ADSactly Tech News - Memory Lane and Forgotten Devices of the Past (Part 6)
Image Source: Wikipedia
Devices have changed a lot but many of the things we use today some sort of early form or similar but more basic invention can be contributed to its creation.
The power we have as human beings to create and recreate is absolutely extraordinary and it is probably one of our greatest strengths as a species.
As I approach the end of this series I think about all the great devices I've previously written about. Very few of them have I actually ever used a few of them I've never even seen in real life before! What is it about the past that attracts us so much? Is it our neverending desire to understand, a curiousity that drives us as a species? Who knows...
We've come a long way from pagers and rotary phones. We've navigated the world of walkmans, discmans and gameboys. What devices do we love and cherish today? Will they be the devices of the future or are their days already numbered? Well, are you ready to take one last trip down memory lane with me?
It is hard to deny the fact that many of the gadgets of the past hold a sort of charm. A window into a different world. Isn't that part of the curiousity, we all want to know what it would be like to live in a world that was even a little bit different than are own? Some of you probably know many of the ancient ancestral gadgets I discuss well. Others have possibly never even heard of them. It is very true that a single generation can sometimes be enough to wipe out a technology completely!
Even though many of the technologies we have used in the past have been replaced by newer and more advanced technologies we still must take a moment and appreciate the fact that this is where we have come from. Where will we go? Only time will tell...
Well, we have not a moment to waste, lets get going shall we?
Let me unveil a few more magnificent gadgets of the past!
Things have come a long way in regard to the ways in which we consume digital media. The TV comes to mind but when it comes to watching recorded video these days often times we use streaming services like Amazon's firestick or competing services which offer up Netflix and Amazon Prime Video etc...
But before all this we depended on VHS, VidCDs and eventually DVDs...
One technology often overlooked is the LaserDisc player commonly used in the early 90s.
Initially marketed as “Discovision”, laser discs were the format choice of tech enthusiasts who had the money to put together a collection until the DVD format came out.
LaserDisc (abbreviated as LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in the United States in 1978.
Although the format was capable of offering higher-quality video and audio than its consumer rivals, VHS and Betamax videotape, LaserDisc never managed to gain widespread use in North America, largely due to high costs for the players and video titles themselves and the inability to record TV programs.
It was not a popular format in Europe and Australia when first released, but eventually did gain traction in these regions to become popular in the 1990s.
Even though LaserDisc technology didn't become extremely popular in western markets, it did put the pressure on to develop something better. The thing which I'm referring to was the DVD!
Thankfully we have better options when it comes to watching recording video in the modern day! But just imagine where we would be if this technology had never been invented in the first place! With no LaserDisc I would venture to say that DVDs may never have been invented.
It has been a long time since I've used or have seen one of these. What used to be expensive tech has now become expensive rubbish with most having to pay a lot of money to people just to get them to haul one of these away. In an age of LCD and LED monitors the CRT Monitor is rarely used.
The cathode ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube that contains one or more electron guns and a phosphorescent screen, and is used to display images.[1] It modulates, accelerates, and deflects electron beam(s) onto the screen to create the images.
The images may represent electrical waveforms (oscilloscope), pictures (television, computer monitor), radar targets, or other phenomena. CRTs have also been used as memory devices, in which case the visible light emitted from the fluorescent material (if any) is not intended to have significant meaning to a visual observer (though the visible pattern on the tube face may cryptically represent the stored data).
If you look to get rid of a CRT monitor these days you'll need to take it to the dump and I believe it needs to be put in the 'hazardous waste' section as there are harmful components that are considered toxic. After CRT came plasma tvs but they didn't last very long and had many problems, I recall the major one being something called 'burn in' where the screen could be permanently damaged if you leave a static image on it for too long.
Despite being a mainstay of display technology for decades, CRT-based computer monitors and televisions are now virtually a dead technology. Demand for CRT screens dropped precipitously in the last half of the first decade of the 21st century. The rapid advances and falling prices of LCD flat panel technology -- first for computer monitors, and then for televisions -- spelled doom for competing display technologies such as CRT, rear-projection, and plasma display.[46]
I remember owning a slim CRT tv which was expensive at the time. All my friends were very impressed and it was absolutely great for playing video games as it had a huge screen. The only thing that could beat it in size at the time was a projection TV which I remember my friend having in his home. The projection TV just couldn't compete due to its grainy pixelation. Sure it was bigger but was it better? No way!
The CRT Monitor will forever be a part of our technological past as we move towards better technologies like advanced 4k LED megascreens!
One final device certainly deserves honorable mention...
These days Boom Boxes are confined to nostalgic memories of the 1980's or faint memories of good times when music invited or not flooded the streets of urban areas.
Associated with hip-hop, break-dancing, and other aspects of eighties culture, they were introduced in the late 1970’s as portable, all-in-one music devices. Earlier models took huge quantities of batteries and were very heavy.
A boombox or “Jambox” is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the 1980s, a CD player was sometimes included. Sound is delivered through an amplifier and two or more integrated loudspeakers. A boombox is a device typically capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music (usually cassettes or CDs usually at a high volume).
Many models are also capable of recording onto cassette tapes from radio and other sources. Designed for portability, boomboxes can be powered by batteries as well as by line current. The boombox was introduced to the American market during the mid-1970s. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes; by the 1980s, some boomboxes had reached the size of a suitcase. Most boomboxes were battery-operated, leading to extremely heavy, bulky boxes.
This brings back good memories for me as I do remember the boombox being part of popular culture as I was growing up. I also remember all the great movies showing off this magnificent tech on basketball courts/parks and neighborhoods.
I can't put my finger on what the boombox evolved into... These days everyone has a smartphone with a similar ability to play music fairly loudly but it seems society has lost the bass! A smartphone is certainly no proper replacement for a boombox surely!
The world is directed by dreamers that act upon their dreams and make them reality.
Don't be afraid to set a goal and go after it!
I want to know what my fellow @ADSactly society members think about these inventions!
Here's a chance for the @ADSactly community to leave their thoughts and opinions on this topic. Don't hold back, contribute something and take advantage of the social benefits of our thriving community.
I really do hope you've enjoyed my series but the show must go on! Look for new exciting topics going forward.
Thanks for reading.
Authored by: @techblogger
In-text citations sources:
Laser Disc Player - Wikipedia
CRT Monitor - Wikipedia
Boombox - Wikipedia
Image Sources:
Wikipedia
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Too bad this is the end, @ @techblogger. I really enjoyed making that trip in the past: I guess it's always good to remember the times when they already left. Today's delivery is for winners! The podium was perfect. I still keep these three relic-shaped devices in my house today. The TV was one of those devices that you couldn't put anywhere because with that back hump you needed a big space. They were super heavy! I remember that at home there was only one and we all sat around it. It was time for the family to be together watching the soap operas! I didn't have a Betamax, but I did have a VHS and even a car-shaped device to rewind the tapes, as well as the music players, which were practical because we put the party anywhere: the fun was portable: I remember that a friend owned a super big one and when he arrived he was the soul of the party. That time makes me sigh at this time of the morning! It was another time in Venezuela when we could afford to buy the newest on the market. Thank you very much for this series to you and @adsactly's friends. I really enjoyed it!
Yes Nancy, it is always nice to be reminded of our past and learn a bit more about relics that we only see now in some sort of dusty old antique store. To think that the antiques of today were the most state of the art and revolutionary gadgets of our grandparents and parents time. It is quite an experiment in perspective and relativity. I'm happy you enjoyed the series and I thank you for all your commentary and support. It is this type of effort and care that made me want to be a part of the ADSactly community in the first place. Take care.
Mine reader is a PIONEER CLD-S310F pal At the time the NTSC was expensive and in import, LD were overpriced (DEF LEPPARD HISTORIA 800 Frs VIRGIN c cold in 1995) ...
Finally, mine dates back to 1994 ... He has turned a lot and he is holding out ...
I have about a 100 groin of LD
My most precious, STAR TREK I, AKIRA, PLANET OF THE MONKEYS (1967), DEF LEPPARD (THE 3), PHIL COLLINS 90 IN BERLIN (one of my last ones bought at AROBASE71 ... thank you very much MC) ...
LD is something which i never heard. Probably, too older before i came in this world but..wait 1990....i assume i never seen it. I remember watching movies on VCR that Video Cassette player, which works like old tape re order with some Video oytput.
Need is the mother of all innovation. Most probably as LD was not gaining popularity it gave people a reason to work upon some thought to introduce and improved latest way VIdeo Output. Really inyeresting to know about it after so long...or you may say first time
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LOL the boombox was a classic man it was literally like a party waiting to happen and you could carry it around with you! Although you needed to have like 6 of those huge ass batteries and a few cassettes to go along with it it was still a lot of fun!
The concept is basically still a live with the popularity of Bluetooth speakers these days! Oh how far we’ve come, but nothing says b boy battle is about to start like a boom box
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Oh yah! The boombox was a classic. It is a real staple of the 1980s. I remember watching 'White Men Can't Jump' and it immediately gave me that sort of 'boombox' feel.
Well, I guess I'm lucky this time to have used all mentioned devices and must recommend it makers because without them w wouldn't have gotten to were we are today.
I could remember then when I was small, tho I could remember that I made use of all this things but then I'm pretty sure I didn't know there exact uses. The boom box was a great device then, if you could purchase one then you're a big boy and if it turns out that you're the only one with it in your street then you're a bigger boy. The crt was a good device, tho it's heavy and I could remember then that I broke the screen when I was way much younger . Well forgotten devices are sometimes not forgetten in some areas. I know of places were the crt are still in use and they prefer it way better to the LCD.
Thanks so much @techblogger for the memories.
I still have one CRT colourless TV named "President" in our store. I heard that the television is almost three times my age and it's still good.... The problem I have with modern devices is the short lifespan given to it. I've spent so much on LCD's recently.
Is this a throwback Thursday!?Hey, I love your article, it reminds me of the past. Thinking about it, Time flies so fast! I grew up with those! and now not even, one of my nieces and nephews got the chance to see or play those good old stuff!
Throwback devices...
The Old television used A cathode ray tube and an heavy old electrical transformer that powers it which makes it take up to 5 minutes before it turns on, but today we have Televisions made of liquid crystal display LCD and integrated circuit devices thus making television become less weighty when you carry them. This invention was welcomed because the throw back Tv in view came with a Black and White colour preference rather that this current one with varieties of colours such as the RGB, PAL, NTSC depending on your choice of colour and country.
But one thing i have to say is this, in the future to come things we thought were the best we have ever seen will be reinvented, redeveloped and made more top notch that what it is today, reason is because God created us as human and gave us the ability to THINK!
I will miss this throwback episodes because it really reminds me of the past in future, but it was an ever green memory that is worth it.
@techblogger you don't know the amount of joy some if not all of feel to be taken on ride to yesteryears, i am on behalf of them grateful and looking forward to another interesting episode of something else you will be doing with the @adsactly community. I will resteem this so others who misses other episode could take a pinch from this.
Many cheers!
Thank you for the feedback and the kind words. As they say, 'the show must go on!'
superb articles, see you on the top bro adsactly