Thread by @mwichary, I’ve been trying to find a good photo of a 1970s/1980s microcomputer [...]

Marcin Wichary

mwichary

I’ve been trying to find a good photo of a 1970s/1980s microcomputer store for my book and I haven’t had great luck – but sharing what I found so far could make for an interesting thread!

This is 1983 in Sunnyvale, CA: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sunnyvale-ca-this-year-should-tell-if-video-game-giant-news-photo/515185352?adppopup=true

“On 8 May 1984, young people play concentrated on a Commodore computer in a store in Nuremberg.”

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/on-8-may-1984-young-people-play-concentrated-on-a-commodore-news-photo/1060983192?adppopup=true

“A young boy looking at Acorn Electron computer and monitor in a WHSmith shop in Waterloo, London, UK, 6th December 1984.”

A weird little set from a Granada TV Rental shop, 1985.

https://www.alamy.com/1985-historical-home-entertainment-equipment-including-the-latest-televisions-and-video-recorders-on-display-inside-a-granada-tv-rental-shop-england-uk-image247043014.html

A photo inside the legendary ComputerLand. Given PCjr is prominently on display… 1984?

Supposedly West Germany, 1984:

(Thank you to @benjedwards for unearthing this and a few other photos, and his help in this whole search.)

“In an unspecified computer store, a customer speaks with a sales clerk about features of on a Polymorphic Systems' System 8813 business computer, October 12, 1977.”

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-an-unspecified-computer-store-a-customer-speaks-with-a-news-photo/1127580648

A few low-quality photos I found in various corners of the internet.

Some photos from an hmv shop in Reading, UK, 1985 or 1986:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmvgetcloser/5117478315/

“Boys at a computer store in West Germany” (1983)

I don’t know the original source for this photo. Not 100% sure this looks like a store (as opposed to e.g. an expo).

A 1982 Akihabara, Tokyo store (via @benjedwards and his article: https://www.pcmag.com/news/inside-computer-stores-of-the-70s-and-80s).

Not a store, but you could rent a computer from a Dutch library at one point!

Another hmv display, Oxford Street:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hmvgetcloser/5057364746

A bad photo of what seemed like a cool store in New Zealand:

https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2018-08-23-viscount-electronics.htm

ComputerLand once more, early 1980s:

A little newer, but still cool – a lot of detail in the window.

Vancouver’s The Byte Shop (later Byte Computers), 1978.

https://vancouvertrueborns.com/post/131586398776/who-sold-the-first-apple-computers-in-canada

“Man using IBM computer at retail store.” (IBM Displaywriter, it seems.)

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-using-ibm-computer-at-retail-store-news-photo/50312546?adppopup=true

Ooh, these are nice. A store in the Netherlands, 1984.

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