Computers That Were Also Phones

[fargo]

I have a soft spot for vintage computers with integrated telecommunications. The three I like most in my collection are:

ICL One Per Desk
An all-in-one business computer and telephone from 1984. It came bundled with ready-made programs for office work and communications.




Mitsubishi ML-TS2H
In addition to kids, it was also marketed toward “fathers” who wanted to do online banking and trading in 1987 using an MSX2!




Hitachi PROSET 30HD
This one has it all: computer, phone, email, fax, modem, printer, video input, and scanner. The system was quite revolutionary when it was released in 1989. Some users reportedly kept using it until 2012.

 

[krebizfan]

I remember the odd time in the 90s when computers got modems and sound cards to become $5,000 answering machines.

Some of the other 80s computers with attached handsets had very nice styling, something that didn't always show up with the regular computers from the same manufacturers.

 

[stepleton]

That PROSET 30HD is wild; I'd never heard of it before. There are a lot of good pictures of the hardware (not operating though) here: https://www.okqubit.net/machines/hitachi.html

 

[NeXT]

I remember the odd time in the 90s when computers got modems and sound cards to become $5,000 answering machines.

My parents made heavy use of the telephony features built into out Packard Bell system. We never had an answering machine because the PC acted as the answering machine.

 

[fargo]

That PROSET 30HD is wild; I'd never heard of it before. There are a lot of good pictures of the hardware (not operating though) here: https://www.okqubit.net/machines/hitachi.html

Yeah, it's definitely one of the oddest computers. Mine is practically brand new! It's a bit heavy for me to carry around on my own. I'm hoping to get some help soon so I can get it out and give it a thorough review.