The $70k Kitchen Computer That Nobody Bought: The Honeywell H316 Story

The Honeywell H316 kitchen computer, priced at a staggering $70,000 (in 1969 dollars), is a legendary flop. This wasn't just any kitchen appliance; it was a luxurious version of Honeywell's general-purpose H316 computer, notable for its retro-futuristic design and binary interface. The article explores its failures: the exorbitant price, the complex binary programming, and its unrealistic target market (suburban housewives for recipe storage). Despite its commercial failure, the H316 holds a place in tech history as arguably the first consumer-focused computer, making it a holy grail for retrocomputing enthusiasts. However, evidence suggests it may have been a brilliant, albeit expensive, marketing stunt orchestrated by Neiman Marcus, rather than a genuine product failure.