Computerland (1985)

In 1985 I found myself a computer salesman, which is funny since I had no real computer experience.

To be honest, I'd gotten the job by lying about my computer skills.

In college I'd worked in the TV/stereo department at The Broadway, which had been a major department store chain on West Coast until its implosion in the mid-1980s. I've always like electronics and was enthusiastic at suggesting the right televisions and stereo systems for customers at the store. At that time, most people bought their electronics from department stores. This was a time way before Best Buy, Circuit City, and other speciality retail. Until the end of the 1980s, department stores dominated the mass-market for electronics and sold a wide variety of TVs, VCRs, camcorders, and telephones in an era where they were expensive and special.

So when Lisa and I had a job offer from a family friend to move to North Hollywood and work in the film business, we jumped at the chance. It was just industrial safety films, but it was an opportunity for Lisa to learn the real-life marketing skills that she's been studying in college. I, on the other hand, didn't have many options. But I was more likely to get into advertising/design in Los Angeles than San Diego (which was a sleepy Navy town back then), so I jumped, too.

I couldn't stop thinking about the Macintosh. Buying one was impossible, but I was mercilessly tempted every time I saw one in an ad or in a computer store's window.

Then one day I had an epiphany while reading the help-wanteds: Computerland was hiring sales reps.

If I couldn't own a Mac, why not spend all day selling them?

I still remember interviewing with the store owner. He owned several companies, including a radio station, and Computerland franchise had been an investment that was going sour. Sales were booming but he couldn't keep any management, who kept being hired away by competitors and even customers. He was looking for someone to work the store and sell the state-of-the-art computers at the time: : IBM PCs, Apple IIs, Kaypros, AT&T PCs (one of which ran UNIX, which I'd never heard of), and the new Macintosh.

My only computer experience was the Mac. But I'd learned enough about writing, drawing, and printing with the Mac from the endless hours I'd spent on the SDSU bookstore's demo unit. The owner didn't ask a lot of questions, and I didn't volunteer a lot of answers. Thats how I got my first computer job.

The great thing about being in computer sales 1985 was getting free stuff. The PC industry was brand-new and new hardware and software companies were starting up every day. It's hard to believe now, but Computerland was the dominate computer retailer at the time. In the era before Office Depot, Staples, Costco, WalMart, etc. sold PCs, if your organization needed a business computer, you likely bought it from Computerland. And if you were a computer manufacturer or software developer, getting sold through Computerland was a big deal. So when I'd call on behalf of the store for evaluation units, these companies never said no. That's how I got my first copies of FileMaker, Helix, Panorama, Filevision, and Omnis.

I was also able to buy my first Macintosh, an original beige Mac 128k that was the store's demonstrator (it's on display in the Clients & Profits Archives).