10 glorious tech anachronisms: Where past and future rendezvous
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Typewriter iPad app
Typewriter iPad app
Hanx Writer is a new typewriter app for the iPad, and it’s currently one of the most popular apps on the iTunes store. The keys bang and there’s hard returns and chimes when you reach the end of a line. It’s free, but there are upgrades.
3D printing pen
3D printing pen
This 3D printing pen raised $2.3 million on Kickstarter in March 2013. The 3Doodler uses ABS plastic to draw in the air or on surfaces. The company shipped them in early 2014 to backers, and someone has already built a 3D printed a working drone using it.
Dodocase
Dodocase
This scholarly case turns your iPad into a beloved Moleskine-style notebook. The Dodocase is made with leather and are “handcrafted by traditional bookbinders.”
Rotary dialer
Rotary dialer
Download this app for free on the Android store and use an old-fashioned rotary dial to call your friends. There’s realistic sound effects, and a vibration at the dial stop.
USB cassette mixtape
USB cassette mixtape
There’s not much more nostalgic than a personalized mixtape. Milktape is a cassette-shaped USB drive that holds 128 MB, or about 15 songs. You can write, draw, or put stickers on it as well.
Hipstamatic
Hipstamatic
With Hipstamatic, you can swap lenses, flashes, and film to take photos and video that look supremely retro. Download different types of filters and lenses from the store and order analog prints through the app that are delivered to your door.
1980s cell phone case
1980s cell phone case
Brick cell phones have returned. Check out this retro phone case, which turns your smartphone into an iconic 1980s handset.
Flip phone iPhone case
Flip phone iPhone case
Of course we had to find something from the 1990s, too. Turn your iPhone into an old-school flip phone with this case. The antenna serves as your sleep/wake function and as soon as you open it, the speakerphone function turns on.
Google Cardboard
Google Cardboard
Google Cardboard look retros but it’s actually a new DIY virtual reality solution. Hook your smartphone up to this fold-up cardboard mask and it serves as a virtual reality headset. It comes with an open software toolkit so you can write your own virtual reality software as easily as making an smartphone app.
Record player smartphone app
Record player smartphone app
Download Turnplay, the number one record player app on the Apple store to spin vinyl on your smartphone. You can slow down or speed up play, hear the beloved scratching sound, and browse through album covers.
