of the stores folded up within a year of opening-
> how many stores were there (at max) and what cities were they
> in?
>
> As I recall the stores only wanted to deal with the above
> 3 systems and supporting accessories - if you tried to walk
> in and buy a VT100 they turned you away.

There was one in Columbus, Ohio that was open long before the
Rainbow/Pro/DECMate II were released. I remember going in there to look at
PDP-11 and PDP-8 (DECmate I) systems.

I heard a story (I don't know if it's true), that Dan Bricklin went into one
of these stores to see about buying a computer. He didn't like something (I
don't know what) so he left and bought an Apple II and wrote VisiCalc.
 

Relevant Pages

  • PiperJaffray addresses unanswered Apple questions
    ... the iTV provides further integration between the Mac and iPod ... We believe that Apple sells more of its lower ASP (average selling ... Apple retail stores sold 50 percent of all computers to ... Questions On Apple's Retail Stores: ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: DEC retail stores in the 1980s
    ... The 'Digital Computer Stores" opened in 1979 with the first one in the Mall ... WS78's begat the DECmate I, DECmate II, DECmate III and DECmate III+. ... "David Powell" wrote in message ... >>Anyone remember the DEC retail stores? ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: DEC retail stores in the 1980s
    ... The 'Digital Computer Stores" opened in 1979 with the first one in the Mall ... WS78's begat the DECmate I, DECmate II, DECmate III and DECmate III+. ... "David Powell" wrote in message ... >>Anyone remember the DEC retail stores? ...
    (comp.sys.dec)
  • Re: Golfsmith and service
    ... and many had no prices. ... tags on the spots they were stuck, ... Maybe my expectations of retail stores are just too high, ...
    (rec.sport.golf)
  • Re: Performance Bike: finances?
    ... However, if the stores carry only a fraction of the selection, what's the ... more likely to have it in stock. ... and some of the Supergo ... stock in retail stores with blowout sales. ...
    (rec.bicycles.misc)