Sunday, July 1, 2012

Tech-Tock-Tech-Tock....

What's your favorite "old technology?"

We're all in love with our smartphones, tablets, and netbooks, almost to the point where the "tower" computer is as foreign to our younger generation as a dial-style wired telephone! Technology is moving so fast that it's almost impossible to fall in "tech love" with anything anymore. 

But, that's not how it used to be!  We all had our favorite brand of TV set for a certain feature. We loved our cordless phone because it went farther than the neighbors' did. We got the first STEREO TV on the block and had people over to enjoy NBC broadcasting in full stereo on an oak-look console.

Rewinding even farther, in the deepest, darkest corners of our mind were our favorite video consoles long before there was a XBOX, Wii, or anything we use today. I'm talking about consoles with wired controllers, some with beautiful MONOCHROME displays on our TV sets, and with video that today would be considered the electronic equivalent of stone tablets and chisels!

What technology do you remember, or (going out on a limb here) even MISS?

I can't say for me I miss the party-line, dial-phone, or even the mimeograph machine from my elementary school with that blue ink. But, I DO miss some lesser-known or remembered ones!  How about the full size laser-disc machine?  Its composite picture was incredible!  (For its day.) God forbid today we should get up to switch sides of a disc!  Or, there's the competitor who had an early demise due to quality:  the CED disc promoted heavily by RCA!  Some of these still show up in the garage sales of today. There's the "metal detector" craze of the 1970's, (my parents HAD to have one, and we never used it, even on vacations).....and I'm sure you can add to the list!


Being in broadcasting, I've had the fun in the past couple of weeks bringing back an old 1980's technology known as "AM Stereo" to our station.  Yes, there's a limited audience for it, but...those who drive 1990's cars often have the famous "AMS" button, and SOME new HD radios (a technology I can't buy-into or like) render AM stereo.  I swore I wouldn't add CQUAM stereo to our station until we could do it without endangering the distance covered by good-ol AM mono. Well, it seems we've done well with it.  Even doubters of AM sound put on the headphones in our engineer's office and say, "wow!"  Our reasoning? Because we CAN. The same reason we've used to make many decisions at the station.

There are other things we grew up with that were an integral part of our lives, and our culture of the day. What was it you grew up with and maybe you'll admit you miss just a bit?

Maybe it’s not the technology we miss so much, but what seems like a simpler, easier time and lifestyle that went along WITH those great technologies.  What do you think?

Falling in love with certain technologies, and the days we did that.....both....
are long gone as we move fast through today's "introduce it and dump it for better" world. 

What's your favorite "old" technology?"

1 comment:

  1. AM stereo is up there, but my 'favorite' bit of 'techie nirvana' is a circuit in a 1930s RCA console radio that lives in my office.

    Think of 'tube radio' and you think 'warm-up drift' (if you are old enough to have ever used a tube radio anyway!) This set has a tube inside -- the sole function of which is to INTENTIONALLY 'detune' the set so that as the tubes warm up it automatically 'changes' the frequency so that the station appears to NOT drift. It is a bit of a kludge, but it works REALLY well. There were some creative thinkers back in the 30s and the craftsmanship and care put into design and construction of these things is nothing short of amazing.

    There are things built in the 1800s and early 1900s that will continue to work after more than 100 years because the people who built them cared. Good to know that attitude isn't completely lost today! Enjoy your blog Jim!

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