So recently someone sent me this ad for a scientific calculator …
I’m not sure when it’s from, but a quick search revealed the RadioShack TRS-80 came out in 1980 so it’s certainly a long time ago.
But here’s the thing, I don’t just like it because I’m a nostalgic fool, I like it because despite being very product focused … despite them shoving a ‘direct marketing’ element into the execution … despite the product costing a bloody fortune … it’s refreshing to see an ad that gets to the point rather than pontificate about what it ‘believes in’.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe the values of a brand are massively important, however so many brands these days spout a bunch of contrived bollocks … either because they haven’t got anything interesting or valuable to say about their product or they’re a faceless corporation attempting to sound ‘purposeful’ by retrofitting some bland, meaningless value-terminology to themselves, despite no one actually giving a fuck about what they say because all they do is exactly the same as everyone else.
Phew … I feel better after that.
But that aside, maybe I like this ad because it seems to have inspired the positioning for Nokia’s N95, the first – and possibly last – time the Finnish phone peddlers did something that was innovative [for 2007] both in terms of the product and their point of view.
However, if I’m being totally honest, the real reason I like it is probably because I still use this as my calculator.
Yep, the one I got when I was 12 [or maybe 13] … 2 years after the TRS-80 came out.
The one where I’ve still not used 99% of the buttons on the left hand side of the calculator.
The one that is so old that the screen doesn’t let me type 553l8008 clearly.
The one I wrote a blog post about.
Which all goes to show, it might be a new year, but I’m still as pathetic as I’ve always been.