Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology

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Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

Our first windows PC was an AST 486 desktop - not too bad, really. Genuine SoundBlaster 16, 2x CD-ROM, 8MB RAM, 270MB disk, some cheapish CirrusLogic SVGA card. Excellent for DOS games at the time.
This model, though this is not my image:

That's not my first computer, though. My grandfather used to teach at a community college, and saved a computer they were replacing. This lovely lump of 1979 vintage Swedish tech, which I got for Christmas in 1990, when I was in first grade:

(Again, not my picture.)

That's a Luxor ABC-80, a Z80-based 8-bit BASIC-in-ROM machine designed for the Swedish equivalent of the BBC Micro program. It came with thorough documentation, from the very basic "what is a computer anyway" up to "this is how to use assembly to poke at all the hardware", and as far as I can remember it was quite well written. As you'd expect, given how it was designed for teaching use.
I mostly used it to write simple BASIC programs and play games off tape - it has a monochrome screen at teletext resolution, extremely minimal sound (single channel, with just a list of fixed beeps and noises), and a decently fast BASIC interpreter.
I blame it for my later career choices.

Computer viking has a new favorite as of 01:17 on Jul 11, 2021

# ? Jul 11, 2021 01:13

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# ? May 24, 2024 20:28

Light Gun Man: Oct 17, 2009; toEjaM iS oN
vaCatioN; Lipstick Apathy

Rectus posted:

too lazy to dig mine out of the closet, but the whole guts come out when you press the button, like on laptop drives. Sort of like on this mitsumi drive (without the lid):

Seems like they are media vision branded.

pretty fuckin rad

# ? Jul 11, 2021 01:57

LifeSunDeath: Jan 4, 2007; still gay rights and smoke weed every day

barbecue at the folks posted:

Man, I went fishing for ugly MSX computers (they must exist) but ran into Sony machines instead. Holy poo poo:

I have a new favourite. (The F keys are in the "correct" order here, hmm.)

this looks great. if it had the keyboard from Alien, it would be so next level.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 03:09

endocriminologist: May 17, 2021; SUFFERINGLOVER:press send + soul + earth lol
inncntsoul:ok

(inncntsoul has left the game)

ARCHON_MASTER:lol
MAMMON69:lol

F4rt5 posted:

Omg that's awesome. I grew up with this, from age 8 or so:
It actually had a 3.5" floppy drive too, but extremely unreliable and half our disks were unreadable whenever...

I love this thing so much

# ? Jul 11, 2021 10:23

F4rt5: May 20, 2006

Not understanding why some games didn't work was not fun, it had an MSX 2 graphics chip but too little VRAM. But I learned BASIC and it had the best Konami conversions.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 10:32

endocriminologist: May 17, 2021; SUFFERINGLOVER:press send + soul + earth lol
inncntsoul:ok

(inncntsoul has left the game)

ARCHON_MASTER:lol
MAMMON69:lol

I�m just in awe of those arrow keys :swoon:

# ? Jul 11, 2021 10:37

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

F4rt5 posted:

Not understanding why some games didn't work was not fun, it had an MSX 2 graphics chip but too little VRAM. But I learned BASIC and it had the best Konami conversions.

I did not know the MSX family sold in any notable numbers in Scandinavia.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 12:34

F4rt5: May 20, 2006

Computer viking posted:

I did not know the MSX family sold in any notable numbers in Scandinavia.

As far as I know it didn't, but one of my uncles imported Spectravideo stuff to Norway in the mid-80's, starting with the 328, 728 and that 738 X'Press. My brother and I got one each for Christmas.

Also a bunch of different QuickShot joysticks, they were great.

Another uncle had a sort of docking station for the 328 (I think) with two 5,25" floppy drives and expansion slots, but I never saw it in use.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 12:46

Serperoth: Feb 21, 2013

Computer viking posted:

That's not my first computer, though. My grandfather used to teach at a community college, and saved a computer they were replacing. This lovely lump of 1979 vintage Swedish tech, which I got for Christmas in 1990, when I was in first grade:

(Again, not my picture.)

That's a Luxor ABC-80, a Z80-based 8-bit BASIC-in-ROM machine designed for the Swedish equivalent of the BBC Micro program. It came with thorough documentation, from the very basic "what is a computer anyway" up to "this is how to use assembly to poke at all the hardware", and as far as I can remember it was quite well written. As you'd expect, given how it was designed for teaching use.
I mostly used it to write simple BASIC programs and play games off tape - it has a monochrome screen at teletext resolution, extremely minimal sound (single channel, with just a list of fixed beeps and noises), and a decently fast BASIC interpreter.
I blame it for my later career choices.

Excellent username/post combination

# ? Jul 11, 2021 12:48

Collateral Damage: Jun 13, 2009

F4rt5 posted:

Omg that's awesome. I grew up with this, from age 8 or so:
It actually had a 3.5" floppy drive too, but extremely unreliable and half our disks were unreadable whenever...

Spectravideo buddies. :hfive:

I had a 328 that my father bought at a discount after attending a "computer training" organized by his job. He never used it himself so after a few weeks I took possession of it. I still have it, packed up in its original box.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 13:59

Dicty Bojangles: Apr 14, 2001

I�m envious of you all able to hold on to tech relics for so long. The oldest tech I have (aside from my grandfather�s slide rule) is probably my 5yo NAS. Despite the fact I�ve been touching computers since the early 90�s I never hold on to anything after I upgrade.

Edit: correction, I guess my Something Awful account is probably the oldest.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 14:29

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

Dicty Bojangles posted:

I�m envious of you all able to hold on to tech relics for so long. The oldest tech I have (aside from my grandfather�s slide rule) is probably my 5yo NAS. Despite the fact I�ve been touching computers since the early 90�s I never hold on to anything after I upgrade.

Edit: correction, I guess my Something Awful account is probably the oldest.

Except for the model M (that I picked out of a University IT dumpster as a student in 2004 or so), I don't actually have anything too old here. The ABC-80 is in a cupboard in my parent's house, and the AST is long gone. I guess the SGI O2 counts - it's a late 90s computer, though I bought it for $20 or so around the same time I got the model M. It sits in the attic storage locker here.

I get the impression SGI stuff is sort of like Porsche cars - just weird enough that people keep them alive when a comparably old and powerful PC would be uninteresting. (Present company excluded, I guess)

Computer viking has a new favorite as of 14:47 on Jul 11, 2021

# ? Jul 11, 2021 14:40

Random Stranger: Nov 27, 2009

Computer viking posted:

Our first windows PC was an AST 486 desktop - not too bad, really. Genuine SoundBlaster 16, 2x CD-ROM, 8MB RAM, 270MB disk, some cheapish CirrusLogic SVGA card. Excellent for DOS games at the time.
This model, though this is not my image:

I did phone support for those exact machines. AST was a discount brand to begin with and they still found ways to cut corners...

# ? Jul 11, 2021 14:46

endocriminologist: May 17, 2021; SUFFERINGLOVER:press send + soul + earth lol
inncntsoul:ok

(inncntsoul has left the game)

ARCHON_MASTER:lol
MAMMON69:lol

I have a game & watch where you play a despicable American dog playing tennis

# ? Jul 11, 2021 14:52

Dick Trauma: Nov 30, 2007; God damn it, you've got to be kind.

I don't think I ever had as much technology as most of you, but I still didn't hang onto it. The only old tech I have is a G4 iBook sitting in the closet. It would've been nice to keep the old stuff but I would never have had room for it.

Still, would be neat to boot up my first real PC, an ALR 286... or my old Performa 631CD. Back then I was still excited by technology and gadgetry.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 15:01

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

Random Stranger posted:

I did phone support for those exact machines. AST was a discount brand to begin with and they still found ways to cut corners...

It did have a tendency to mysteriously forget its BIOS settings, which was annoying until I figured out how to autodetect the HD and set it as the boot device again. Beyond that we didn't actually have any problems with it for the decade or so it lived - though the last years it just ran FreeBSD as a router (for our ISDN line). What went wrong with them?

# ? Jul 11, 2021 15:15

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

Dick Trauma posted:

Still, would be neat to boot up my first real PC, an ALR 286... or my old Performa 631CD. Back then I was still excited by technology and gadgetry.

Part of me really missing that Pentium 1 kind of era, but only because one time I got ahold of several lovely computers, and by taking the best bits from each, put together a usable system.

There was a small period of time in which things hadn't started moving fast enough that older hardware was still useful!

Now? ....not so much. but it stayed with me. I think about " Hrmm, how could we use this?" but no, the only use for alot of stuff is just straight into recycling.

_{obv I don't mean like collectible retro stuff}

# ? Jul 11, 2021 17:41

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

On the other hand, a 4th gen core i5 from 2013 is still a perfectly reasonable CPU today, both for desktop and gaming use. There are obviously performance improvements to be had by upgrading, but you can still enjoy most modern games with an eight year old CPU, which would have been unthinkable in the 90s.

Graphics cards have improved more, but a Geforce 1060 6GB from 2016 will still let you play most games at modest but tolerable settings. Sadly, the extreme GPU shortages we are having has driven the cost of used cards up to near what they cost as new.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 18:57

Sweevo: Nov 8, 2007; i sometimes throw cables away

i mean straight into the bin without spending 10+ years in the box of might-come-in-handy-someday first

im a fucking monster

Johnny Aztec posted:

There was a small period of time in which things hadn't started moving fast enough that older hardware was still useful!

Now? ....not so much.

I'd say the last 10-12 years has been a return to the idea of older hardware staying useful for longer. I'm using an i7-3770 from ~2012 and it's fine for everything. I was using a 2009 Xeon until ~18 months ago and it was also fine. 10 years is the difference between an Ivy Bridge and whatever the current state of the art is, and the practical difference isn't something most people care about. It's certainly not the usability difference between say 8088->486 or 486->Pentium 3.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 19:01

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

The big difference is that if you need it, you can now get a lot of cores in a desktop CPU for a mostly reasonable price. It's a nice change after a decade of intel quadcores where you paid extra for hyperthreading.

# ? Jul 11, 2021 19:03

barbecue at the folks: Jul 20, 2007

The technological jump now is happening in things like laptop battery usage and optimization for different usage scenarios through custom chipsets, with stuff like RISC chips showing the way. I have a M1 MacBook and the thing is a quiet beast with no fan, zero performance issues in my everyday work usage despite having only 8 gigs of ram, and a battery life that still has me wondering what the gently caress is exactly going on inside there to make it go for so long. Only gaming makes it start gulping juice and warming up a bit, everything else has been optimized to just... go, I guess? I'm excited to see what Windows for ARM cores will pull off, the difference in performance per watt is just staggering.

# ? Jul 12, 2021 07:43

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

Woop woop careful there champ got a big ol heavy box here that's a two person lift! (60 + pounds)

What's in the box?

A tease:

Gallery cos not going to dump all the photos
https://imgur.com/a/hYY6kT4

# ? Jul 12, 2021 14:16

Mister Kingdom: Dec 14, 2005; And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJq30FR2GN8

Techmoan gives us a 1970s Japanese Karoake machine.

Also, he sings.

# ? Jul 17, 2021 12:25

JnnyThndrs: May 29, 2001; HERE ARE THE FUCKING TOWELS

I thought this:

was a mid-Seventies party in a box :confused:

# ? Jul 17, 2021 12:37

LifeSunDeath: Jan 4, 2007; still gay rights and smoke weed every day

JnnyThndrs posted:

I thought this:

was a mid-Seventies party in a box

cocaine?

# ? Jul 17, 2021 15:46

Ellie Crabcakes: Feb 1, 2008; Stop emailing my boyfriend Gay Crungus

LifeSunDeath posted:

cocaine?

Holmes, you astound me once more

# ? Jul 17, 2021 18:27

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDdfs0XW1kM

# ? Jul 18, 2021 06:04

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

Picked this up at a sale the other day. Pretty sure it's blown, and the base is cracked anyway.

I keep poo poo like this , well because it's cool, but I was thinking if you opened it up, put a couple lights in it, and make it part of a display or artwork.

....I have storage units full of "neat" items that I am waiting to find the right person for. :smith:

# ? Jul 19, 2021 17:36

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

Mister Kingdom posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJq30FR2GN8

Techmoan gives us a 1970s Japanese Karoake machine.

Also, he sings.

lol

# ? Jul 20, 2021 00:01

DicktheCat: Feb 15, 2011

Johnny Aztec posted:

Picked this up at a sale the other day. Pretty sure it's blown, and the base is cracked anyway.

I keep poo poo like this , well because it's cool, but I was thinking if you opened it up, put a couple lights in it, and make it part of a display or artwork.

....I have storage units full of "neat" items that I am waiting to find the right person for.

What is this wondrous beast? I'm fascinated.

And, am, in fact, an artist that would be more than thrilled to see your whirligigs and tech whatsits.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 00:28

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

DicktheCat posted:

What is this wondrous beast? I'm fascinated.

And, am, in fact, an artist that would be more than thrilled to see your whirligigs and tech whatsits.

a Cursory google look, I couldn't find what it is for.

DuMont 6292 vacuum tube.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 00:54

One Eye Open: Sep 19, 2006; Am I awake?

Johnny Aztec posted:

a Cursory google look, I couldn't find what it is for.

DuMont 6292 vacuum tube.

It's a photomultiplier. Here's someone selling one.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 01:09

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

Johnny Aztec posted:

a Cursory google look, I couldn't find what it is for.

DuMont 6292 vacuum tube.

Seems to be a photomultiplier: It's basically an insulator when the sensitive part is in perfect darkness, and the conductivity increases linearly with the number of photons hitting it. They can apparently be made so sensitive you can use them to count single photons, they're fast, and they're not too picky about the angle or wavelength of the incoming light - so they're apparently one of the few types of vacuum tube gear that's still the best available tech in some niches.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 01:13

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

Thanks for the information! I think I did just a real quick look, and while I found some being sold, or ones similar, it didn't say WHAT it was for.

Also, it's not just me that feels like google search has gotten way worse in quality over the last decade, yeah?

Anyway, content:

Picked up two of these Webster-Chicago Transcriber/Dictation machines the other day:

See the spool of wire I am holding? That is thin stainless steel wire, that SOMEHOW records an hour of audio onto.Well, there are different length spools you can get.
I had no idea audio wire existed! Crazy poo poo for being from 1951!

# ? Jul 20, 2021 02:24

GutBomb: Jun 15, 2005; Dude?

Johnny Aztec posted:

Thanks for the information! I think I did just a real quick look, and while I found some being sold, or ones similar, it didn't say WHAT it was for.

Also, it's not just me that feels like google search has gotten way worse in quality over the last decade, yeah?

Anyway, content:

Picked up two of these Webster-Chicago Transcriber/Dictation machines the other day:

See the spool of wire I am holding? That is thin stainless steel wire, that SOMEHOW records an hour of audio onto.Well, there are different length spools you can get.
I had no idea audio wire existed! Crazy poo poo for being from 1951!

Check this out

https://youtu.be/90ihiTwJPCc

# ? Jul 20, 2021 02:41

Giant Metal Robot: Jun 14, 2005; Taco Defender

Do not let that wire unspool. There's thousands, maybe ten of thousands, of feet of wire on a spool.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 02:57

Space Gopher: Jul 31, 2006; BLITHERING IDIOT AND HARDCORE DURIAN APOLOGIST. LET ME TELL YOU WHY THIS SHIT DON'T STINK EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW IT DOES BECAUSE I'M SUPER CULTURED.

Johnny Aztec posted:

Picked up two of these Webster-Chicago Transcriber/Dictation machines the other day:

See the spool of wire I am holding? That is thin stainless steel wire, that SOMEHOW records an hour of audio onto.Well, there are different length spools you can get.
I had no idea audio wire existed! Crazy poo poo for being from 1951!

For a long time, wire recorders were the only way to get compact, battery powered, good-enough-for-voice quality recording.

That�s why mob snitches �wear a wire.�

# ? Jul 20, 2021 03:02

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

^ I don't know if that is the true story of that phrase, but by god, it's good enough for me!

Giant Metal Robot posted:

Do not let that wire unspool. There's thousands, maybe ten of thousands, of feet of wire on a spool.

I have already sold both units, and in the mail. That worry is someone elses problem now!

# ? Jul 20, 2021 03:05

BattleMaster: Aug 14, 2000

Photomultiplier tubes are non-obsolete and see lots of use in radiation detectors and physics. I just had some purchased for my job for a radiation detector experiment and there are still multiple manufacturers of new ones.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 03:45

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# ? May 24, 2024 20:28

Johnny Aztec: Jan 30, 2005; by Hand Knit

I kind of want you to send me a box of burnt out Photomultiplier tubes.

I don't know why, but.....I do.

# ? Jul 20, 2021 04:21

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology

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