It seems like in the 1980s there were more mail order places for computers and computer parts then there are internet sites for such things today. That’s probably not really true but it just seems like today it's best to get everything from Amazon or maybe Amazon. Or possibly Amazon. Ok, once in a while Newegg...or eBay of you are brave. This ad is from a popular (it seemed so to me at the time anyway) mail order business called Computer Direct that sold various computers and accessories.
Computer Direct was where most of my Commodore stuff came from. While my Commodore 64c itself probably did not come from here (it was a Christmas present), my 1541-II disk drive, monitor, printer, printer interface, my first modem and even a replacement power supply for my Commodore 64 all came from Computer Direct. Their prices were good and the support was great as well. You could return anything within 15 days for any reason and they offered a 90-day replacement policy. They even provided technical support if you gave them a call. Try getting that from Amazon. At least the returns are easy.
Computer Direct's later ads were a very hard to miss bright yellow. However, earlier ads (or maybe it was just a limitation imposed by this particular magazine) were a little more subdued. This particular ad happens to be from the May 1985 issue of Computer Entertainment, the short-lived successor to Electronic Games. It features Atari 8-bit related items though they sold stuff for most computers available, including the Commodore 64 of course.
I’m not sure whatever happened to Computer Direct. I know they were founded in 1979 and I found ads for them through at least 1993. This 1985 ad is one of the earliest I have run across so far. There seem to be a bunch of businesses out there today with the name “Computer Direct” but none of them appear to be related to the original. I think the Internet ultimately put a lot of these companies out of business…at least the ones that could not adapt fast enough. Anybody remember the massive phone book sized Computer Shopper?
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