'ello tosh, got a toshiba?

I've got this box sitting on the shelf in the back room (not as shown here, obviously, since I've plonked it on the garden table to take its picture for you). But goodness knows where it came from. I've never owned a Toshiba computer. And I don't recognise the stuff that's inside, either. So it's all a bit of a mystery. Probably something that someone asked us to look after some time ago - and it's been there ever since.

Anyway, that's all besides the point really. Because what intrigues me is the design on the side of the box. For a computer that probably dates from the mid 1990s, this box couldn't be any more of it's time. But why is that? At face value, it only has the illustration, restrained typography, two colours and white background that you might expect on today's Apple packaging. It's not a million miles away in concept, just worlds apart in terms of execution.

And here's why, I think. First, the name: T1800/60. What's that all about? Well, I'm guessing that the 60 refers to the size of the hard disk as 60MB (yes, you read that right - megabytes). But the 1800? Nothing on a mid 1990s computer ran that fast or was that big. Unless, perhaps, it refers to the weight of the thing. But you couldn't get away with that today, could you? Because all computer names now either have to start with a lower-case 'i', or be named after something, like a Fox or a Storm.

And then just look at that illustration. Two simple things give it away for what it is: those overlapping edge lines on the top corners of the screen and that single cross-hatch. It's what you'd expect (or expected) to see on an architect's drawing. Except that no architect (or at least none that I've ever come across) draws like that. No, it's a stylistic technique that's only ever used by people who'd like you to think they were an architect.

Anyway, all of this musing on Toshiba and the mid 1990s has reminded me of their Ian Dury voiced television adverts of the time:

Comments

[frankie smales]

great tv advertising it was during the 80's the toshiba
ello tosh advert had an mtv vibe to it i was informed by a likely
source on youtube that it was ian dury not paul hardcastle did the voice for the toshiba guy the adverts was aired on every boxing day
next to the scotch vhs adverts
and the milk campaign with band
aid founder bob geldhof in the 80's what great times it was back then but sadly all that ended during the mid 90's but the 80's
live on forever .

frankie smales

(80's retro tv ad fan)

[Neville]

David, I've just found this and interestingly enough, if you still have the box then I have the computer that fit in the box for you.

In fact, I have a few of them

Let me know if you are interested