Throwback Thursday, IT edition

The Aug. 17, 1981 issue of National Home Center News, the predecessor of Hardware + Building Supply Dealer, included interesting articles about the sale of Frank’s to Scott’s, the potential of cable TV to disrupt hardware retailing, and plans for a new event called the “Winter National Hardware & Home Center Show.”

But what caught our eye was this advertisement for the TIBIS 100, from Texas Instruments.

Designed specifically for LBM dealers, this system might not have had the touchscreen technology, or even the mouse, but it had heart.

Here’s an excerpt from the ad copy: “With minimal training, your employees can easily select the appropriate program from a ‘menu’ presented on the screen of a video display terminal.”

Here’s another: “With one simple entry, the TIBIS 100 system records a sale … Another entry updates your general ledger, so all your records are up to date.”

The glamour photograph shows a product that time almost forgot. But we have to remember -- the powerful business machines we use today stood on the shoulders of giants like the TIBIS 100.

If you ever used the TIBIS 100, or know someone who did, please let us know here.