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Tempus Fugit

Below is a reminder that time flies like the wind (the rejoinder of course is “but fruit flies like the bananas”). It is from the “Prickly City” cartoon. It references the Osbourne1, a “portable” computer, seen HERE. The Osbourne Computer Corporation was also known for the Osbourne Effect, wherein a poorly timed notice of an improved product cannibalizes existing sales which, if is late arriving, can lead to sales revenue drying up to the point of causing bankruptcy.

PRICKLY CITY © Scott Stantis. Dist. By ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

It is nostalgic for me because in the early 1980’s I purchased a Kaypro Computer, a much better engineered competitor of the Osbourne 1 (primarily, with a larger screen size). I even personally upgraded it to have an actual hard drive (a 5MB; no, not Terabye, but 5 Megabytes). It was the computer that I used at SOAC (Submarine Officers Advanced Course) in 1985 to exchange e-mails with Lindsay, who stayed in Silverdale. It is one of two antique computers that I moved from Portland, when I get the house built, I will probably set it up in the office. The other one is the venerable IMSAI-8080 that I build from a kit in San Diego.

As noted in the final panel, it was also at a time when inflation was rampant, so what was old is new again. Also, thanks to Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter is no longer considered as the worst president ever.