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"From a design standpoint, I think Unit-E missed an opportunity to built a vertical tower reminiscent of older PCs" Am I the only one who remembers _most_ home

by ch_123 8y ago

"From a design standpoint, I think Unit-E missed an opportunity to built a vertical tower reminiscent of older PCs" Am I the only one who remembers _most_ home computers from the 80s/early 90s being 'pizza box' desktops?

ConceptJunkie 8y ago
No, you're not. The tower became more prominent in the mid-to-late 90s.
isostatic 8y ago
"Pizzabox" is a bit generous, many desktops would have at least 3x 5.25" vertical bays -- they were limited by the height of a PCI card.
- kalleboo 8y ago
  I always thought "pizzabox" was a Mac term - you had machines like Centris/Quadra series where if you wanted expansion card you had to get a riser card where you mounted the cards horizontally
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    I always thought it came from the Sun SparcStations, along with SGI etc. There were the pizzaboxes that were as deep as wide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SPARCstation20_front_and_rear.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SPARCstation20_front_and_... Then there were the lunchbox IPX and IPC that were about half the width and depth but twice the height. http://www.obsolyte.com/sun_ipx/ipx_portrait.jpg http://www.obsolyte.com/sun_ipx/ipx_portrait.jpg
    - kalleboo 8y ago
      You're probably right, I didn't come into contact with Sparc machines until uni. edit: Actually I just followed the wikipedia link and there's even a page on the pizza box form factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_box_form_factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_box_form_factor > The Data General Aviion Unix server was advertised in 1991 with the tagline "Who just fit mainframe power in a pizza box?",[1] but most computers generally referred to as pizza box systems were high-end desktop systems such as Sun Microsystems workstations sold in the 1990s, most notably the SPARCstation 1 and SPARCstation 5. Other notable examples have been among the highest-performing desktop computers of their generations, including the SGI Indy, the NeXTstation, and the Amiga 1000, but the form factor was also seen in budget and lower-end lines such as the Macintosh LC family.[2] The Jargon File also specifically refers to Sun machines http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/P/pizza-box.html http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/P/pizza-box.html
grendelt 8y ago
I came to post the same thought.
theandrewbailey 8y ago
I remember most old horizontal PCs were very thick (tall) compared to a pizza box. They were practically towers sitting on their side. Cake box, maybe.

by ch_123 8y ago

ConceptJunkie 8y ago

No, you're not. The tower became more prominent in the mid-to-late 90s.

isostatic 8y ago

"Pizzabox" is a bit generous, many desktops would have at least 3x 5.25" vertical bays -- they were limited by the height of a PCI card.

kalleboo 8y ago
I always thought "pizzabox" was a Mac term - you had machines like Centris/Quadra series where if you wanted expansion card you had to get a riser card where you mounted the cards horizontally
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  I always thought it came from the Sun SparcStations, along with SGI etc. There were the pizzaboxes that were as deep as wide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SPARCstation20_front_and_rear.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SPARCstation20_front_and_... Then there were the lunchbox IPX and IPC that were about half the width and depth but twice the height. http://www.obsolyte.com/sun_ipx/ipx_portrait.jpg http://www.obsolyte.com/sun_ipx/ipx_portrait.jpg
  - kalleboo 8y ago
    You're probably right, I didn't come into contact with Sparc machines until uni. edit: Actually I just followed the wikipedia link and there's even a page on the pizza box form factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_box_form_factor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_box_form_factor > The Data General Aviion Unix server was advertised in 1991 with the tagline "Who just fit mainframe power in a pizza box?",[1] but most computers generally referred to as pizza box systems were high-end desktop systems such as Sun Microsystems workstations sold in the 1990s, most notably the SPARCstation 1 and SPARCstation 5. Other notable examples have been among the highest-performing desktop computers of their generations, including the SGI Indy, the NeXTstation, and the Amiga 1000, but the form factor was also seen in budget and lower-end lines such as the Macintosh LC family.[2] The Jargon File also specifically refers to Sun machines http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/P/pizza-box.html http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/P/pizza-box.html

grendelt 8y ago

I came to post the same thought.

theandrewbailey 8y ago

I remember most old horizontal PCs were very thick (tall) compared to a pizza box. They were practically towers sitting on their side. Cake box, maybe.