Apple Pascal Poster- 1979

 Credit to Nanoraptor on Reddit for the recreation, full PDF available here. 

The Future of Social media.. is Cyberspace.

 

I can't begin to explain how exciting this is.

DOS 1993 BBS vibes. Monochrome gas plasma throwback. Modern media meets text adventure.

Experience Cyberspace now. 

NEC PC Engine LT - An interesting and very rare console way ahead of its time.

 

It's expensive and rare so I don't own one.

The NEC PC Engine LT was released in 1991, and it was an expensive Japanese only release then, so did not do well. For less money you could get the Turbo Express which had a way to connect to an external monitor and used batteries, where the LT needs an AC adapter to fully work. The trade off? Better quality backlit screen and compatibility with all your old gadgets and gizmos that hook up to the PC engine already. This console fits the same cradle as the Core Grafx, so could slot the Super CD Rom adapter, audio enhancer, different card readers for the three different kinds of CD roms you need, and the myriad of other add-ons that you don't really need, but want.

Interface unit! Super CDRom2! It's like a transformer. 

     Long before the release of the Gameboy Advance SP, you could play 16 bit (well, not quite) games on a backlit screen, play modern titles available on the SNES, and look much cooler doing it. 

People need to stop being so hard on the Sega Tower of Power.

     Sega did not have an original idea with adding more consoles and adds on to current systems, it was being done for a while. While NEC and Sega were building higher and more elaborate, Nintendo was adding full blown RISC processors, math co-processors, ram, DMA, flash memory, and custom sound chips to it's game carts and wrapping it up in the price of the game, as opposed to making cheap add ons as a requirement to play games. No surprise, if the game is more accessible, more people will purchase it, and so Nintendo won this war in a big way. Not to be outdone, it got way worse than just the tower of power; they even made a Laserdisc console system, PC computer combo units.. the list goes on and on and on. Even if you had your NEC Turbo DUO-R SuperGrafx with an Arcade Card, you would not be able to play any of the Fatal Fury games, or any of the rare titles, because they require the Arcade Card PRO. Don't forget a special controller that does not come with the console as well. You see where I'm going here. 

     I could go on forever about this, and I just might in another post. For now, enjoy more pictures of this unique handheld that inspired a whole marketing angle years later. 

r/bindingofisaac - We're taking over.

Hold R and pray. 

    I noticed a fun trend on r/bindingofisaac where people took increasingly shitty pictures of what was happening on the screen, and then asking a question of the community on how to solve said question. People are breaking out the worst possible flip phones and digital cameras from 20 years ago.. so I decided to grab some of my son's camera equipment that is already set up, and take a few pictures:

     Nothing is shittier and more deserving than actual VHS camcorder from JCPenny in the early 1980's. Beat that Isaac fans!

PS: I actually still play Isaac very often, and I'm a huge fan. 

Kenwood KRC 999 - The Most Insane Car Cassette Audio Money Can Buy

 

Studio level Hi-Fi, in your car.

     People take car audio very seriously. The old Crutchfield magazines of the 80's and 90's are a stark reminder that you could spend an infinite amount of money on your car audio system, and be absolutely blown away by the quality of sound. Look at the list of bullet points in the magazine blurb above. What can't it do? Well if you're a smart ass, and you're thinking it can't play CD's, guess again- they made a CD add on for this head unit as well as a single din amp and graphic equalizer combo. Not like you needed it, as this has it all. The KRC 99 even had one unique feature, it had a retractable EQ, where you could edit the graph on the fly.Watch the video below and watch it in action:

Behold, the Kenwood KRC999 Mark II!

     Even the sweet sweet tunes of Nite and Day by Al B. Sure sound better on this glorious over the top piece of equipment. Currently running for around $1200-$1500 on ebay for a working example, The Kenwood line of KDT and KRC head units are a really cool glance into the past, and how insane technology was at the time. Full motorized and servo driven. Dolby B&C. Sensors to increase and lower audio depending on road noise. I could go on forever. 

Full DAT version? Sure, why not. 

     Not pictured in the above video and the small advertisements is the amount of computerization required to control it all, which was housed in a "Brain Box" you install somewhere else in the car. Amps, crossovers, wiring, some of it proprietary to Kenwood tuners, all completes the absolutely insanity that is the KRC-999. 

The pics above are the accessories you need to get one of these running.

     I wish I had one, and I wish I was more knowledgeable about the subject, but this is just one great example of retro technology at it's crazy-best. Does anyone need this? No. Did we all want it? Of course.

1980's Stereo Advertisements

 

8mm Movies Almost Became a Thing.

 

Movies but smaller!? Sure!

     I'm sure everyone remembers those Camcorders from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's that used some kind of small tape to make movies. 5 different companies invested in the format in 1984 (Panasonic, Sony, JVC, Hitachi, and Philips), and at one point, decided it would be awesome if they would release premium movie releases to the format under the Video8 moniker. 

They did their best to bait the consumer

     Sony at one point took their portable music series of audio equipment, and even had a Video8 Walkman available for purchase. Overall customers never really got behind the format, being that the VHS could have long recording times of 5+ hours, and the shelves at rental stores were already built for one size. Honestly, I can see a compelling reason to switch over if there is already something in place that works. They did find some success for use on planes for in-flight movies, as they took up less space, and could be handed out easily. The players were portable, small, and lightweight. 

I mean, it does look cool.

     With all the different 8mm formats, Video8 had some level of backwards compatibility with other 8mm tapes and devices- depending on encoding and such. This was followed by Hi8, which was marketed towards the home video market, and then later by Digital8. There was enough of a need to have professional editing and audio equipment for the format, which occasionally shows up on eBay.

A comically small Rocky V? Count me in.

     There were hundreds of movies produced for the format, and for whatever reason, it was not discontinued until 2015. I guess for international flights it was still a popular medium, but now with digital screens and huge storage options that weight mere grams- it's just not needed anymore. It's really a cool little overlooked format, and if you see any out in the wild, you should pick them up. 

Cassette Futurism - Part 1

1985 Nissan 300ZX Interior

Panasonic headliner mounted stereo cluster from the 1970's

Hitachi DA-P100 Illustrated by Akira Terasawa

Yamaha Frog 750cc Prototype - Hartmut Esslinger 1985

Panasonic VZ200 Double Din car stereo

NEC PC-9801CV All in one PC

1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA gauge cluster

Sanyo 50T51R TV Radio

Casio TM-100 FM Radio Watch

NASA 70's VR Prototype

Sony HB-F1XV MSX PC

Sharp x68000 Super with Roland MT32 MIDI Sound Add-on

1978 Ford Fiesta Tuareg by Ghia

Bang and Olufsen Beovox MS150 1983