6 ms·

The Honeywell Kitchen Computer

51 points by mamoul 2y ago

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dang 2y ago
Related. Others? When Americans dreamed of kitchen computers (2021) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 - April 2022 (60 comments) Honeywell 316 Kitchen Computer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 - Feb 2022 (4 comments) The oldest problem in computing - Recipes - How do you solve it? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 - April 2009 (10 comments) The $62,550 machine no one bought - Honeywell's Kitchen Computer remembered - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=378603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=378603 - Nov 2008 (3 comments)
- gnabgib 2y ago
  Honeywell 316 Kitchen Computer (5 points, 3 years ago, 4 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 When Americans dreamed of kitchen computers (2021) (50 points, 3 years ago, 60 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 The oldest problem in computing - Recipes - How do you solve it? (6 points, 16 years ago, 10 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666
  - dang 2y ago
    Thanks! Added above.
lostlogin 2y ago
Any ideas on what the font is in the 3rd image? I like it. ‘MENU SELECTION BY HONEYWELL KITCHEN COMPUTER’
- Cumpiler69 2y ago
  If you Google "classic computer font that's on cheques", you'll find it as the first result.
  - Animats 2y ago
    The amusing thing is that there never was such a computer-readable text font. The original Magnetic Ink Character Recognition digits still seen on paper checks are from a set that only has numbers and some delimiters. There are no letters in MICR. Anything that looks like that font with letters is a dated attempt to look futuristic. MICR digits are really a kind of bar code. They were originally read by a one-track magnetic head.[1] The waveform out represents only how much ink is present. But it doesn't matter to the magnetic reader where the ink is placed vertically within the read track. That's why the digit forms are so weird, with those varying-width lines. Bank of America had the first MICR readers and check sorters custom built. This was so successful that it powered BofA to become the biggest bank in the world at the time. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_Accounting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_...
    - dspillett 2y ago
      > Anything that looks like that font with letters is a dated attempt to look futuristic. Or a modern attempt to look retro-futuristic. Though obviously not in this case.
    - fifticon 2y ago
      To expand on this, the scifi fonts that originate in this, start with the Westminster typeface: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_(typeface) An early competitor was called "Data 70". Countless variants emerged later, but Westminster is the earliest variant I know of. In my childhood, these typefaces were more or less synonymous with scifi, future and computer stuff. If you DIDN'T use this typeface, you had to come up with an explanation for why you didn't..
nivertech 2y ago
… and then they pivoted to B2B ;)
djmips 2y ago
I feel like this was probably their idea of an Onion article style humour at the time although it's obviously patronizing when looked at today.
- MadnessASAP 2y ago
  Onion style humor is called satire. I don't believe Honeywell was aiming for satire, rather just a joke at the wife's expense.
  - djmips 2y ago
    I feel they thought it was satire. If you look at the Onion, it's often at someone's expense.
Numerlor 2y ago
While many orders of magnitude more performant it is funny when my GPU pulls the same amount of power as that huge computer
aa-jv 2y ago
I have an older (first-generation) iPad dedicated to my kitchen, for recipes and viewing things while cooking. It strikes me as the perfect place for it, these days. I've considered, many times, what life would be like if the Kitchen iPad could connect to the fridge and the air fryer and coordinate my food intake planning and execution .. but I'm really, really not ready to let that level of control enter my life. Yet. Its sort of amusing to see the level of intrusion that Honeywell were willing to accept .. but there was scant consideration given to the privacy issues. What a world we've created ..

51 points by mamoul 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

dang 2y ago

Related. Others? When Americans dreamed of kitchen computers (2021) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 - April 2022 (60 comments) Honeywell 316 Kitchen Computer - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 - Feb 2022 (4 comments) The oldest problem in computing - Recipes - How do you solve it? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 - April 2009 (10 comments) The $62,550 machine no one bought - Honeywell's Kitchen Computer remembered - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=378603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=378603 - Nov 2008 (3 comments)

gnabgib 2y ago
Honeywell 316 Kitchen Computer (5 points, 3 years ago, 4 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30421628 When Americans dreamed of kitchen computers (2021) (50 points, 3 years ago, 60 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31108439 The oldest problem in computing - Recipes - How do you solve it? (6 points, 16 years ago, 10 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=544666
- dang 2y ago
  Thanks! Added above.

lostlogin 2y ago

Any ideas on what the font is in the 3rd image? I like it. ‘MENU SELECTION BY HONEYWELL KITCHEN COMPUTER’

Cumpiler69 2y ago
If you Google "classic computer font that's on cheques", you'll find it as the first result.
- Animats 2y ago
  The amusing thing is that there never was such a computer-readable text font. The original Magnetic Ink Character Recognition digits still seen on paper checks are from a set that only has numbers and some delimiters. There are no letters in MICR. Anything that looks like that font with letters is a dated attempt to look futuristic. MICR digits are really a kind of bar code. They were originally read by a one-track magnetic head.[1] The waveform out represents only how much ink is present. But it doesn't matter to the magnetic reader where the ink is placed vertically within the read track. That's why the digit forms are so weird, with those varying-width lines. Bank of America had the first MICR readers and check sorters custom built. This was so successful that it powered BofA to become the biggest bank in the world at the time. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_Accounting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Recording_Machine,_...
  - dspillett 2y ago
    > Anything that looks like that font with letters is a dated attempt to look futuristic. Or a modern attempt to look retro-futuristic. Though obviously not in this case.
  - fifticon 2y ago
    To expand on this, the scifi fonts that originate in this, start with the Westminster typeface: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_(typeface) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_(typeface) An early competitor was called "Data 70". Countless variants emerged later, but Westminster is the earliest variant I know of. In my childhood, these typefaces were more or less synonymous with scifi, future and computer stuff. If you DIDN'T use this typeface, you had to come up with an explanation for why you didn't..

nivertech 2y ago

… and then they pivoted to B2B ;)

djmips 2y ago

I feel like this was probably their idea of an Onion article style humour at the time although it's obviously patronizing when looked at today.

MadnessASAP 2y ago
Onion style humor is called satire. I don't believe Honeywell was aiming for satire, rather just a joke at the wife's expense.
- djmips 2y ago
  I feel they thought it was satire. If you look at the Onion, it's often at someone's expense.

Numerlor 2y ago

While many orders of magnitude more performant it is funny when my GPU pulls the same amount of power as that huge computer

aa-jv 2y ago

I have an older (first-generation) iPad dedicated to my kitchen, for recipes and viewing things while cooking. It strikes me as the perfect place for it, these days. I've considered, many times, what life would be like if the Kitchen iPad could connect to the fridge and the air fryer and coordinate my food intake planning and execution .. but I'm really, really not ready to let that level of control enter my life. Yet. Its sort of amusing to see the level of intrusion that Honeywell were willing to accept .. but there was scant consideration given to the privacy issues. What a world we've created ..