Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology

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GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Guy Axlerod posted:

The main attraction for me was watching the pen plotter make it's magic. It worked in one color at a time, cross-hatching to create the shaded areas, slowly building an image.

E: Different plotter, but holy poo poo this thing is fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYGPSAD5L_k (For a pen plotter)

Apparently you can buy these refurbished for under $250. If every available surface wasn't buried in a pile of film cameras, slide projectors, and books, I'd get one.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 16:30

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 01:30

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Humphreys posted:

My father had a car phone in his work truck but as a builder the phone would always ring when he was up scaffolding so went all out and got a OKI (yes THOSE OKIs that certain people had lots of fun with, as did I when I got a little older).

I was young enough that I only got in on the tail end of the phreaking craze, but I miss all the amazing stuff you could do. Sure, you can make free video calls to anyone with an Internet connection these days, but it's just not the same as using something you put together with $25 of Radio Shack parts to hijack AT&T's systems and make worldwide calls from payphones by manually jumping trunks until you were effectively making a local call.

The Oki 900 was a straight-up James Bond phone in its day. Just by punching in service codes you could listen in on other peoples' phone calls or clone an ESN and impersonate that phone on the network (I think you even could pull the ESN from the phone-tower handshake,) hook it up to a computer and you could get the location of calls based on cell tower triangulation and choose which phone to listen in on.

Also, I just checked and Phone Losers of America is still around http://www.phonelosers.org/ :laugh:

# ¿ Mar 6, 2014 19:19

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

JediTalentAgent posted:

There's one I think called the Jetbook that sells for about $400-500 dollars.

A quick glance at the website and it seems like they're aiming it at an academic setting. I'm sure in some ways it's maybe an easier sell to some school districts as compared to a tablet.

edit: Where I can sort of see where it might be a bit viable. Lighter, less power requirements, probably a dedicated interface streamlined for kids of various ages and academic settings and restricted a bit more from distracting apps in a school setting.

I guess very large color e-ink panels could be even viable in an advertising way if the prices dropped enough for static print promotions in place of the flat panel monitors I see popping up everywhere. It seems that one company is making something like it already.

Color e-ink would save schools a fortune on printing and shipping textbooks, not to mention the environmental impact of not throwing out several pounds of paper per student per class per 1-2 years.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 18:40

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Zonekeeper posted:

Yeah, the idea I have in my head still turns with a button press, it just has two screens so you could view 2-page spreads as intended. Plus the whole purpose of the clamshell design is that it protects the screens and buttons when it's not in use, especially if you enclose it in a thick impact-resistant cover. If there's always a screen on the outside like in Manky's version it kind of defeats the purpose.

Being able to choose two pages to view side by side would be pretty awesome. For textbooks you could lock one to a problem set and flip through references on the other, for books with footnotes you could keep your place and reference the notes, for technical documentation you could keep a diagram or set of instructions on one and flip pages on the other. It might not be all that useful for average book reading, but for any specialized application it's a great idea. Patent that poo poo.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2014 01:44

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Gasmask posted:

Don't know how much truth there is in this, but I've heard that it's cheaper to transmit data to and from the Hubble Space Telescope than the rate which consumers are charged for text messages.

I forget where I read it, but assuming you read the same thing as me, SMS is about 4.5x as expensive per byte.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2014 18:07

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

uwaeve posted:

Not to interrupt the RIM hate, but from a few pages back there was some VCRchat.

In sometime like 1983-5, my dad bought a VHS camcorder/VCR combo. The VCR was split into two decks, one of which held the cassette. For using the camera. Like you were tethered to this huge europurse brick thing that weighed probably 30 pounds as you were trying to capture precious moments.

I can't find a good picture but you oldsters will know what I'm talking about.

I had one of those. It had a battery that was about 2x3 inches and about a foot long, and you needed two because the tape deck took one and the camera took another.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2014 22:11

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

carry on then posted:

e: reading the press release, this does almost come across as them trying to replace tape-based backup systems which, though sounding really old fashion, manage to currently outdo many other media in terms of reliability and data density.

I had some data backed up on CD-Rs years ago. Turns out the dye fades over time and I managed to burn over am already-used disc.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2014 22:01

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Killer robot posted:

I always figured QuickTime for Windows was Apple's revenge for PC software with poor or absent Mac ports. It just was always that bad.

Hi, it's time to update Quicktime, and while you're at it, why don't you install iTunes and Safari and MobileMe? Oh, did I steal focus while you're in the middle of a presentation? well you should have killed the processes and scheduled tasks because the checkbox in options to disable this popup sure as hell doesn't do anything. What's that? you clicked minimize? gently caress you, I'm not minimizing, have fun getting back to whatever slide your PowerPoint presentation was on.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2014 15:29

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Full Battle Rattle posted:

I want to see some true HD Porn. I want a 1080p blu-ray pornographic movie. I just don't trust porn companies to actually shoot in HD and then master the disc properly, because, let's be honest, I'm from a generation that watched softcore porn because the planets aligned and cinemax came in slightly less blurry one evening. >99.9% of porn consumers do not give a flying gently caress about quality. I'm also leary of any website that sells pornographic dvds.

If I actually go to the length to purchase something from a smut peddler and it's some 480i upscaled bullshit I would be FURIOUS.

Porn is being filmed in 4K now.
They say it's safe for work, but I'm tagging it :nws:

http://naughtyamerica4k.com/

You can walk into any porno store and get porn on Blu Ray. Hell, you can walk into FYE or whatever your local music and movie store is and they'll have a selection of adult DVDs and Blu-Rays if you think websites are sketchy.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2014 03:37

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

KozmoNaut posted:

I think I remember something like that, but I can't find anything either.

Besides, "Bluetooth" is potentially wrong. It is named after Harald Gormsson, king of Denmark and Norway from ~958 to ~986. He was nicknamed "Bluetooth" or "Bl�tand" in Danish, but this all comes from later sources starting around ~1140. The Bluetooth logo is a combination of the runes for H and B

The common explanation is that he must have had a bad tooth, but there are other theories that I think are more likely to be true. One is that he was referred to as thegn/thane (chieftan) in England, which became "tan" in Old Norse. "Blue" could mean "dark", making him "Dark Chieftan", or it could refer to "blut" for "sacrifice", making him "Chief of Sacrifice". Yet another theory is that he always clothed himself in blue garments, which were extremely expensive at the time due to the price of blue dye. Or perhaps he actually just had a bad tooth and earned a silly nickname for it, but the other explanations are cooler.

He also converted Denmark to Christianity, so gently caress him, he was a loving traitor

I always heard that his teeth were stained blue from eating blueberries, and I could have sworn the Wikipedia article on him used to include this. It's one of those "facts" that's so prevalent that it's hard to find where it originated.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2014 22:53

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Sunshine89 posted:

especially in the rear-facing third row seat.

The technical term for it is the "mooning seat."

# ¿ Mar 31, 2014 17:57

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Dick Trauma posted:

Speaking of obsolete car tech do cars still come with vinyl seats? I can remember as a kid wearing shorts in the Summer and then having my flesh practically melt onto the rear seats of our lead sled. I was happy when cloth/mouse-fur became the basic option for car seats.

I know at least Mercedes and BMW offer leatherette interiors, so there must have been some improvements along the way.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2014 19:50

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

triple clutcher posted:

My first car had separate keys for the ignition, doors, and trunk.

That reminds me of my first car, a '97 Buick Century. One key for the ignition and one for the doors, trunk, and glove compartment. Yes, I want to have to use two keys to get into and start my car, and if the contacts for the chip (just a resistor) in the ignition key are even slightly dirty or the car is feeling grumpy it won't start.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2014 01:17

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Monkey Fracas posted:

I really hope nobody ever tries to steal my stereo since there is literally nothing stopping them except the intricate anti-theft measures of "have the strength of at least a toddler to remove faceplate, posses a screwdriver and 30 seconds".

Anyone remember the early '90s Ford radios that relied on the removal tool that they sold for $15 at Wal Mart?

moller posted:

I've always had bad luck with FM modulators unless I was driving in the middle of nowhere. That said, snapping off the antenna likely made it work much better.

Thanks to FM capture effect (in layman's terms, stronger signal always wins unless they're really close in relative power,) decreasing your antenna's gain will make the FM transmitter work better almost 100% of the time.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2014 02:34

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Dick Trauma posted:

Slide film produces gorgeous images, and a projected image on a good screen looks wonderful but gently caress slide projectors in the ear for being the stubborn mule of presentation technology.

Kodak Ektagraphic or nothing*. You set the carousel in front of you with the numbers right side up and put the Kodachrome slides in with the little + in the middle on top facing you. When you finish loading them, you put the retaining ring on, lock it, and you're set.

*-for 35mm. All medium and large format slide projectors are awesome.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2014 01:41

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Horace posted:

edit: I'll bet 110 film looks just amazing projected onto a big screen!

110 was the tiny cartridges, I think you might have meant 120

I love my medium format projector, which does double duty as an art deco death ray.

GWBBQ has a new favorite as of 03:26 on Apr 9, 2014

# ¿ Apr 9, 2014 03:23

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

p-hop posted:

I forget if I posted this ages ago, but my first TV when I moved out of my parents' house was a 36" CRT Sony Trinitron TV. Best picture I've ever seen on a SD TV... but that thing took three people to get up a one-person-wide stairwell and into the living room. Not only was it heavy as balls, there were no grips for moving it. Finally upgraded to a flatscreen HDTV last Christmas, and put the Trinitron on craigslist as "free, but you have to get it outside and take it away by yourself."

After 10+ people coming to see it in person and realizing gently caress I can't move that by myself, we finally found someone to take it. They forced it into the trunk of a hatchback and scraped their undercarriage all the way down the driveway because the car was sagging so badly in the rear.

According to specs online, the beast was 270 pounds. Compare that to the weight of modern flat screen TVs.

_{I still kinda wish I had it for playing SNES games; old consoles look like garbage on HDTVs.}

The Trinitron Rule: if it's in the basement, it stays in the basement.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 12:07

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Larry Horseplay posted:

The thing with tube TVs is that for each inch you made the tube bigger, you had to make the tube surface out of thicker and thicker glass to maintain its shape. So TV weight almost rose exponentially as you moved up in size.

Not only was the glass needed for structure, the amount of leaded glass needed to keep x ray and other radiation emission increased with size because keeping the screen bright at bigger sizes required a more powerful electron gun (which was also more expensive.) The exponential growth of all components with size effectively limited CRTs to the mid 40 inch range.

Taking down a pair of ceiling-hung 44" monitors that weighed around 350 pounds was one of the more miserable things I've had to do at work. It was basically three guys with a ladder trying to avoid being crushed to death.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 01:31

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Mister Kingdom posted:

I still have a 27" flat face CRT TV in the bedroom. It was the only thing I couldn't carry upstairs by myself when I moved. I checked online and it clocks in at 110 pounds.

If your arms are long enough, the way to lift a CRT is to press the screen against your torso and hug it with your hands under the tapered part in the back. If not, you're going to have a miserable time lifting the TV. I have no problem with anything up to 32" and even some 37" ones, but I'm gigantic.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 03:25

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Ensign Expendable posted:

Are radio contests still a thing? I can't imagine anyone listening to a radio these days unless they're in a car, and it's not like you're going to be dialing a phone while driving.

The wonder of modern phones is that not only can you dial hands-free, if you really wanted to get fancy you could set your phone to recognize the DJ on your preferred station telling you to call in and do it automatically.

Humphreys posted:

These wonderful places

We have a few still open in CT and another opening this summer.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2014 18:29

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Sunshine89 posted:

On the subject of retro appliances, Philco had a really neat model in the early 1950s: the V-Handle

Everything

Philco

(credit: wipikepdia user Visitor7)

made

is awesome and all of it obsolete as hell (unless you consider the digital-analog TV converters made under the Philco name recently, but those don't really count.)

I really want a Predicta

# ¿ Apr 19, 2014 23:39

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

I went to a computer show once at age 14 or so, I was amazed by the Warez & Hacker tools software table.

GWBBQ has a new favorite as of 04:39 on Apr 26, 2014

# ¿ Apr 26, 2014 04:35

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Speaking of Force Feedback, the Novint Falcon never caught on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxfjFRs22cg

It makes Half Life 2 significantly more difficult because it vibrates like crazy when you take damage, and although that makes the game more immersive, it doesn't really make it any more fun once the novelty wears off. The motors in it are pretty fast and powerful, and it nearly broke my fingers during calibration. While looking through custom software people have developed for it (mostly plugins for first person shooters,) I found a teledildonics community where one intrepid fellow wrote software to make it thrust and attached a fleshlight to it.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2014 00:50

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Sham bam bamina! posted:

Please, share more.

http://bit.ly/1j4Fzw0 :nws:

even though it's just text.

Grumbletron 4000 posted:

Teledildonics is probably my favorite word in my vocabulary. Its a drat shame that there are so precious few occasions to break it out during casual conversation.

It's an excellent word. My post was as much an excuse to use the word as to contribute.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2014 21:53

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

I bought obsolete technology today! A local boy scout troop in one of the richest towns in CT collects donations and sells them at their annual tag sale, and I went in search of anything nifty looking. I was in line to get in and someone walked out with an Eames Chair, to give an idea.

The first one is some sort of printing press tool, I think it's a gauge for typeseting, but if anyone knows for sure I'd love to know. For $2, it's a nice shelf piece.

Next up is a paper hygroscope sword for newspaper printing. Patent date is 1934, it may be as new as late 1940s. You wave it around in the air for 30 seconds to set it to ambient humidity, twist the gauge face until it lines up with the needle, then stick it into the middle of a stack of newsprint to measure relative humidity of the paper. You want it to be between 5 and 8 percent above the humidity of the room to avoid wrinkling and warping. They asked me what I was going to do with it, I said "I'm going to put it on a display shelf, but I'm also going to measure the humidity of stacks of paper with it just because I can."

It's made by Accurate Machine & Tool Corporation and the gauge says it's patented by the Lithographic Technical Institute. I can't find anything about it other than the patent (filed 1931, granted 1934,) so if anyone has any info about the company or what it's worth, I'd love to know about it, too.

# ¿ May 5, 2014 05:54

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

DrBouvenstein posted:

Speaking of Smartphones, behold, my first two smartphones:

That reminds me of my first smartphone, the Samsung SCH-i760

My friends called it the "Guam Phone" and refused to believe it was sold in first-world countries (yes, I know Guam is a US territory.)

vxskud posted:

So Gizmodo posted a somewhat tongue in cheek article about Sony's new high capacity magnetic tape, cue half my friends list earnestly posting about how cassette tapes are coming back.

They never completely went away. It's a niche market, but they're a nice easy way to make small production runs of albums. One of my brother's friends runs a record label that does exclusively tape releases for metal bands.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 16:37

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Mr. Beefhead posted:

Well that just makes no goddamn sense at all. There is no way that a run of cassette tapes is in any way easier or cheaper than a run of cds, and then you've also got to deal with the fact that you're offering a thing in a format that you'd be lucky if even a fifth of your potential customers have the means to play. I mean, I can see the kitsch factor, but it's a hell of a sacrifice to make for the sake of kitsch.

For short runs of <500 copies, it comes out a lot cheaper. High quality blank cassette tapes are a dime a piece if you buy them in packs of 1000 and with a few dubbing decks it only takes a few hours to make a run of 50-100.

DrBouvenstein posted:

Man, did everyone have a Palm at some point?

Yes.

# ¿ May 7, 2014 21:02

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Stalin McHitler posted:

Take the car chat to AI, please.

In that case I'd like to go back to before car chat and remind everyone to look up what your old computer parts are worth as scrap because the guy who sold 10 486 processors for 20 bucks got ripped the gently caress off.

# ¿ May 13, 2014 01:56

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Powerful Two-Hander posted:

I get some guys bank statement reminders and (as of last week) bulletins for a Google AdWords account about turbine maintenance. I cannot figure out what permutation of my name he could have that he keeps loving up when I have firstname.lastname.

I'm concerned about all the turbines that aren't being maintained :ohdear:

# ¿ May 18, 2014 07:59

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Collateral Damage posted:

He's still trying to fleece you by charging more for Cat6 though since the difference in cost for the actual cable is negligible.

Seconding this. How much is he charging for how many pulls and total length?

# ¿ May 26, 2014 01:17

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Wanamingo posted:

Why are you people still using cassette players?

Goodwill sells cassettes for $1 each and they don't look at you funny if you buy a bunch of Frank Sinatra and death metal at the same time.

# ¿ May 29, 2014 02:26

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

El Estrago Bonito posted:

Not as bad as the time period where they tried to put the 9800M into everything as a video card. That card runs somewhere between the heat levels of "Unceasing Hellfire" and "Raging Inferno of the Damned".

Was that the one that got so hot it would desolder the processor?

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 17:15

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Code Jockey posted:

Oh man so that laserdisc player I got over a month ago has just been sitting collecting dust since I didn't have an s-video cable to run to my projector for it [and gently caress composite video].

If any other obsolete technology enthusiasts have this problem, PM me. I have a bunch of S video cables sitting around and will sell them for cost of postage plus a dollar ($3 or so) instead of scrapping them

# ¿ Jun 23, 2014 01:34

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

WebDog posted:

I did mention this. I was poorly summing up the investigations that made the point that despite ruining people's computers with anti-piracy methods, it didn't actually stop the ability to make copies and it was trivially circumvented from turning off auto-run or going to drastic steps and using a market to outline the edge of the disc to blot out the data track from being accessed. And even if you had the software installed and it was filling your drive up with hiss, I suspect you still could be able to record via dub.

No matter how much copy protection you cram onto media, you still have to decode it to present the content to the end user. Copy protection is pretty much failed technology out of the gate.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2014 02:25

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Before the days of maturity ratings, Leisure Suit Larry quizzed you on things that only an adult would know. The full list of questions is here http://www.allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html and includes a mildly prophetic question about OJ Simpson.

O. J. Simpson is
a. an R & B singer.
b. under indictment.
c. embarrassed by his first name (Olivia).
d. no one to fool with.
Correct answer: d.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2014 10:36

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

thethirdman posted:

See also uranium glass.

Sometimes at vintage malls or estate sales you'll see a random person with a Geiger counter trying to find real Fiesta ware or uranium glass. Here's a video of someone using a Geiger counter on red Fiesta ware:

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

I'm the guy who goes through the glassware section at thrift stores with a blacklight pen, uranium glass glows bright green under UV light. They're usually a dollar or two and they either make neat display pieces with a few UV LEDs or can be flipped for $10 or so on eBay.

GWBBQ has a new favorite as of 16:27 on Aug 4, 2014

# ¿ Aug 4, 2014 16:24

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

duckmaster posted:

In ten years people will talk about gigabytes like this.

I don't doubt this at all, and it will be great to see what novel technologies emerge to take advantage of the increase in computing power.

spog posted:

Or until everything works wirelessly.

Everything wireless is terrible and I have no hope that this will change in the foreseeable future.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2014 19:01

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

KozmoNaut posted:

HDMI 2.0 can do 4K at 60hz, I think.

Yes, but unless it's 4096x2160 or 3840x2160 at 60hz with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling it's marketing bullshit masquerading as 4K.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2014 03:12

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Pham Nuwen posted:

You know about the potential for a hot chassis on those old tube radios, right? It's possible to make them safer but basically never touch the inside while it's on.

Also, bring them up gradually on a VARIAC is possible and do it outside with the radio downwind of yourself if it has a selenium rectifier because nothing you'll encounter outside of a chemistry lab smells worse than one of those when they blow up and you will smell like it for days if you're nearby.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2014 04:22

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 01:30

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

BattleMaster posted:

Does anyone even sell USB A-A cables outside of online sellers who will make any cable you ask for even if it doesn't make sense?

I use these at work in classrooms and I'm thankful that Monoprice sells A-A cables because gently caress paying $30 for a 6 foot cable.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2014 23:42

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

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