The Banana Jr. 6000 was Oliver Wendell Jones' sentient personal computer, first introduced to the strip in December 1984 as Oliver's Christmas present. It was a parody of the Macintosh computer, which had been released earlier that year.
The computer inexplicably came with legs and could walk, talk and contemplate its own existence, but could not stray further than the length of its electrical cord. In later strips, the cord disappeared and the Banana Jr. roamed freely. It worshipped the television, and would frequently present its "god" with offerings of household appliances. A Sunday strip featured a parody advertisement featuring Kiss bassist Gene Simmons which warned that not having a personal computer could lead children to grow up, wear fishnet stockings, join a heavy metal band, and stick out their tongues down to their kneecaps - like Simmons.
The computer was Oliver's hacking sidekick (only confiscated by the FBI twice) until mid-1985, when Oliver declared it obsolete due mostly to the bankruptcy of the Banana Computer Company (which only sold two units, including Oliver's). It made its last appearance in one of Bill The Cat's liquidation sales.
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Famous quotes containing the word banana:
“I never liked bananas much anyway. Two-thirds of the way down even one banana I am willing to concede defeat smilingly and give the rest to the nearest monkey.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)