Blast from the Past - old technologies that you've already forgotten about

4/4/2017

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Science Story: Blast from the Past - old technologies that you've already forgotten about

Today technologies have gone so far, but they still keep surprising us. Anyway, how did it begin? Let's try to remember right now!

#1 BETAMAX

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It was released by Sony in 1975 before famous VHS format.

#2 VHS FORMAT

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VHS format was invented by JVC and became very popular in 1980's.

#3 LASERDISC PLAYER

wikipedia CC BY-SA

Having many advantages, Laserdisc proved its high quality and made other formats step aside. However, it officially died in 2009.

#4 PHONOGRAPH

Javier Kohen CC BY-SA

Phonograph was developed by Thomas Edison in 1877 and released in the beginning of the 20th century. It was on market for quite a long time till a smaller version took its place.

#5 TURNTABLE

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Though turntables became more modern they are still used by record players today.

#6 REEL TO REEL

Generation Bass CC BY

It is the first tape recorder. Reel to reel was good enough for professional sound designers before digital formats came.

#7 CASSETTE TAPE RECORDER

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This recorder was much smaller than its brother reel to reel and was used for transportation.

#8 TRANSISTOR RADIO

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This type of radio was really popular in schools and business because it could provide privacy - anyone could listen to music away from others.

#9 CASSETTE TAPE

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Such cassette was originally invented for transcription purposes but later was also used to record music.

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#10 BOOM BOX

Stephen Michael Barnett CC BY

This device was quite popular in the late 1970’s because it provided many functions and was portable.

#11 TELEX MACHINE

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Using radio or microwaves a telex machine could transmit information anywhere. Today modern types of it are still in use.

#12 ANALOG TELEPHONE

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While people argue about who invented a telephone, the first patent belongs to Alexander Graham Bell.
Can you imagine how telephones have changed?

#13 PDA

wikipedia CC BY-SA

It was one of the biggest break-throughs in technology that marked the beginning of iPod and iPhone era.

#14 PORTABLE TELEVISION

wikipedia CC BY-SA

Portable television was a good idea but it failed due to the fact that media couldn't catch up to it with only a few channels provided to users.

#15 WALKMAN

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The Walkman was initially developed for a co-chairman of Sony but soon spread all over the world.

#16 DISCMAN

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Discman was quite popular among music lovers who appreciated portability and high quality of this device.

#17 PAGER

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This simple device was widely used in industries like healthcare and public safety for critical communications.

#18 LED WATCH

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Do you remember the film A Space Odyssey? The designer who developed the watch was inspired by this very film.

#19 CRT MONITOR

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The monitor in the form of cathode ray tubes (CRT).

#20 TYPEWRITER

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The first commercially successful typewriter was developed in 1868!
The first novel written on such device was “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain in 1876.

#21 DIAL-UP MODEM

wikipedia CC BY-SA

It's the elder brother of cable internet and DSL.

#22 SLIDE PROJECTOR

wikipedia Public Domain Mark

A slide projector was used mainly by schools and offices for a long time before a digital projector replaced it.

#23 8″ FLOPPY DISC

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This was a perfect device for saving a document of two or three words.

#24 3.5″ FLOPPY DISC

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This floppy disc replaced the previous version and being quite smaller was able to keep more information.

#25 POLAROID CAMERA

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Being widely spread and then replaced by digital cameras in the past, Polaroid still stands at the market.

#26 VINYL RECORD

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Being cheap and available for big masses, Vinyl was the most popular music format of the 20th century.

#27 CRT TELEVISION

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This television was quite expensive until 1950's when it became widely spread and popular.

#28 TAPE DRIVE

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This tape drive was of that time when you had to change the tape in the tape drive and let it back up overnight. Do you remember?
We are so glad that time is gone now.

Did you have any of these devices? What else did you use except the devices listed? We are waiting for your comments!
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SHARE if you are nostalgic about the past!

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What are your thoughts on this subject?

202 Comments

Art Jones

They forgot 8-Track tapes

Les Cofer

Add me in that group. 70 years old and obsolete!

Cathie Roth Lonnquist

These 12 examples showed me 2 things, 1) Had no idea these item went as far back in history as they did. 2) Shows how far we have come since the firsts of these items.

Jim Mascair

My company wanted me to keep a pager on me at all times. I don't recall seeing anyone with pagers now and I didn't see it on this list.

lmoores

Though I no longer use these I have not forgotten about them.

Ilias Tsiabardas

I Still have the Polaroid Camera ,put it away for the next Generation to Remember how it was !!!

Betta Dans

Vinyl is back!

dwilliamsmustang

Be kind,please rewind! Remember that?

Jessie Franklin

I enjoyed the nostalgia.

JoAnne Major

I remember all but the last one like many learned lots in high school still have vhs’s of all my kids parties. Keep meaning to transfer over to dvd’s

Christina Tri Handayani

I’m so blessed that I live in the era of VHS, laser disc, floppy disc, walkman, typewriter (that helped me learn hiw to type with 10 fingers) and to the era of digital now.

Ed Lee

It's a lifetime experience that I have seen the beginnings and end of these gadgets most of which have been rendered obsolete with the progress of technology.

Vaughn Tolle

Key punch machine; submit your decks of cards to be run for computer science class Spring semester, 1969. Card reader to read the cards submitted, main frame in its climate controlled room to run the program so submitted and read.

Gale0013

Paper tape machines and tape input machines. Used these in 1973 for my first computer course. Key punch machines and card readers. Went back to college in 1981 and these were in use.