Toasters
If IBM made toasters . . .
They would want one big toaster where people bring bread to be
submitted for overnight toasting. IBM would claim a worldwide market
for five, maybe six toasters.
If Xerox made toasters . . .
You could toast one-sided or double-sided. Successive slices would get
lighter and lighter. The toaster would jam your bread for you.
If Radio Shack made toasters . . .
The staff would sell you a toaster, but not know anything about it. Or
you could buy all the parts to build your own toaster.
If Oracle made toasters . . .
They'd claim their toaster was compatible with all brands and styles
of bread, but when you got it home you'd discover the Bagel Engine was
still in development, the Croissant Extension was three years away,
and that indeed the whole appliance was just blowing smoke.
If Sun made toasters . . .
The toast would burn often, but you could get a really good cuppa
Java.
Does DEC still make toasters?
They made good toasters in the '80s, didn't they?
If Hewlett-Packard made toasters . . .
They would market the Reverse Toaster, which takes in toast and gives
you regular bread.
If Tandem made toasters . . .
You could make toast 24 hours a day, and if a piece got burned the
toaster would automatically toast you a new one.
If Thinking Machines made toasters . . .
You would be able to toast 64,000 pieces of bread at the same time.
If Cray made toasters . . .
They would cost $16 million but would be faster than any other
single-slice toaster in the world.
If the NSA made toasters . . .
Your toaster would have a secret trap door that only the NSA could
access in case they needed to get at your toast for reasons of
national security.
If Sony made toasters . . .
The ToastMan, which would be barely larger than the single piece of
bread it is meant to toast, can be conveniently attached to your
belt.
If Timex made toasters . . .
They would be cheap and small quartz-crystal wrist toasters that take
a licking and keep on toasting.
If Fisher Price made toasters . . .
"Baby's First Toaster" would have a hand-crank that you turn to toast
the bread that pops up like a Jack-in-the-box.
And, of course: If Microsoft made toasters . . .
Every time you bought a loaf of bread, you would have to buy a
toaster. You wouldn't have to take the toaster, but you'd still have
to pay for it anyway. Toaster'95 would weigh 15000 pounds (hence
requiring a reinforced steel countertop), draw enough electricity to
power a small city, take up 95% of the space in your kitchen, would
claim to be the first toaster that lets you control how light or dark
you want your toast to be, and would secretly interrogate your other
appliances to find out who made them. Everyone would hate Microsoft
toasters, but nonetheless would buy them since most of the good bread
only works with their toasters.
If Apple made toasters . . .
It would do everything the Microsoft toaster does, but 5 years
earlier.