Slashdot Mirror

I was very surprised to find no mention of RCA's VideoDisc Format, which allowed video to be stored on vinyl records and was the first consumer video format.

I think CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) are cool they're from the 80's. Imagine a vinyl disc. The concept of vinyl playing both audio and video is cool. If you don't know what CED is you can go here

He'll take care of your nasty little dots

People of Earth... send more records...

Message repeats.

Actually the first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute long before the people at Xerox Park made the office of the future that featured a computer with mouse on each desk. See pictures of the first mouse.

This does not mean that some one at HP never said people wouldn't want to have a mouse.

Learn your basic PC history before you correct someone about it... The first true PC was the Micral, made in 1973, though of course the Altair followed, and was much more well known. IBM created the 5100 in 1975, which was their little-known first PC. Woz soon followed with the Apple I, and several other types of PCs had been produced before Microsoft stepped into the picture. Microsoft was in no way involved in inventing the PC. A few PCs had been made before Microsoft even existed.

My Minivac 601 could play tictactoe using its six relays. Fortysecond anniversary approaching...

My personal favorite thumb pad controller was for the Sega Master System. Joysticks would be a toss-up between the original Atari and the Epyx 500xj, but those broke rather easily.

My personal favorite thumb pad controller was for the Sega Master System. Joysticks would be a toss-up between the original Atari and the Epyx 500xj, but those broke rather easily.

From Antic Magazine (December 1982):
Until recently, no really satisfactory substitute for the Atari joystick has been available. The first alternative was "Le Stick" from DataSoft. Billed as a onehanded joystick, it has internal mercury switches which detect the angle at which it is being held. The "fire" button is mounted on top. Some people like Le Stick, but most find that it is very hard to keep the stick perfectly upright, a position often needed to keep the cursor from moving. A squeezetrigger in Le Stick is supposed to freeze the cursor, but my hand gets tired and it is hard to adjust to the joystick action. Also, the uncertainty of directional response makes this stick unsuitable for very fast action games. Datasoft. $39.95 (1982 dollars.)

Now, if you can stand to look at this, uh, unusually shaped creation, here it is.

Why do I have a feeling one of the trolls is going to enjoy this post?

Happy Troll Tuesday, cockazoids!

1977 - http://www.cedmagic.com/history/vbt200.html

I believe that Beta is a bit older - still remember going to the video store (non-blockbuster even) and seeing the VHS and Beta right next to each other on the shelf.

If your woundering heres a Picture of it. man i thought my kaypro was ugly and old.

Now that I think about, I can't remember many Master System games I'd want to play. Safari Hunt? Out Run?

Hey,

Suess took care of five million solder joints and the odd unforeseen problem... 4.13 solders per second.

Aint no way in hell he did that by hand.

He did not do it all by hand,
he did not do it with Ayn Rand,
he did not do it for a band,
he did not do it to command.

He could have used a solder bath,
that could have worked with your math,
or may have used another path,
for the figures which cause your wrath.

Michael

The bytes were only 7 bits. The drive was introduced in 1956.

IBM started moving to 8 bit bytes later that same year, and the word "byte" was also coined that year, at IBM.

... and possibly buying another. In a few years, the "defective" discs will probably be collectors items. It seems that is the case with laserdiscs or CEDs (RCA Select-a-vision discs) etc.

Just my 88 miles-per-hour worth...
RickTheWizKid

Did it even beat the quality of VHS? I can't really imagine it being competitive with Laserdisc on quality.

From the RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc FAQ:

How does the resolution of CED compare to the VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD video formats?

RCA didn't use Lines of Resolution in their CED specifications, but a bandwidth of 3 MHz translates to about 240 Lines, the same resolution as VHS, but less than the 425 Lines of LaserDisc and 500 Lines of DVD. The subjective evaluation of people familiar with all these formats is that CED is better than VHS, but not as good as LaserDisc or DVD. CED does pale in comparison to modern LaserDisc and DVD players, but in 1981 there wasn't a lot of difference, because LaserDisc technology was young, and at that time RCA had superior mastering techniques. A comparative review of the Zenith VP2000 CED player and the Magnavox VH8000 LaserDisc player in the July '81 issue of Popular Electronics rated the Zenith unit better in Video and Audio Signal-to-Noise ratios, but lower in total Video bandwidth.

Did it even beat the quality of VHS? I can't really imagine it being competitive with Laserdisc on quality.

From the RCA SelectaVision VideoDisc FAQ:

How does the resolution of CED compare to the VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD video formats?

RCA didn't use Lines of Resolution in their CED specifications, but a bandwidth of 3 MHz translates to about 240 Lines, the same resolution as VHS, but less than the 425 Lines of LaserDisc and 500 Lines of DVD. The subjective evaluation of people familiar with all these formats is that CED is better than VHS, but not as good as LaserDisc or DVD. CED does pale in comparison to modern LaserDisc and DVD players, but in 1981 there wasn't a lot of difference, because LaserDisc technology was young, and at that time RCA had superior mastering techniques. A comparative review of the Zenith VP2000 CED player and the Magnavox VH8000 LaserDisc player in the July '81 issue of Popular Electronics rated the Zenith unit better in Video and Audio Signal-to-Noise ratios, but lower in total Video bandwidth.

This sounds alot like Ashton Digital. I came across them when searching for a cheap laptop (you can find a bunch of them on Yahoo Auctions).

The interesting thing is that they aren't really notebooks in the normal sense in that they are more like "portable desktops", almost akin to the Osbourne, where all your stuff is in one easy to move around case.

I was tempted to get one because I tend to use my laptop in just this way, bringing it to work, or using it at home, and there is usually an outlet near by. Of course I decided against it, because my Comfy Chair(TM) isn't as convenient with a power cord pulling on me from my laptop, so I need batteries :).

Earth, 1956 AC, IBM 305 RAMAC:
The 350 Disk File consisted of a stack of fifty 24" discs that can be seen to the left of the operator in the above picture. The capacity of the entire disk file was 5 million 7-bit characters, which works out to about 4.4 MB in modern parlance. This is about the same capacity as the first personal computer hard drives that appeared in the early 1980's, but was an enormous capacity for 1956. IBM leased the 350 Disk File for a $35,000 annual fee.

Earth, 1956 AC, IBM 305 RAMAC:
The 350 Disk File consisted of a stack of fifty 24" discs that can be seen to the left of the operator in the above picture. The capacity of the entire disk file was 5 million 7-bit characters, which works out to about 4.4 MB in modern parlance. This is about the same capacity as the first personal computer hard drives that appeared in the early 1980's, but was an enormous capacity for 1956. IBM leased the 350 Disk File for a $35,000 annual fee.

256 Bits encoding on mp3s was cool, heavy but good quality if ripped from ced at that bit rate.

ummm...actually, they were (kind of)

Yeah. Check here, or this bad boy. The 60s were the c00lest, I love that funky hybrid technology stuff they came up with back then!

REAL challenges that required REAL engineers, not a bunch of computer jockeys that come from a diploma mill.... sigh....

Yeah. Check here, or this bad boy. The 60s were the c00lest, I love that funky hybrid technology stuff they came up with back then!

REAL challenges that required REAL engineers, not a bunch of computer jockeys that come from a diploma mill.... sigh....

Must I remind you of the Apple rainbow logo that was so popular in the 80's?

Perhaps you're talking about Capacitance Electronic Discs, also known as RCA VideoDisc. The discs weren't vinyl, but carbon-doped PVC. The video was a bit higher quality than VHS, but not as good as LaserDisc or DVD.

It was called Cartrivision. However, its demise seems to have been as much a matter of competition and pricing as one of consumer rebellion. Nevertheless, the more recent Divx fiasco seems to indicate that schemes like this aren't likely to gain acceptance.

Well, some of the Pioneer 10 sounds are already on the Internet, as WAV files. Did check Napster to see if they're already in there? (Technical details of the record are here)

• http://www.cedmagic.com/
• Justin Halls page on the CED

http://www.cedmagic.com they put video into grooves on a plastic disc hahaha

I think he's confusing laserdisc with the (obsolete) RCA Selectavision disc. There'a a FAQ about this interesting, if Rube Goldbergish, technology at http://www.cedmagic.com/home/cedfaq.html.