Laskys Advert - December 1984

Here's another advert for non-computer company Laskys, stalwart of the micro revolution on the High Streets of the UK for several years.

Laskys adverts often represent the zeitgeist of microcomputers, and this one starts with the most expensive - the Apple Macintosh for £1,998, or £8,120 in 2024 money. It was also possible to borrow one for 48 hours.

There's also the Atari 800XL at £169 (£680), the BBC B Micro, still going at £400 (£1,620), the 48K Spectrum Plus for £179 (£720), the Acorn Electron at £199.90 (£800) and a Sony MSX for £299.90 (£1,210), showing that the long-awaited (and long-feared) MSX invasion had started.

The ad also features the classic Peugeot 205 GT, which could be won. And why not.

Cars and micros seemed to be a popular thing, as this advert for a Renault 9 shows. Buy the car, get a 48K Spectrum, complete with tape recorder and software pack, for free. From Your Computer, May 1984.

Prior to the spring of 1983, only Lasky's 26 specialist branches had been stocking micros, in the form of Commodore's 64 and VIC-20, the Jupiter Ace, Newbrain, Osborne, Sharp, Lynx, Atari and Apple.

From March, however, all of their non-specialist "Twenty 20" branches started selling the VIC-20 plus Atari's 400 and 800, as well as software and peripherals^[1].

This was very much a sign that home computers had become mainstream, non-threatening, ubiquitous and commoditised - a situation which would really start to bite the following year as the market reached saturation.