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Forgotten Electronics of the 70s and 80s

Posted by michael on from the forgotten-for-a-reason dept.

Ant writes "This is where you can find photos of those unusual items which somehow missed our keen attention in the 70s and 80s. Be it a specialty product, electronic novelty or an utter boondoggle from a major electronics outfit of the day, we'll dig 'em up and talk about 'em."

9 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. Re:N-Gage by FlipmodePlaya · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, because a cell-phone that plays games is horribly unusual... The NGage is a flop, not a novelty.

  2. Color Computer II by xgecko · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't see my old Radio Shak Color Computer II

  3. Nostalgia by Octagon+Most · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It took me a long time to realize that my nostalgia for old electronics is really based on memories of the fun times. The toys and games really were not that fun in retrospect. They were just all that was available. Fortunately I didn't spend too much money on eBay learning that lesson. It is fun to browse them and go down memory lane though.

  4. Digital watch a step backwards by MajorDick · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I was young (about 7) in say 1976 or so my father bought a NEW digital watch , you know red LED that lit up when you presses a button, we were sitting at my grandfathers kitchen table, my grandfather was a watch maker, not some repairman he actually MADE watches from scratch at a rate of about 3 a year.

    Anyhow my father being very proud of his $800 new invention showed it to my grandfather, who looked very carefully at my fathers watch, he sat back, sipped his coffe and said "How is that progress when now it takes 2 hands to tell time, one for the watch and another to press the button to make it show time ?" My father kinda sank into his seat his bubble being burst instantly, I dont think he ever wore it again.

    1. Re:Digital watch a step backwards by sydsavage · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bah. My father had what I believe to be the first digital watch, a Pulsar. While indeed, pushing a button would illuminate the digits, it also had a shock sensing mechanism, so you could just flick your wrist, and it would light up for five seconds or so. No need to use your other hand, unless you wanted to check the date, which was displayed by pushing a seperate button.

  5. Re:ThinkGeek by kfg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Comment is funny, but insightful. Spend your money wisely people.

    Amongst those devices that I hope will be on the list of forgotten electronics of the 20's is the internet aware toaster.

    If we're really lucky people will forget about that one before it happens, but I'm not holding my breath.

    KFG

  6. Re:N-Gage by NevermindPhreak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    no, but a portable console system that makes phone calls is. n-gage was a horrible idea to begin with, mainly because they were more focused with the hype than the system itself.

  7. Re:My dad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, your dad's a geek. You're the tool

  8. Re:the calculator watch.. by Pope · · Score: 3, Insightful
    What was their reason for expelling a student with a portable machine that did arithmetic?

    Because there's a hell of a difference between understanding what math is and how it works, and typing numbers into a machine to get an answer.

    --
    It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.