On Wed, 19 Dec 2001, Glen Goodwin wrote:
Right around 1960 or '61 (I was five or six years
old at the time) I
was given a toy computer. I suppose it was meant to represent a
mainframe (what else could it have been, given the era?) and there was
a rectangular (4 x 8? 5 X 7?) array of blinkenlights on the front of
it. There was also a tray in the front which accepted a small punched
card. A set of these cards came with the toy. Each card had a
multiple-choice question printed on it, as well as four answers to
choose from, numbered A through D. Additional card sets could be
purchased separately.
When a card was placed into the tray and the tray was then closed, the
blinkenlights would display a "random" pattern for a couple of seconds
(always the same pattern) and then the array would display the correct
answer to the printed question, A B C or D. It didn't take long for
me to be able to read the holes in the cards, and I even "modified" a
couple of them so that the toy displayed an incorrect answer.
Does *anyone* remember this thing? It must have cost a few bucks back
then. What was it called?
Glen,
This fine toy is called the Think-A-Tron and was made by Hasbro. I've got
one in the box (one of the few good deals I've gotten on eBay).
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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