---
title: Honeywell H316 - Kitchen computer
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1969'
params:
  name: H316 - Kitchen computer
  company: /companies/honeywell
  company_name: Honeywell
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: H316 - Kitchen computer
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Honeywell
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1969'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: Recipes were programmed into it, but language/software is unknown
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Small array of buttons and switches
  - label: CPU
    value: Unknown
  - label: SPEED
    value: 2.5 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: 4 KB magnetic core, expandable to 16 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: Unknown, probably some kind of text display
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 150 pounds
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Magnetic core memory
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: 475W at 125vAC
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Unless you count the cutting board...unknown
  - label: PRICE
    value: $10,600
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - emulators
  - links
  photos:
  - title: LARGER VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: SIDE VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: FRONT VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  adverts:
  - title: ADVERT
    subtitle: ''
    text: Advert from the Nieman-Marcus catalog.
    image: null
  emulators:
  - title: H-316 simulator
    url: http://simh.trailing-edge.com/
    platform: Windows
    text: The H316 simulator is one of the minicomputer simulators provided by the The Computer Simulation Project (SIMH).
  - title: SimX16
    url: http://www.theoengel.nl/ddpx16/simx16.html
    platform: Unix / Linux
    text: Honeywell DDP-516 Minicomputer Simulation
  links:
  - title: Another interesting site
    url: http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/h316.html
    text: ''
  - title: H316 Home
    url: http://h316.hachti.de/
    text: dedicated site including videos and operating system download
  - title: H316 Reference and programming manual + other docs
    url: http://bitsavers.org/pdf/honeywell/series16/h316/
    text: Many documentation available at bitsavers.org !
  - title: More information and pictures about the 'Kitchen computer'
    url: http://starfish.osfn.org/~mikeu/h316/kitchen.shtml
    text: ''
  - title: Mrs. Sutherland's Kitchen
    url: http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=1493/ddj0003hc/
    text: History of Home Automation from Dr. Dobb's
  - title: Theo Engel's DDPx16 pages (Honeywell's 16 bit minicomputers)
    url: http://www.theoengel.nl/ddpx16/
    text: Nice info with software archive and simulators!
  comments:
  - author: Vernon Hamilton (US)
    date: Tuesday 1st November 2022
    text: this is one of the very few WMI ever envisioned, as distinct from the MMI, which dominate the world even in this decade, and more current HMI, which are gradually replacing the MMI. No WMI ever created will ever need to be replaced.
  - author: The Valeyard
    date: Tuesday 9th May 2017
    text: This was almost certainly more of a publicity stunt than a real product $ the Nieman Marcus Christmas Catalogs often had some outrageously-expensive and impractical "gifts" in them, like "matching His-and-Hers aeroplanes" or "your very own life-sized Noah''s Ark replica" which no one was ever expected to actually \*buy\*, but would get people taking about "did you see that crazy thing they had in the catalog this year?" I''m sure both Honeywell and Nieman Marcus knew full well that no one in their right mind was going to pay $10K (equivalent to nearly $65K today!) for a "kitchen appliance" that required a computer-science degree to do anything with! :)
  - author: Dan Sutton (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
    date: Friday 17th March 2017
    text: |-
      The picture here actually shows just the console: there''s a Wikipedia article for the machine, which shows that in addition to the console, there''s also a large-fridge-sized CPU, and something else I''m having trouble identifying.

      The article also says that Chuck Moore used the machine to develop FORTH, which is pretty impressive!

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_316
  - author: Sharif George (London)
    date: Friday 27th July 2012
    text: I have just been researching this model - the kitchen pedestal version - does anyone know where I can see one - prefer UK if I can.
  - author: Ronald L (Turkey)
    date: Friday 13rd May 2011
    text: I learned to program the Honeywell 316-R when I was in the Navy.
  - author: Ben S
    date: Sunday 16th January 2011
    text: |-
      The input/output appears to be a binary system of 16 switches and lights.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Honeywell_H316_front.jpg\
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_316$Kitchen_Computer
  - author: sante c (berlusconiland)
    date: Thursday 26th November 2009
    text: please, please, please tell me this is just an aprils fool joke
  - author: Diego Barizo
    date: Wednesday 19th March 2008
    text: |-
      I have seen a picture from a catalog, that seems to show that the apron was not included in the price.\
      After paying over $10K for the computer, the apron was $26 extra!
  - author: Mickey (San Francisco Bay Area)
    date: Thursday 28th December 2006
    text: There is one on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
  - author: dalton smith (U.S.)
    date: Wednesday 14th April 2004
    text: I wonder If any body has a working model?
  - author: Hugh Redelmeier (Toronto)
    date: Friday 3rd October 2003
    text: |-
      This article claims that the kitchen computer came out in 1965. I don't think so.\
      1\) $10K for this machine would have blown away the PDP-8 at $20K\
      2\) I remember hearing about this at the time, and it was not 1965.\
      Another site suggests Christmas 1969, which seems about right.\
      http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/example-tour.html#Kitchen-Computer
  oc_id: 927
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230610140816/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=927
    date: '2023-06-10'
---

And now something for the ladies...

**Torin Darkflight** kindly sent us following information and picture about this rather weird machine:

"This odd-looking and almost laughable computer was released by Honeywell under the official name **H316 Pedestal** Model, but was featured on the cover of a Nieman-Marcus catalog under its more commonly-known name, the **"Kitchen Computer"**.\
The Kitchen Computer is most likely where the classic recipe storage cliché originated, as this was the primary use advertised for the Kitchen Computer. In fact, storing recipes was about all the Kitchen Computer was capable of doing. The recipes were programmed into the computer and it would store them for you. In other words, it was an electronic recipe storage box, nothing more.

Supposedly it was quite a chore to program recipes into the Kitchen Computer, mainly because it took about two weeks to learn how to program the thing. However, the Kitchen Computer was shipped with some recipes already programmed into it. Could this be the iMac of it's time? From box to dinner in only 10 minutes? I doubt it, but we can imagine the pre-programmed recipes were included so anyone who purchased the Kitchen Computer could begin using it right away rather than having to suffer through learning how to program it first.

When one thinks of computer hardware, they often think of a monitor or a keyboard or a printer. Well, the Kitchen Computer has perhaps the oddest piece of "hardware" I have ever heard of -- a cutting board. Yes, a cutting board! This oddity was most likely added so the food could be prepared right there without having to walk away from the recipe display, considering the Kitchen Computer isn't as portable as a good old-fashioned cookbook (It weighed a staggering 150 pounds).

Other specifications for this system include 4KB magnetic core memory (Expandable to 16KB) and a system clock speed of 2.5MHz. I was not able to find any information about the display, but I imagine it has to be some kind of text display (Who'd want to read recipes using LEDs and binary code?). I also could not find any information about the CPU, or whatever the 60s version of a CPU was. This system is so obscure I had a quite difficult time finding detailed specifications for it. Supposedly the H316/Kitchen Computer is based on the DDP-516 (Also made by Honeywell), so perhaps some of the specifications are similar. However I couldn't find any way to verify that.

The Kitchen Computer was obviously geared towards housewives who loved to cook. However any housewives who wanted one of these had to shell out A LOT of green, considering the Kitchen Computer sold for $10,600 when it was first introduced (You could buy about four new cars for that much money in 1965!). This price tag included the built-in recipes mentioned earlier, and also included a cookbook and an apron (Oh boy do I hear the laughter now).

Not much more I can say about the Kitchen Computer. But one things for sure: regardless of how much of a computer geek I consider myself, I'd rather use a good old-fashioned cookbook."

The display itself was actually a binary display, not a text based one. You needed to learn how to just read it!

The language used on the Kitchen Computer was called "BACK"

There is no record of any Kitchen Computers ever being sold.

A small reference has been found about the actual computer part of the machine being used in the initial creation of ARPNET, but it yet has to be confirmed...

In addition to being sold as a "kitchen appliance" it powered the Mergenthaler Linotype Paul Ltd., Linotron 505.

---

**Contributors:** Jake Wasdin, Torin Darkflight