Honeywell’s Kitchen Computer remembered: The $62,550 machine no one bought

“Let us first ponder: We’ve discussed several important
computers in this erratically-released column. Many of these units,
along their notable triumphs, come with a fair share of faults
– be it a 23-pound frame on a supposedly portable PC, or the
occasional electromagnetic pulse on start-up that destroys all
storage tapes in the area. You can’t make lemonade without some
lemons.

“But none, to this reporter’s knowledge, sold a total of zero
units. That’s because hitting the big goose egg so squarely is
actually rather difficult. Everyone has a mother, after all. A
computer that no fool on Earth would purchase requires machinery so
decadent and impractical, so awash up in the dream that
super-science will simplify our lives, that it could only arrive in
a Neiman-Marcus holiday catalog.”

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