>>de_key+(OP)
This seems to have been more of a publicity stunt by Neiman Marcus and/or Honeywell. From what I can tell no one ever expected any of these to sell for kitchen purposes.

They also had business jets, real Egyptian mummies, and submarines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neiman_Marcus#The_Christmas_Bo...

>>de_key+(OP)
>"And if she pales at reckoning her lunch tabs, she can program it to balance the family checkbook."

Next time I feel guilty about being frivolous with "cool new technology", I'll remember this ad suggesting a $70,000 calculator as a responsible way to manage household finances!

I wonder what the absolutely most frivolous application of a contemporary $70,000 electronic gadget would be. CNC machine for dicing vegetables (very precisely)? Industrial CO2 laser for controlling mosquitos? TPU workstation for classifying-sorting the cat memes folder? Thermal infrared cameras for tracking gopher infestations in the tomato garden? My creativity is too limited.

>>Polygo+a5
Exactly. 100% a publicity stunt, and I’m sure nobody involved expected it to be cited as a serious product decades later.

>>de_key+(OP)
An old laptop as a kitchen computer is a great idea. Want to watch something while waiting for a pot of water to boil? Or lookup a recipe, or something random you just thought of, add something to a shopping list? I much prefer it to a smartphone.