Obscure / Rare Technology you used.
- Thread starter Siliconemelons
- Start date
Lambourne
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Not exactly rare since they sold millions but probably obscure by now: Nintendo Game & Watch. Early 80s predecessor to the Gameboy.
Segmented LCD display so each only supported a single game and the mobs move by one segment extinguishing and the next lighting up.
Segmented LCD display so each only supported a single game and the mobs move by one segment extinguishing and the next lighting up.
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My first SATCOM assignment was in Korea on an old fixed site. The up and down converters were made by Ford Aerospace and had the Ford car emblem on them. Made for a fun joke as to why something was down.
can’t find a picture of their shit but here is the antenna….
can’t find a picture of their shit but here is the antenna….
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lurker
Vyemm Raider
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To continue with old computers, as I said earlier, my first computer was a TRS-80 Model 1. Later, when I first had my business, I had a pair of TRS-80 Model 3s. Mine had two floppies.
My wife did the books on one. I don't remember the software title but it was very good. If I remember, it was written in Fortran or maybe Cobal and was very compact but very complete. You loaded it every day using one of the drives and the other drive was your data. The other Model 3 I used for estimating jobs. I had to write that simple software in Basic and it evolved constantly but it was a hell of a lot quicker than a pad of paper and a pencil, plus, it ran a dot matrix printer. I was the first kid on the block using a computer to do estimating. Very cutting edge.
I frequently had to take work home so I later I bought a TRS-80 Model 4P, 'P' for portable.
Not very light but it had a green screen. Rare and trick in those days. Worked well and I could put it away and reclaim the dining room table in just seconds.
Later, when IBM introduced the PC, I bought Tandy's version, the Tandy 2000.
That was a mistake. It used an 80186 processor and although on paper it looked good, it was never compatible with the IBM so software was scarce and after a year or so, I ended up with a 286 the local electronics built for me.
My wife did the books on one. I don't remember the software title but it was very good. If I remember, it was written in Fortran or maybe Cobal and was very compact but very complete. You loaded it every day using one of the drives and the other drive was your data. The other Model 3 I used for estimating jobs. I had to write that simple software in Basic and it evolved constantly but it was a hell of a lot quicker than a pad of paper and a pencil, plus, it ran a dot matrix printer. I was the first kid on the block using a computer to do estimating. Very cutting edge.
I frequently had to take work home so I later I bought a TRS-80 Model 4P, 'P' for portable.
Not very light but it had a green screen. Rare and trick in those days. Worked well and I could put it away and reclaim the dining room table in just seconds.
Later, when IBM introduced the PC, I bought Tandy's version, the Tandy 2000.
That was a mistake. It used an 80186 processor and although on paper it looked good, it was never compatible with the IBM so software was scarce and after a year or so, I ended up with a 286 the local electronics built for me.
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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I too refused to buy apple stuff so I wound up with some weird shit.
Not only did I have zip drives at work but the big brother "Jaz" drives also from iOmega where the "disks" were really just small removable hard drives. 2GB in your pocket baby!
I also had a palm pilot...
and got pretty adept at their "special" alphabet to write on the little box. I remember showing it to my Grandpa who was only vaguely aware of the existence of computers at the time and blowing his fucking mind.
I also had an iriver mp3 player which I used tons riding my bike.
I later broke my principle and bought an ipod nano because I wanted more space but quickly found out that the controls on that fucking thing wouldn't work properly if your hands were sweaty making it mostly useless for bicycling.
Not only did I have zip drives at work but the big brother "Jaz" drives also from iOmega where the "disks" were really just small removable hard drives. 2GB in your pocket baby!
I also had a palm pilot...
and got pretty adept at their "special" alphabet to write on the little box. I remember showing it to my Grandpa who was only vaguely aware of the existence of computers at the time and blowing his fucking mind.
I also had an iriver mp3 player which I used tons riding my bike.
I later broke my principle and bought an ipod nano because I wanted more space but quickly found out that the controls on that fucking thing wouldn't work properly if your hands were sweaty making it mostly useless for bicycling.
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Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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jesus christ, looking at the palm pilot again, i realized they still have their hooks in me, pretty sure i had the palm pro, palm 3, either a palm 3c or e, a palm v... and get this
i even had the palmv fucking modem
anyway i realized i still subconsciously have my smartphone task buttons like a palm pilot, calendar/phone/task/memo
jesus, it literally took me 2 adult hand writing books to stop writing in grafiti
my "e"s are still fucked
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Bandwagon
Kolohe
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Anyone ever try "witching for water"? I remember watching my dad walk through the back yard with two coathangers bent into an L shape. I thought it was magic that he did that and found exactly where the water line was, but I also wouldn't be surprised at all if he was just fucking with me and knew where it was already. I think I was 7yo.
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Ossoi
Tranny Chaser
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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I know lots of people who believe in it and claim to be able to do it. It's complete horseshit but ground water is so weird and random that it's not really that much less accurate than any other kind of prediction. Our local well drillers will openly mock you if you do it but there are still plenty of people who believe.
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Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Palm pilots died too soon, I want a modern one. Unfortunately closest is maybe iPad mini now.jesus christ, looking at the palm pilot again, i realized they still have their hooks in me, pretty sure i had the palm pro, palm 3, either a palm 3c or e, a palm v... and get this
i even had the palmv fucking modem
anyway i realized i still subconsciously have my smartphone task buttons like a palm pilot, calendar/phone/task/memo
jesus, it literally took me 2 adult hand writing books to stop writing in grafiti
my "e"s are still fucked
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In 2001 I got a Nikon Coolpix. It was a really decent camera overall, but the macro stuff you could do on it was absolutely incredible. Like it would still compete now.
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Siliconemelons
Avatar of War Slayer
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Zip drives where awesome and where very transitional that their advancement, jaz barely had a life - zips just started entering oem built in etc when it was time to pass on.
nice cd-r’s were .05 rather than 15$ poof! Lol
nice cd-r’s were .05 rather than 15$ poof! Lol
Siliconemelons
Avatar of War Slayer
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FYI palm graffiti is mostly recognized by Apple Watch for texting, I did it intuitively when I first got the watch lol
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Fun fact: When Palm saw the death of their specialized hardware they morphed the functionality into PalmOS which they planned to license out to other device manufacturer as each function, notes, contacts, calendar, etc was an app. Essentially the precursors to WindowsCE and windows embedded. It currently still exists, only LG has the IP now and brands it WebOS...which is the backbone of their smart TVs.
I had two different models of Palm and i swear it was the only thing that got me through the fucked up schedule of my first year in college.
I had two different models of Palm and i swear it was the only thing that got me through the fucked up schedule of my first year in college.