29 delightful retro gadgets that will make you nostalgic for old-school technology
Sega Master System (1986). "The Master System was constructed with hardware superior to that of the NES, but failed to overturn Nintendo's significant market share advantage in Japan and North America, it was however extremely successful in Brazil. One of my earliest childhood memories is watching my older cousin playing Outrun on the Master System, so it will always hold a very special place in my heart."
Commodore PET 2001 Series (1977). "The legend. Almost 40 years later, this unit still surprises with its unique design. The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) is a line of home/personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A top-seller in the Canadian and United States educational markets, it was Commodore's first full-featured computer, and formed the basis for their entire 8-bit product line, including the Commodore 64."
Let's go back to 1983: Vintage Japanese Korg Poly 800 Synthesizer commercial!
Sony TV8-301 (1960). "World's first direct-view portable transistor TV. Comprised of 23 transistors and 19 diodes, this model was developed based on Sony's extensive experience in radio technology. In an age when TVs were assumed to be living room fixtures, this device opened the door to personal television use."
Apple Workbench prototype (1982). "This is another unreleased concept / prototype by Hartmut Esslinger. This is basically the Apple Lisa Computer (released in 1983) on a "workbench" that includes a telephone and a printer, targeted at offices. Very classic, clean and slick design."
Totem Stereo System (1971). "Mario Bellini's masterpiece for Brionvega: This is the Totem Stereo System RR130. The minimal compact, three-piece cube opens to reveal the speakers, the control panel and the turntable. A great example for fantastic product design: It's harder to top the minimal elegance and the functionalism of the Totem Stereo System. These units are highly sought after, so expect to pay around $4000 if you find a working unit in good condition."
Apple flip phone prototype (1983). "In addition to influencing the look and feel of Apple's product line, Hartmut Esslinger - during his tenure at Apple - helped develop a number of interesting prototypes across multiple product lines that never made it to market. It's amazing that cellphones released nearly two decades later would so closely resemble Esslinger's 1983 prototype."
DEC VT100 (1978). "So, what is a video terminal? Basically, it's a very simple computer. They usually consist of a screen and keyboard, with very little processing power and no local storage. Characters typed on the keyboard are transmitted to the host computer, and characters output from programs running on the host are sent to the terminal to be displayed on the screen. There is no operating system and no downloaded software, so they are pretty much immune to user meddling and viruses."
Pole Position on Vectrex, released in 1983. This video game console will never cease to amaze me.
Time for something super obscure: View-Master Interactive Vision is an interactive movie VHS console game system, introduced in 1988 by View-Master Ideal Group, Inc. The tagline back in the day was "the Two-Way Television System that makes you a part of the show!" The titles include four Sesame Street games, two games featuring the Muppet Show characters, and a Disney game, Disney's Cartoon Arcade.
Another childhood favorite: Yak Bak is a series of handheld electronic voice-recording line of toys developed by Ralph Osterhout at Team Machina for Yes! Gear in the mid-to-late 1990s. One button was marked "Say" and the other, "Play." By holding down the "Say" button, a person could record six seconds of sound, during which a light would shine to indicate that the Yak Bak was recording. Afterwards, the "Play" button would enable the person to hear what was just recorded.
Before we had Game Boys, we had this: Released in 1978 Derby Auto Raceway really wasn’t a digital game to be exact, its a mechanical game, but a handheld game nonetheless. Use the steering wheel to dodge in and out of traffic, get caught, and your car flashes red and an awful screeching sound pierces your ears.
Unreleased Apple Macintosh concept (1984) by Hartmut Esslinger. In 1982, Esslinger entered into an exclusive $2,000,000 per year contract with Apple Computer to create a design strategy which transformed Apple from a "Silicon Valley Start-Up" into a global brand.
Beautiful: Korg promotional image from 1981. Included in the image are (amongst others) the the MS-10, MS-20, MS-50 , the VC -10 vocoder, the SQ-10 sequencer, the MS02 (Interface), the MS-03 signal processor. I want to live here.
One of the most beautiful objects I have ever seen: The Pixel Vision.
Ladies and gentlemen: The Vision 2000, released by Rosita Tonmobel in 1971. This wonderfully designed object is a radio / cassette deck with built in speakers. This is one of the most sought-after systems of all time, so obviously it's almost impossible to find one that doesn't cost a fortune.
Acatel Minitel communications terminal, made by Alcatel Business Systems, France, 1980. The French government introduced Minitel experimentally in Brittany in 1978, and across the whole of France by 1982. Minitel users could access up to 22,000 databases and services, including online shopping, reservations and chatrooms. Way ahead of its time.
The Omnibot OOM had a cassette tape player built into the chest area of the robot, which slid out like a drawer to reveal the cassette and could record and playback sequences of commands, as well as regular audio recordings. The built in digital clock with timers and alarms allowed the playback of movement recordings at specified times. The Omnibot OOM was able to broadcast speech from the remote control handset through a speaker on the robot. Oh, the possibilities.
This was an attempt by Olympus to cash in on the burgeoning Walkman market; one model, the Olympus SR-11 (shown on the right), even had a built-in radio and offered a stereo tie-clip microphone as an accessory, which made the unit somewhat popular with concert-goers who wanted to record bootlegs.
Braun Atelier (1984) The last HiFi system released by Braun, designed by the master of functional design himself, Dieter Rams. The complete system consists of five pieces: 'P4' record player, 'CD2 3' CD player, 'R2' controller, 'C2' tape player on 'AF1' base. Braun pulled out of the HiFi market in 1990 due to the overwhelming competition, mainly cheap products from Japan.
Roland Promars Compuphonic (1979). "The ProMars Compuphonic was quite a revolution, part due to its introduction of digital microprocessor control, hence the term, "Compuphonic." It used an Intel 8048 processor to control the all-analog VCOs, VCAs, and VCFs. This also allowed it to store patches, making it one of the early few analog synthesizers that had patch memory."
My Pet Monster was produced by American Greetings in 1986 and were one of the few plush toys to be marketed towards boys. There was also a short lived animation series and a live action film, as well as other accessories such as books and puzzles.
The Linn 9000 came from Roger Linn, responsible for the most popular sampler/sequencer/drum machine workstations in the world, the MPC. The Linn 9000 was one of his best designs. It debuted in 1984 and sported several innovations. It has a built-in 32-track MIDI sequencer with (optional) sampling capability, 18 sounds with velocity sensitive drum pads, a mixer section, programmable hi-hat decay, panning, and a LCD screen. Used by Michael Jackson, Queen, Nine Inch Nails, and many more.
CB Programmable Noise Organ: Another great noisy toy by Noystoise. I just love everything about this- the color, the layout, the functionality.
What a charmingly clichéd 80's computer promo image. Apricot Computers was a British company which, in the mid-1980s, produced desktop personal computers, such as the Apricot PC and the Apricot Xi, that competed with the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh.
Casio Super Slalomer LCD Game Watch (1985) Back in the 80's -in the heyday of LCD games- Casio released an incredible amount of LCD handhelds, including various digital watch LCD games. They were quite cheap and quite popular back in the day.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm about to show you one of the most awesome 80's related things ever: The Seiko Frequency DRUM MACHINE watch. That's right. This odd little device incorporated a speaker and six drum patterns, along with two metronome modes (one audible, one visual), an alarm function that played one of the six drum patterns or just beeped.
29 delightful retro gadgets that will make you nostalgic for old-school technology
The stuff we dreamt of as kids has slowly been turning into reality within the last few years. Check out the Honda Chopper concept designed by Perter Norris. The Honda Chopper has an extra long front suspension, a feet-forward seating position, and in-wheel electric motors for super-efficient and fast travel. Electric in-wheel motors not only help improve the efficiency of this bike; they also lower the center of gravity, improving handling and performance.
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