Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 29th Nov 2008 00:43 UTC
El Reg has a write-up on the amazingly beautiful and hopelessly impractical Honeywell Kitchen Computer. We've covered this bizarre piece of computing history before on OSNews, in my list of the ten most beautiful computers. For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, read on for more details. Trust me, you want to know.
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Member since:2005-07-24
Honestly, they should have just waited a few years with that thing so they could have made even a slightly more useable user-interface :3
Well, I think the article is probably a little misleading. This was a regular Honeywell model cross-marketed for the kitchen. What they show in the pictures is, I believe, just the console and cpu, not intended to be used directly for i/o any more than, say, the IBM 360 console was. From the brochure, which doesn't say anything at all about kitchen use, but does contain an amusing photo of Bob Barker with his head vaporized:
You may choose any of the three styles:
table-top; rack-mountable, in standard 19-inch RETMA rack; and pedestal with desk-height controls, writing table, convenience, and futuristic styling.
So it can go in the living room, and an attached teletype (presumably sold separately) would be in the kitchen. Recipes could be stored on paper tape, read and written from the paper tape reader/writer on the teletype, or to the disc storage in the pantry, the drum storage in the bath room, the mag tape unit in the dining room, or on cards generated by the keypunch machine in the den. Presumably, some accessories would be available only from the manufacturer and not directly from Neiman-Marcus.
So I would say that your worries about fitting the console into your kitchen are unfounded.
Edited 2008-11-29 15:29 UTC
Member since:2005-12-31
Member since:2006-01-10
[quote]Honestly, they should have just waited a few years with that thing so they could have made even a slightly more useable user-interface :3[/quote]
It looks more like something that would fit on the Enterprise's bridge (Origonal Trek) than something that would go in the kitchen.
Maybe if there is still a working one around, we can teach it to detect lies, pinpoint lifeforms, etc.
Member since:
2006-02-15
Awesome device indeed, I would have been quite insulted if my husband/boyfriend bought me something like that
It's maybe just my opinion but it looks absolutely horrible, wouldn't fit in any good-looking kitchen and it is seriously impractical, even the "analog" pen-and-paper method for storing my recipes works better.. 
Honestly, they should have just waited a few years with that thing so they could have made even a slightly more useable user-interface :3