Back in October, Harry McCracken at PC World did a post called A Brief History of Computers, As Seen in Old TV Ads .

The first commercial is from 1980. It’s for the Atari 400 (We’ve brought the computer age home). The last commercial brings us to the present day with a Get a Mac ad featuring PC guy, John Hodgman, and Mac guy, Justin Long.

Along the way, we get to see William Shatner pushing the Commodore 64, a wonderful Kaypro ad that shows things haven’t changed much through the years, and, of course, Apple’s famous 1984 Superbowl commercial by Ridley Scott.

Apple dominates with eight commercials. Sadly, several, like a Newton ad from 1993, are no longer available.

Since the ads are more a part of our TV culture than our computer culture, I think they will generate interest across the age and comp-literacy spectrum at holiday gatherings.

Happy Holidays! All the best in the New Year.

Thanks to Josh for sending this along.