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Stunning, Classic Computer Console, from 1958?
Predicta Lover writes "It's widely believed that the late-50s Predicta series was the swansong for Philco. After its introduction, RCA's president David Sarnoff is quoted as having said "Philco has reinvented the industry and made TV more exciting again." Somehow, I can't imagine Bill reacting that way to an Apple product launch, at least not publicly. Years later, Philco's phenomenally-designed but questionably-engineered and over-priced TV sets are an icon of modern television design, and are even made in a stunning reproduction form. Maybe Philco would still be in business if they'd thought to shoehorn a contemporary computer into the box and put a high-resolution LCD up top (ahh, I guess that would've been tough...oh, the cruelties of history). At any rate, the researchers and designers at Onomy Labs did just that, 45 years later, and the result is an absolutely lust-worthy piece of computing hardware. Built to eventually house an experimental computer being produced by Sun Labs, the supercharged piece made its debut at their recent Open House held at the Computer History Museum.The Pedestal model that's used here was originally penned by Philco's Catherine Winkler, and is variously described as being inspired by the ideal female form and looking like a gas pump (I am not even going to touch that one). The perpetrators of this project have been mildly vilified by classic TV collectors (fearing imitators) and highly praised by most everyone else...some are calling it the 'best casemod ever'. I don't know about that, but it's definitely a beautiful object."
The television in my bedroom is branded Philco, yet it couldn't have been purchased more than seven or eight years ago. Yet they went out of business in the middle of last century? What's goin' on here? Cheap Asian knockoffs like those Commodore MP3 players?
Anyone seen Terry Gilliam's Brazil? The "monitors," while not quite so stylishly retro, resembled an old Underwood typerwriter with a screen in front of which was mounted a hilariously-oversized rectangular magnifying glass attachment. Brilliant.
I'm not so sure I would want one, or a Philco update, but somewhere between CRT monoliths, plastic flat-screens striving to distinguish themselves, Apple's attempts at novelty and the uber-kewl designs we regularly see in Sci-Fi movies, I'm sure eventually we'll be face to face with something far more interesting.
"The space-age theme was promoted in ads promising "TV today from the world of tomorrow".
Computer today from the world of the yesterday.
Neat idea.
I pulled it out of a trash can, actually, It needed a flyback transformer, which cost something like 100 bucks at the time. Fortunately, my dad had a close friend that owned a TV repair shop and he was able to use one from a more common TV set (I think it was an RCA). The picture was pretty good. Mine had an analog clock on the right side that could turn the TV on (an alarm TV!). The screen rotated so you culd see it from anywhere in the room. Alas, when my family moved when I was 15, it stayed and likely wound up in a landfill. A truly stunning TV...As a 11 year old I didn't appreciate it fully though.
Somebody has already done one, based on an Underwood typewriter and a Macintosh SE: http://www.ahleman.com/ElectriClerk.html/
And now, for the dark side of Mr. Sarnoff, who did NOT invent the TV set:
http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profi le/farnsworth03.html
Sarnoff and RCA are the scum of the earth; they ruined a guy's life simply to not have to pay him royalties; thankfully, history has for the most part set the record straight for anyone who digs a little.
Pretty sad; Farnsworth never saw a dime and went into deep depression over the whole thing. Farnsworth saw the waste of his invention almost from the get-go; as the Time article says, his son said "I suppose you could say that he felt he had created kind of a monster, a way for people to waste a lot of their lives."
Nothing's changed in 50 years- corporations still bully the "little guy" like this. Back in the 80's, a company my father started had technology stolen from them by NCR (National Cash Register Corporation). Despite a signed NDA, NCR ripped off technology they were demo'd. There was clear evidence NCR had stolen the design, they had the NDA in hand, etc- but NCR managed to drag it out in court for years. I believe the suit was abandoned due to lack of funds, but I don't recall- it was a subject that was not discussed often or pleasantly in our house.
I hope they rot in hell- they helped cripple the company, which was working on some really innovative touch screen technology. Much of the touchscreen technology, now in use by PDAs and whatnot, you can owe to DTI- Digital Techniques Inc- a tiny little Burlington, MA company nobody ever heard of. Probably their most "famous" product was the very early touchscreen system in Super Stop and Shop where you could enter a product name and get a map to where it was in the store; they also did some award winning videodisk based exhibits for the Museum Of Science. They were also bullied out of an air traffic control system project with the FAA...by Raytheon. DTI designed a system that, in the late 80's, would have allowed a controller to manage all his electronics(radios and whatnot) from one small touchscreen system. Decades ahead of its time.
Please help metamoderate.
Oh let the imagination fly. How about converting one of those old style gas pumps. Replacing the globe with an eye done in metal (copper) and glass. One could house a TV projector in there. Channel display were the old indicators use to be. Obviously remote controlled. The antenna could be hidden in the pump hose. Hmmm...or a portable pop-up TV built into a toaster. Lever makes screen (LCD) go up and down (bonus points if you make it look like a slice of bread). Channel changer is the darker/lighter knob. Remember when TV's were reflected by mirrors? Well now you have an idea for an old footstool.
Vintage Ads
Contest Directions
In this contest your challenge is to take modern products and display them in a vintage light, through advertisements. You can also reverse the challenge and take vintage products and display them in a modern way.
I'm in the "it's a beautiful thing" camp....it doesn't need to be all that practical.