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From TR-1 to iPod mini
karvind writes "BBC is running an interesting scoop on first transistor radio which has fair resemblance to iPod mini. The Regency TR-1 transistor radio, made in 1954, had a decent claim to be a genuine piece of innovation, however. It was, by popular agreement, the world's first commercially sold transistor pocket radio. Incidently technology watcher John Ousby realised the modern day parallels and matched photos of the transistor with photos of the iPod mini. The similarity between the two has 'created quite a stir' particularly in the Mac community."
Seriously, though...is it not possible that the iPod was developed w/o Apple having any knowledge of this? It's not like this is some mega-complicated design... it's a small, sqaure MP3 player.
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They're both small, come in different colours, and have a wheel-driven interface.
So does lipstick.
And radio-controlled toy cars.
Really, if "BUT LOOK AT THE SIMILARITIES!" posts were made for every new product, we'd never get anything done.
He's Jesus, for Christ's sake.
I saw this article yesterday and thought it was rather silly. There really isn't much resemblance. They are both rectangular - as are most electronic devices. They both come in multiple colors, but the tr-1 came in many many more colors than the ipod and only the silver really looks similar. That is pretty much where the similarity ends. Nothing on the face of either looks similar at all - The speaker grill on the radio, for instance, the shiny metal dial which looks nothing like the ipod control thingy other than being round.
Isn't the mini just an evolution of the first-generation iPod design? The first-gen looks absolutely nothing like the TR-1 to me.
This is hardly surprising. Design has always been an attempt to define the current cultural atmosphere, but the truth is, there are some colors, shapes, patterns that humans covet, and others they don't -- this subset is constantly re-used and re-invented. "Trendiness" is short-lived, and thus design movements are simply a shift from one family of design to another: the result is something that "feels" new but is not. One can see this trend in every consumer product, from sofas, to automobiles, to dresses, to watches, and yes, even to electronic gadgets.
Just about every "trend" in design today can be found in some form or another existing over the past 100 years (possibly multiple times).
I really doubt an ipod would be usable after 50 years (with a normal day to day use), it would be interesting to see if some of these radios are still usable.
In some article they stated the radio was like almost US $300 (on today's dollars). But of course I am sure the "Use N' Throw" culture was still not abundant in the USA.
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For instance, almost every handheld product, including music players, are a rectangle. The short is sized to fit across the hand, while the long end is made form a pleasing proportion. This works, is comfortable, and many people already know how to utilize it.
Second, the wheel is round because that is how many of us know how to control things. This comes from the fact that in pre-digital age many things were controlled by rheostats. Rheostats used rotational motion to control things like radio tuning, volume, and the like. In the case mention, the radio was likely tuned by turning a large gear on the wheel, which turned a rheostat, which adjusted the resistance in a circuit that tuned the radio. Under a piece of clear plastic, which was marked with an indicator line, the frequency numbers were printed so the user might know approximately the tune frequency. This was a great design,as it provided a simple way to make the radio usable, but was probably more a result of expedient. The combination of the need to fit in the hand, and the need to simply and reliably indicate the radio tuning, gave the device in question it's shape and characteristics.
Over time changes were made. Some mechanisms were added so the rotational motion of the rheostat could be converted to linear motion so a linear indicator might be utilized. Digital electronics made the rheostat obsolete, but since people knew how to turn knobs, the knob motif continued to be used. Which leads to the iPod. It fits in the hand, which gives it the shape. People know how to use knobs to select, and the knob provides a more continuous experience than up and down buttons. So the big circle transforms from the display to the selector, while the display becomes a square LED. The colors are added to differentiate the product in the market, but are expensive to stock. Really, there is not similarity between the radio and the iPod, except that both devices fit in the hand, and the transistor radio perhaps taught us how to use knobs.
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The similarily is noexistant. The TR-1 has seperate wheels for volume and tuning, it's as deep as thirty nanos, and the placement of controls is totaly different. Surely in the past there were radio devices similar in design to the nano given the size and control constraints, but this ain't it.
Some people have an odd obsession to bring down Apple a few notches whenever they can by whatever means possible, this just continues the tradition.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
...and those four records went nowhere. He didn't have his first hit until the mid-50's.
There are many songs from the late 40's that claim to be the first rock and roll song. Those songs include Ike Turner's Rocket 88, Wynonie Harris' Good Rockin' Tonight, and Fats Domino's The Fat Man. None of those cited, however, are Little Richard's.