Olds go nostalgic for the good old days of tech

The pixels were big and they had exactly one resolution. No sub-pixel hinting, only one color and gun, and only one grid screen. Monochrome CRTs worked great.

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My employer will (hopefully) be getting rid of the last 100 or so VMUs (Vehicle Mounted Unit - aka Rugged Computer mounted on a lift truck) that run Windows CE this year.

Provided we can actually physically get our hands on enough of the models we are currently deploying.

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Is that the new or old unit?

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That’s the old. New looks like

Now it’s the joys of Android

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I’m not going to try to watch that, but if it’s Times Square, seizure warning for Times Square.

Is there something inherently wrong with Times Square? There are no flashing lights, if you’re concerned about that. Maybe a little loud engine noise of the hoist.

I’ve been hurt by previous video of Times Square.

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on the Rockford Files, Jim has a very early machine which is shown at the beginning of each episode recording an incoming call, which was meant to highlight how Jim ran an independent business on a shoestring by not having a big office with a secretary. anyway, even his ancient machine has one of those tone-playing remote controls for remote playback which was used as a plot device a few times.

in the early 90s, I got a then-new machine that worked almost identically to your video with 2 full-sized cassettes. let me tell you, the servos that started and stopped the playback and engaged and removed the heads used to throw that machine around, which was pretty fun. it had what I thought was a very advanced feature: remote playback. by then, this was activated by a touch-tone code, which certainly was more convenient. but after becoming a Rockford fan, I was surprised to learn how the original designers had solved the problem during the pulse-tone era. pretty cool.

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When my family had our first answering machine in the mid 1980s, my mom sliced up the chorus of this song to be the message that played when it answered:

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bonus: I’m almost positive George’s machine is my old Panasonic described above

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happy 50th birthday, Atari:

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I haven’t heard that Crazy Calls ad in 35 years. Wow.

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Not quite the same, but you can still Dial A Song

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EEEEEEEEEEeeee, remember the time and the weather lady?

There was also a way one could talk to & meet up with strangers, at least in the Detroit area, by dialing either 611 or 211 (before the United Way took the latter). There would be a recorded message about the number not being in service, please check & dial again…followed by silence on the part of the recording, then a repeat of the message. But in that period of time, perhaps a minute, maybe 30 seconds, one could hear and speak with others, trade phone numbers, and then hook up.

This is during the late 1970s/early 1980s. I don’t ever remember encountering any creeps. I mean, not in the kidnap-torture sense at least.

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You actually met up with people?

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