Vinyl Boombox: Sharp VZ3000
Die Anzeige für den Sharp VZ3000 habe ich vorhin auf meinem Facebook gepostet, die 2500er-Variante gibt’s auf Ebay, nur leicht defekt und einfach zu reparieren und ich denke, ich werde da zuschlagen. I mean, look at this… LOOK AT THIS! Das hier ist die 2000er Serie:
Minidoc: Ralph Baer, Maker of the Magnavox Odyssey
Youtube Direktodyssey, via Jason Kottke
Schöne Minidoku von PBS über Ralph Baer, dem Erfinder der ersten Konsole Magnavox Odyssey.
Ralph Baer is often called the father of video games. His invention, the Magnavox Odyssey, was the first home console system. Last year he celebrated his 90th birthday the same year the Odyssey turned 40. Here he talks about those early days of video game history and why now, at 90 years old, he’s still inventing.
Versions of the Past
Schöne Retrotech-Variante dieser „Looking Into The Past“-Bilder, die seit ein paar Jahren in allen möglichen Variationen immer wieder durchs Netz gehen. Hier guckt sich Max Wohlleber olle Mac-Versionen an.
My Project “Versions Of The Past”, based on “looking into the past” pictures, leads the viewer through the digital past. Instead of black and white architecture and old street lamps, there are the monochromatic beginnings of the Mac OS.
Mini-Doc 1969: The 21st Century
Youtube Direktfuture, via Ronny
Seit ein paar Tagen rutschen Clips aus einer 1969er Retrofuture-Sendung vom CBS mit Walter Cronkite durch meinen Reader, hier die komplette Sendung, 25 Minuten aus der Zukunft von damals, inklusive aufblasbaren Sesseln, modularer Architektur und natürlich einer vollautomatischen Küche.
March 12, 1967 episode of CBS’ show ‘The 21st Century’ with legendary newsman Walter Cronkite bringing news of what we’d be doing at home and work in the future.
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
’64-65 NY World’s Fair Futurama-Ride Video
Japanese Retrofuturism, 1969
Space Age Hair Fashion
Flying Cars in german Edition of Popular Mechanics, 1957
NASAs Space-Colony Promovideo from the 70s
Doku: Auf der Suche nach der Welt von Morgen (NDR 1967)
Retrofuturistic Apocalypses
Retrofuture-Doku: Richtung 2000 – Vorschau auf die Welt von morgen (ZDF 1972)
Retrofuturism-Food
Retrofuture Dance
All Your Vectrex are belong to us!
Jamie Zawinski (Mit-Gründer von Netscape und Mozilla, aber das ist an dieser Stelle eher unwichtig) hat sich eine olle Vectrex-Konsole gekauft, das war ein 1982 Kasten mit Vektorbildschirm (die ihr Bild per Kathodenstrahlröhre nicht in Zeilen oder Spalten ausgeben – wie alte Fernseher –, sondern wie ein Oszilloskop). Dazu wiederum hat er sich ein Multicartridge mit allen Games gekauft, die für das Ding produziert wurden und darauf wiederum hat er ein Remake der 2000er All Your Base-Meme gefunden. Anders formuliert:
a cartridge manufactured in 2008, containing a demo written in 2001, which is a vector-graphics reproduction of an internet meme from 2000, based on a video game from 1989, running on a video game system manufactured in 1982.
This is a very strange dojo.
Geocities-Tumblr auto-posts the Vintage Web
Das Tumblr One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age Photo Op postet auto-generierte Screenshots von im Netscape 4.51-Browser gerenderten Geocities-Seiten in chronologischer Reihenfolge aus dem vom Archiveteam geretteten Datenbestand. Zur Erinnerung: Geocities war bis Ende der 90ern ein immens populärer Freehoster von Websites und trug maßgeblich zur Ästhetik des frühen WWWs bei. Für ‘ne Portion Netz-Nostalgie zum Durchscrollen ist das Teil hervorragend.
Impressive Game-Collection on Ebay
Auf Ebay verkauft einer seine Game-Sammlung aus 30 Jahren und will dafür rund ‘halbe Million Euro. Die Sammlung ist nicht halb so beeindruckend, wie die angeblich biggest Nintendo-Collection ever on Ebay, aber immer noch beeindruckend genug:
-The games count over 6850 pcs. with about 6780 boxed and 70 loose, and are in various format NTSC Japan or Usa and also PAL.
-The consoles are over330, with 307 system boxed and 24 loose, and even in this case we have all the different standards.
-The controllers are about 220 with 167 boxed and 52 loose. I included all the kind of controller, from the simple joypad to the special controller like all the konami bemani to the densha de go train controller, and the arcade joystick as well.
-The accessories are about 185, and in this category I put the ac adapters, the various av cables, the rumble packs, the memory cards, battery packs, the converters for the region locked games, and various other items like screens, printers etc.
-The promo and various items are composed by promotional items like soudtracks or gadgets relate to a specific game or console, demo disc not for sale, limited edition item like the resident evil umbrella box or the Kratos twin blades, various action figures, strategy guides etc.etc.
Ebay: OVER 30 years of VIDEOGAMES COLLECTION… The history of VideoGames!, mehr als 10.000 Bilder aus der Sammlung auf Imageshack (Danke Christian!)
Functional Nintendo-Table with a Zapper
Von den Leuten, die damals den ersten (mir bekannten) Controller-Tisch gebaut hatten: Ein Nintendo-Tisch mit ‘ner Lichtpistole. Funktioniert alles, Wii-kompatibel.
Coffee designed after the Nintendo controller from 1985. This functional model is made from premium grade curly maple, birdseye maple, African bubinga, and mahogany and is compatible with the Nintendo Wii. It features dovetail joinery and midcentury modern legs. Also included in a side mounted custom bison holster is a zapper, handmade from bubinga and maple. The zapper functions as a Wii controller while selecting the classic Nintendo on the Wii menu. The zapper also vibrates and has a speaker to replicate the feel and sound of the original Wii controller.
nintendo wii controller coffee table with zapper maple / bubinga – functional
First electronic Pin-Up, 1956
Der Atlantic hat die wahrscheinlich erste Computer-Grafik entdeckt: Ein Pinup als Vektorgrafik, Teil eines Diagnoseprogramms auf alten Rechnern der Air Force.
When loaded, the pin-up image would be visible in flashing pulses that synchronized system-wide with the incoming flow of real-time radar data. A long exposure on Tipton’s Polaroid camera would have assured the steady image of the pin-up you see here. (The pin-up lady has a spot on her thigh because that is the center of the circular display, which is where the electron gun in the CRT naturally aims when it is idle.)
When contacted, dozens of SAGE veterans who worked in the program between 1958 and 1983 (the approximate lifetime of SAGE) recalled witnessing this pin-up program firsthand. Not surprisingly, the pin-up’s role changed over the decades as the technological culture shifted around it. While Tipton insists the pin-up had a diagnostic purpose, SAGE operators in later decades remember it as a lighthearted way to pass the dull hours of the late shift when traffic was slow or the standby machine was not in service (“At no time was the primary mission of air defense compromised to my knowledge,” wrote one veteran in an email to the author.)
The Never-Before-Told Story of the World’s First Computer Art (It’s a Sexy Dame) (via Waxy)
Ordering a Pizza with Voice Synthesizer, 1974
Youtube Direktpizza, via Coudal
Vor zwei Jahren hat das Artificial Language Laboratory das 35jährige Jubiläum der ersten Anwendung künstlicher Sprachausgabe gefeiert. Damals, im Jahr 1974, haben sie eine Pizza bestellt.
This high-tech sociolinguistic experiment was conducted at the Lab on the evening of December 4, 1974. Donald Sherman, who has Moebius Syndrome and had never ordered a pizza over the phone before, used a system designed by John Eulenberg and J. J. Jackson incorporating a Votrax voice synthesizer, a product of the Federal Screw Works Co. of Troy, Michigan.
The Life and Death of the american Arcade
The Verge hat ein ziemlich fantastisches Feature über Arcade-Spielhallen und die Wurzeln von Videogames in Pinball-Maschinen. Must Read!
To say that Nolan Bushnell single-handedly created the arcade would probably be overstating it: coin-operated machines had been popular in America for decades by the time he got his start in the early ’70s, and the pinball arcade had a storied (and notorious) spot in American history. It is also undeniable, however, that the video game arcade would not have happened without him.
The video game arcade had its roots in 1971, when Computer Space, the first commercially sold, coin-operated video game, was designed by Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Though considered a failure at the time, the game was revolutionary, and formed the foundations of a new industry. It also marked the beginning of a long, illustrious, and world-changing career for Nolan Bushnell. In 1971, however, Computer Space looked anything but illustrious, and the idea that there would soon be arcades dedicated entirely to video games was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind — except for maybe Nolan Bushnell’s. To understand the ecosystem that Bushnell and his ilk injected themselves into to create the modern video game arcade, however, you have to go back a lot farther than the 1970s.
For Amusement Only: the life and death of the American arcade
Barrel Pong
Von Jean Claudies Tumblr voller wunderschöner Retrotech, alter Game-Flyer und Vintage Electronics und sowas. (Danke Malle!)
Vintage Man Machine Interface
Jason Scott, Mitarbeiter von Archive.org, stellt grade jede Menge alter Tech-Manuals und Dokumente von Bitsavers.org online, darunter dieses fantastische Manual eines TEC Terminals aus dem Jahr 1968: The Man Machine Interface. Nach dem Klick eine Doppelseite daraus mit Retrotech-Porn in High-Res.
HTML5/JavaScript-Amiga:
Scripted Amiga Emulator: Oh look, there’s an Amiga in your Browser! Funktioniert nicht im Explorer, hier der Code auf GitHub, das Teil kommt inklusive ein paar Demos und Games (Turrican 2!), nimmt aber auch andere ROMs. Großartig!
