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The Bulova Accutron

Posted by michael on from the takes-a-licking-keeps-on-humming dept.

warewolfsmith writes "The Bulova Accutron. Introduced in 1961, it was the first successful transistorized watch, far more accurate than any other watch then on the market and a major advance in timekeeping technology. Prior to reading this article I had never heard of it. Interesting history." There are a number of websites devoted to it.

6 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. All the clich�d posts into one. by wackybrit · · Score: 4, Funny

    Okay, let's get them out of the way so other people can start some real discussions. Here are all the clichéd posts in one easy-to-read post!

    (+1 Funny) -- "The Bulova Accutron replaces the old Bulova Helluvaweight, a valve operated watch which the wearer pulled along behind them in a shopping cart."

    (-1 Flamebait) -- "Who cares about this old crap? It's just old technology that we don't use now anyway."

    (-1 Troll) -- "This sucks. Using transistors in a watch? Nowadays we use pure silicon, which they actually had in the 60's but they were unable to see the benefits."

    (-1 Overrated) -- "Hi, I'm John Romero/Alan Cox/Linus Torvalds, and I thought I'd drop in and just say 'Hi'"

    --
    mogorific carpentry experiments
    1. Re:All the clich�d posts into one. by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 3, Funny

      Plus it would be interesting to see the backlog of the queue. It must be HUGE, I mean, this article was submitted over 30 years ago and they only just approved it.

      No wonder they haven't approved my sumbmission on the new Apple Lisa....

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  2. Advertisement? by joshua404 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought paying Slashdot users weren't supposed to be subjected to advertising on the site.

  3. Re:Don't forget to checkout the Seiko Kinetic Watc by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Seiko Kinetic Watch

    Recharges best when flogging your bishop.

  4. How to get girls to put their head on your arm! by embarcadero · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wore my Dad's accutron throughout junior high school. People used to ask me about it, and I'd tell them the story of the Astronaut watch.

    The coolest thing was, it hummed all the time, and the desks would amplify the sound. During a test, when all the room was quiet and scratching pencils, I would put it on my desk, next to Nadine, my hot 13-year-old desk mate, and she'd smile at the sound it made. That was great.

    Then she'd say, "Nerd," and stick out her tongue. That was soooooo great. But I would blush.

    Later on, on the foursquare court, people would ask about it, and if I wanted them to think I was cool, I'd let them put their ear to my arm and listen to it.

    I tried the same thing last week. The girl at the bar laughed at me, said, "Nerd," and took my buddy home for some reportedly mind-blowing sex.

    Sigh.

  5. DNA would be proud... by XPhiNermal · · Score: 2, Funny
    Douglas Adams was so insightful.
    Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape- descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
    -Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy