Gallery: Amazing '80s Ads From Omni, the Mag That Defined Geekdom
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0120140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0173edit1
From 1978-1995, no magazine looked to the future as excitedly as *Omni*. (Expand the gallery to fullscreen for the best experience.)
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0220140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0049edit1
Your parents were on to the Columbia House scam, but if you were lucky, they'd let you join the Science Fiction Book Club.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0320140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0014edit1
VIC-20: The Commodore 64's cheaper cousin, and the author's first ever gaming device. (*Radar Rat Race* 4eva!)
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0420140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0036edit1
Before *Red Sonja*, before we even knew Wilt Chamberlain could act, there was the original *Conan*.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0520140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0060edit1
"Astrocade Gives You More!" Because next-gen experiences like *Checkmate* and *Scribbling* would never become obsolete. LOL *Scribbling*.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0620140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0101edit1
*Cosmos* fans: bet you didn't know Big Oil was behind the greatest science miniseries of all time!
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0720140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0126edit1
Fun fact: the Walkman was created for webisodes about Rick Moranis' character from *Ghostbusters*. No, seriously, it's true.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0820140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0075edit1
"And with so much personal information being stored in computers...it's been of continuing concern to us at IBM."
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED0920140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0018edit1
Atari 2600 and its murderer's row of gaming titles. Shame you treated these like crap, you non-investment-minded ingrates.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1020140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0042edit1
One man, five douchey getups. Though we'll give him credit for skiing with a cassette machine around his neck.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1120140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0180edit1
The French translates to "don't worry, in a few years you and your D&D buddies will run the tech world."
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1220140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0058edit1
Believe it or not, there was a time when film marketers knew what the word "restraint" meant.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1320140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0117edit1
Between this and football, Mattel's handheld electronics game was on point. (Sorry, Nintendo Game & Watch.)
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1420140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0096edit1
Oh, tiny keyboards. We all had you, yet none of us became musicians. What's that about?
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1520140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0090edit1
"All that computer for $599? Who'd expect that in 20 years something the size of a credit card would run laps around this thing?"
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1620140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0147edit1
"Apple, the computer *not* worth waiting for. Until we build a bunch of huge crowded stores, anyway."
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1720140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0190edit1
The next time your friends tease you for not dubbing Human League songs onto TDK, you tell them if Ampex is good enough for the Bee Gees, it's good enough for you.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/WIRED1820140225-OMNI-ADVERTISEMENTS-0135edit1
Okay, we're just now realizing that One Guy, Multiple Douchey Looks is a personal-electronics ad trope. We're just not sure *why*.
