If It's Good Enough for Shatner...
What do Bill Cosby, the cast of 'MASH,' and, yes, Captain James T. Kirk have in common? They all endorsed PCs in the 1980s.
Benj Edwards, PC World
By Benj Edwards
When personal computers entered the mainstream in the 1980s, the American public was understandably uneasy. Most people didn't know much about using a PC, or how to choose a good one. Where could they turn for advice? Marketers hoped they would turn to on-screen role models, heroes such as Alan Alda, Roger Moore, and William Shatner. Understandable, perhaps. But really, would you buy a computer on the advice of Dom DeLuise or wrestler "King Kong" Bundy?
Some celebrities (such as John Cleese for Compaq) pitched solely to television audiences, while others graced the printed page. In this slide show, we take a lighthearted look at eleven examples of the latter, most taken straight from vintage computer magazines of the 1980s.
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