Discussion on:

Tech gadgets we once loved but since abandoned (Photos)

Or Leibniz for that matter.
Both gentlemen developed spring-and-cog calculators.
Come to think of it, a slide rule is just a straightened out set of cogs, so in a way they were doing the same thing.

actually...

but having the different distances relate to each other (and give a reading) in a mechanical machine requires cogs or similar. The movement is the calculation.

http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/addometer.html

My Grandfather had one and used to let us check our homework with it. It didn't do more than add or subtract, but it was a neat toy.

Added: The one I want is the Curta (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/stunningly-intricate-curta-mechanical.html). I've seen them used, but never used one myself.

And what a history.

Far as I recall Leibniz developed a mechanical calculator which looked sort of pistol-like... but I can't find it right now.

Sounds like Spam to me perhaps I should delete it.

Still a cute little device none the less.

Col

Kodak had plenty of chances. They saw which way the wind was blowing like everyone else. They totally failed with their research and development to produce a decent digital camera or compete with digital memory (once called "digital film"!). If they had spent the money on R & D, they might be with us today. Most likely the money for R & D was strangled for short-term gain and profit. Now Kodak is gone.

I do find it sad that a company known for inventing so many things couldn't invent a product that allowed it to compete. Chalk up another death for the beancounters.

Here one item miss on the list, the Zip drive. Now Iomega are making hard drives external. I do not remember seeing a Zip drive tape on retail's shelf in last 7 years. Kodak thought the film would last forever with matching product photo paper. It been several years since I see a photo print. Now I scan old photos prints of my past so I can share this history with my grandchildren.

KodaK did NOT think film would last forever. If anything, they plunged into digital too soon. They pushed their "Create a Print" kiosks (I tried to copy a group portrait on one--it was HORRID), sent their film making off to China in the late 1990s (major loss of quality control), staffed their customer service with idiots (I had gal tell me that "any" one-hour place could print my Horizont panoramic prints, which doesn't fit in 35mm equipment and requires medium-format printing, because she had worked at them; didn't know what an "enlarger" was, and got confused as to whether i wanted "prints" or "enlargements"...), discontinued their best films, flooded their part of the market with cheap junk (oh, the EasyShares that became useless because their poorly-designed battery doors broke), and flat-out abandoned digital just before the "black & white" anti-digital revolution took hold. In the end, they abandoned something they were good at (film,especially black & white) for something they weren't even close to #1 at (digital cameras, printers, jigsaw puzzles, markers...)

Another thing that was interesting at the time and no longer remembered today.

Col

Had one. Was very impressive compared to a 1.44mb floppy disc! Mine was a 100mb model. Looking at my desktop 1TB drive...can't say I miss the thing at all hee hee.

Quite the contrary, the LP has had a a rebirth as a nostalgia collectible, and now even mainstream media labels are offering LP alternates to some titles (especially classical). If you still have a turntable, you can in most all cases still get replacement parts and cartridges; if you want to buy a new one, there are many from which to choose. So, the medium is not dead; it's a special, viable niche.

Something that is a niche product is a dying breed, some of us may like it (audiophiles and such), but they are really made by VERY few and are becoming difficult to find (in decent shape). I actually collect vinyl and LD's, but for the album covers not their content.

Just take a look at any high end audiophile system and you'll find a turntable. Check out the magazines and you'll see new companies getting in the act with new equipment coming out frequently. There are companies that are even getting back into producing records for this market. They aren't going for the low fidelity iTunes crowd but for the discerning listener.

Phonographs and vinyl are making a huge comeback.

I could not stand that thing going off at 1 in the morning.

is it any better when the phone rings at that hour?

Just do not have to worry about it now

Are calculators soooo out of it that you couldn't even find a real one to photograph? I still have my first calculator, a Texas Instruments SR-10. It couldn't do trig, but did do square roots and scientific notation.

Sorry to say, but many of the devices you list as "abandoned" are not only still in use but are still generating demand driven emerging markets. There are many audiophiles who will never listen to CDs or mp3s. Higher quality vinyl recordings are selling for top dollar, just try to find a copy of the remastered vinyl set of Jeniffer Warren's "Little Blue Raincoat." I would bet the price and demand for the set would astound you. Reel to reel tape players get the same argument. There are some audiophiles who swear by the medium. Turntables, as stated, are still being mass produced. Audiophiles will pay exhorbitant amounts for tone-arms, needles or any number of components, let alone an entire turn table system. Modems are still in wide use in many EDI (Electronic Direct Interface) systems that fulfill stock maintenance and ordering between large purchasers like Wal-Mart and the factories that produce their stock. In fact, some of these large companies will not do business with you unless you have a modem setup for EDI. I would also add that these are not your ordinary modems and programming one is much like learning a new programming language. The CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) is far from abandoned as well. Many of the highest quality audio manufacturers are still producing tube driven equipment. Modern DACs (Digital to Analog Converter) are very often seen with a tube stage at the end of their processing for the sonic properties they render. As for the slide rule, many engineers, architects and various other professions still use them diligently. Many people don't believe that the store should close if the register isn't working simply because no one bothered to learn how to make change without it. While the idea of this little jog back in time is a nice feeling for nostalgia, it could have been done much more ineptly. Don't relegate devices that still have major value and importance as abandoned, and therefore unworthy of the effort of learning required to use them, until you check all your facts against real-world, real-time application. Just my suggestion.

CRTs are picture tubes with a phosphor coated screen. They are not used in audio at all. Also, you can't use a slide rule for adding up. They're used for multiplication, division, trigonometric functions and possibly more esoteric functions. I still have a cylindrical slide rule that's equivalent to a linear slide rule 5 feet long and consequently much more accurate than the conventional foot long linear slide rule.

Actually, there have been slide rules with two linear scales that could be used for addition, but what is the use. You get exact precision by hand and it is NOT hard to do. The Slide Rule shines in the land of non-linear functions, such as trigonometric functions, exponentials and logarithmic functions and multiplication, division and exponentiation.

CRT are tubes!

I do understand what CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) means. While I appreciate correction when I make a mistake I did, indeed, mean CRT in this case. Although I should have expounded a bit more than one sentence. CRT monitors are still in use, and often times, preferred. Particularly by serious gamers. While LCD, LED and even plasma have made vast strides over the last few years they still aren't as smooth or fast as the old CRT monitor for demanding gamers. Many gamers I know will use a flat panel on a computer for "everything else" but on their dedicated gaming rig it's still the old CRT monitor that's bursting with action and pushing the shadowed details that give away an enemie's position.

but the color rendition can be far more accurate

If you use a LED or even a not quite new Plasma try looking at motor racing and see what happens on the straights to the cars.

It's got better on the newest non 3D units but it still not as good as a CRT Display yet.

Col

I don't know about you but I don't carry cash for most of my purchases! I carry a debit card that can't be processed if the register is down.

Not unless the shop is VERY lax with documenting sales (won't last long), or they have some kind of hand-winch backup from the steam ages.

As a boy scout I was taught to always be prepared. I always carry some cash and even some silver on me. I had a teacher in college who explained technology best for my taste, he stated "People think technology makes our lives easier when it does just the opposite. Springs cleaning used to be the one time a year when you would take your rugs outside and beat the dust out of them. Now we have vacuums and people expect your rugs to be cleaned every day or at the very least once a week. When we sent letters we were thrilled to get a response a week later. Now, someone sends you an email and if you haven't replied in 1 minute they're calling wanting to know why you haven't responded. Technology is using us instead of us using technology." Now, admitadelly, that's a bit of an eccentric view. However, the point is valid. We rely too much on technology and our quality of life becomes hostage to it. I like to be free to continue doing business, living and pursuing hapiness even when the "grid" is down. Therefore, I do carry cash and as I said silver just in case I find myself in need of it when the lights are out. And yes, I keep an emergency kit in my vehicle along with other helpful things should the need arise..:-)
P.S. I also have many tech certs: MCP, MCP+I, MCSE, MOS - Master Instructor, A+, etc. etc.... So, don't get me wrong I LOVE technology! I just think we should maintain the ability to continue our day without too much interruption if we suddenly find it non-functional.

What about the old 8 Track? I have a working one in my garage and listen to some of the greats out there! My kids keep wondering why it's called an 8 Track if it has 4 channels!

I still have my K & E slide rule, my son regularly plays his phonograph, my wife's monitor is still a CRT and all the TV's in our house are CRT's. Plus I could look in my garage and find about half the items listed. It is not that we are adverse to new technology (I love it) but we don't buy new until the old dies. And I have a feeling that it is going to take a long time to wear that K & E out.

What! You couldn't even find a pocket calculator for a picture? Come on! By the way it was the pocket calculator that did away with the slide rule, not the PC. And my kids' teachers don't let them use them (or the calculator app on their iPhone, like your picture) on tests.... a decision I support.

Long live the TI-59 and HP-45!

Echoing other comments about the slide rule caption. I know. I was there. It was the other PC -- the Pocket Calculator, and especially the HP's - that killed the slide rule. A slide rule carried me through high school and first two quarters at Georgia Tech. In spring quarter, I borrowed my better-heeled roommate's Texas Instruments SR-10 ($155 at the time) for a self-study physics course. It was great, but I still used the slide rule for other courses. That fall, In the first class of an energy/mass balance course, the professor explained his grading system - 9 of 10 points for getting the solution in the form "X= blah, blah" with all the right numerical values in the "blah, blah" side. One point for the numerical answer. He then suggested that meant that those with electronic calculators probably had a nominal letter grade advantage over those still using slide rules. Within a week I purchased an HP-35 ($300). I continued to carry a circular slide rule as a backup, but that class was the end of my routine use of slide rules. That was fall of 1973, well before the popularization of the personal computer.

But what about all that messing about with your serial bus connection just to get it working, CTS, RTS, how many data bits or stop bits. Oh the joys and frustration of just connecting to the remote device and seeing the echo back!

- Dot-matrix, esp. the NLQ variety like my Canon PW1080a
- Fax machine
- Radio's, with the exception of in the car
- VHS/Betamax
- Floppy drives
- Laplink
- Gestetner Spirit copiers
- Token RING
- Compulink/AOL/Compuserve (not gadgets strictly)
- Cassettes for computers - eg Commodore C2N Unit
- Acorn Computers (as in inventors of ther ARM chip) Econet (see BBC Micro), personal computer networking years ahead of the game
- 8-Track Cartridges
- Timex Caslculator watches

I still have a slide rule, 6" Pickett, in my briefcase and I wouldn't even think about getting rid of it. In the aftermath of a EM burst it will be invaluable.

It would make a great name for a band.

Currently enjoying a resurgence amongst those who appreciate sound quality Not dead but consigned to the realms of the cogniscenti. Show me an i-dingus that'll give the true sound range of an original vinyl recording of Pink Floyd or Rolling Stones

I'm in the market for another hand held calculator. I'd prefer to not have to walk over to where others I have are at times.

Why is it that Kodak never made the leap to higher quality cameras, particulaly DSLR's? Given all they know about cameras, lenses, and imaging, it always seemed odd that they never went that route.

Hollywood seems bent on keeping cassette tape alive - hardly a week goes by where some sit-com character is encouraged to create a "mix-tape" for the object of his/her affection.

More than one mention of tuntables/vinyl records is a bit redundant.

I don't think analog phones are dead - most of the people I know still have a land line at home with a regular phone plugged in. Certainly not a rotary-dial model, but not everyone lives by a cell phone.

You left out one of the most obvious tech changes: video tape (Beta, VHS - it doesn't matter). I haven't seen a movie on VHS in any store in years. Similar for camcorders that use tape as a storage medium.

Along with CRT monitors, how about CRT TV's? Also, rear-projection TV's. they've both been replaced by flat screens.

are attached to computers. I have 2 17" monitors and a 19". Neither is wide screen.

The main television is a 29" CRT that's only 14 years old and still going strong. I'm not even thinking flat-screen TV until that or one of the CRT TVs dies.