#kitchen computer

[computerhistorymuseum]

Why would anyone want a computer at home? Before the personal computer era and its avalanche of possible uses, the perennial answer was: “to store recipes.”Neiman-Marcus took that literally. The cover of its 1969 Christmas catalog featured the Kitchen Computer. For $10,600 you got the computer, a cookbook, an apron, and a two-week programming course.Inside the futuristic packaging with a built-in cutting board was a standard Honeywell 316 minicomputer. But the console interface featured binary switches and lights. (Does 0011101000111001 mean broccoli? Or carrots?)Not surprisingly, none were sold.

The cover of Neiman-Marcus' 1969 Christmas catalog featured the Kitchen Computer. For $10,600 you got the computer, a cookbook, an apron, and a two-week programming course.

This week we are participating in #MuseumWeek. Each day we will explore a new topic. Today's topic is FOOD! #FoodMW 

[dinosaurspen]

Honeywell 316 computer.

[meme-meme]

The Honeywell Kitchen Computer was a short-lived product. It sold for $10,000, weighed over 100 pounds, and was used for storing recipes (but reading or entering these recipes would have been very difficult for the average cook, since the user interface required the person to take a two-week course to learn to program the device, using only toggle-switch input and binary light output). It had a built in cutting board and had a few recipes built in. No evidence has been found that any Honeywell Kitchen Computers were ever sold.