Our favorite "forgotten tech"(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
Our favorite "forgotten tech"
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/08/our-favorite-forgotten-tech-from-beos-to-zip-drives/
14 comments
I knew a DJ who had a MD dash unit in his car. It seemed like the coolest thing ever.
I had a MiniDisc component unit and a portable or two, one of which was the one pictured in the article. I dumped the component quite some time ago. I can't bring myself to throw the portable away -- I've got tons of archives of my old college radio show on MiniDisc in a closet.
That particular portable depicted in the article was one of the last MD portables at all before Sony decided to pack it in; I think it came out in 2002. It had a USB input, and you could use your PC to push music onto a disk. It suffered from the classic Sony problem that they own a record label and they also make stuff that can copy music, so they made using it a complete pain in the ass in some misguided effort to protect their own interests.
You had to use the bundled NetMD software, which would transcode MP3s to the proprietary ATRAC compression format. Then you had to "check out" the songs to the device, in which case they could not be put on any other device until they were checked back in. It encrypted the stuff as it sent it down, and you could not get any digital audio back off the device -- USB was only one-way and it had optical SP/DIF in but not out.
I had a MiniDisc component unit and a portable or two, one of which was the one pictured in the article. I dumped the component quite some time ago. I can't bring myself to throw the portable away -- I've got tons of archives of my old college radio show on MiniDisc in a closet.
That particular portable depicted in the article was one of the last MD portables at all before Sony decided to pack it in; I think it came out in 2002. It had a USB input, and you could use your PC to push music onto a disk. It suffered from the classic Sony problem that they own a record label and they also make stuff that can copy music, so they made using it a complete pain in the ass in some misguided effort to protect their own interests.
You had to use the bundled NetMD software, which would transcode MP3s to the proprietary ATRAC compression format. Then you had to "check out" the songs to the device, in which case they could not be put on any other device until they were checked back in. It encrypted the stuff as it sent it down, and you could not get any digital audio back off the device -- USB was only one-way and it had optical SP/DIF in but not out.
I bought a MD device for sermon recording under the misguided notion that it was a digital device that connected via USB and that live recordings would thus be simply drag-dropped from the device. It cost me many hours in real-time playback of recordings in to my computer. But for that one missing link I'd still use the device now. At the time I should have purchased a slightly more expensive MP3 device.
I really wish that Sony had built a reasonably priced IDE version of the MD recorder. Those things were tough and not too bad.
Unlike the article's love of ZIP drives. I liked ZIP drives like my first car, it got me places I couldn't go before and left me stranded there multiple times. ZIPs were not very reliable.
Unlike the article's love of ZIP drives. I liked ZIP drives like my first car, it got me places I couldn't go before and left me stranded there multiple times. ZIPs were not very reliable.
I suddenly remembered how much I hated seeing Sony portable MD players for sale. They were all perfectly cuboid except for an obviously battery-sized lump in the posterior. Sony being the monsters they are, their packaging was deceptively designed to show just the front face and conceal the back inside the plastic bubble, so you wouldn't find out about their terrible shape until you got home.
I bought the recorder and it was a small rectangular box. I was pretty nice.
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-T-CL13-TrackMan-Marble-Wheel/...
Trackballs. Back around 1996, optical trackballs came onto the market, a few years ahead of optical mice. Using an optical trackball was a smooth dream compared to the clunky hair-clogged mechanical rollers of mice. And the unfamiliar device was a great deterrent for college mates trying to grab and use my machine, heh.
Trackballs still exist, but are about as unsexy as any piece of computer technology these days. Logitech and Microsoft haven't made any significant updates in years. Trackballs are seen mostly as lame mouse alternatives for RSI sufferers or some such. And a laser mouse is faster than a trackball for desktop usage, but for lying down on the couch with a laptop, there's no pointing device that can match a good thumb trackball.
On another topic, the article mentions the NES and its odd cartridge slot. Do folks here know why that came to be? The design was to make the NES look less like the older Atari and Intellivision systems (which had just endured a famous industrywide crash) and more like the form factor of the nascent and successful VCR.
Finally, in the software category: DesQView. I spent many hours running DesQView for DOS multitasking, with a BBS download going in one window, an offline mail program in another, and a MOD music player in a third.
Trackballs. Back around 1996, optical trackballs came onto the market, a few years ahead of optical mice. Using an optical trackball was a smooth dream compared to the clunky hair-clogged mechanical rollers of mice. And the unfamiliar device was a great deterrent for college mates trying to grab and use my machine, heh.
Trackballs still exist, but are about as unsexy as any piece of computer technology these days. Logitech and Microsoft haven't made any significant updates in years. Trackballs are seen mostly as lame mouse alternatives for RSI sufferers or some such. And a laser mouse is faster than a trackball for desktop usage, but for lying down on the couch with a laptop, there's no pointing device that can match a good thumb trackball.
On another topic, the article mentions the NES and its odd cartridge slot. Do folks here know why that came to be? The design was to make the NES look less like the older Atari and Intellivision systems (which had just endured a famous industrywide crash) and more like the form factor of the nascent and successful VCR.
Finally, in the software category: DesQView. I spent many hours running DesQView for DOS multitasking, with a BBS download going in one window, an offline mail program in another, and a MOD music player in a third.
I wish they would remake this. I've been forced to use their wireless model http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/trackballs/wirel... , which isn't bad, but is a little small.
Trackballs are especially useful in a cramped desk space situation.
Trackballs are especially useful in a cramped desk space situation.
Those things got clogged with dust too. The ball would literally lock up.
But they were fantastic. I loved them.
But they were fantastic. I loved them.
Still using my Trackman Wheel, and I absolutely love it. I dread having to replace it though.
How is the TI-83 forgotten technology? Go to any college or high school classroom and you'll find plenty of them, albeit the 84 and 89 are becoming more common.
I have no clue why they consider that forgotten. Particularly, in a world where the HP-16C is no longer sold.
I understand everyone's HP-10 series nostalgia, but to replace the TI-83 on that list would have to be the HP-48 series. Full graphing and programming capabilities, released 3 years before the TI-83, and of course using the all-but-forgotten RPN.
I always wanted an HP-48 in place of my TI-83.... so much so that I ran an HP-48 emulator under Linux. If I was working from a campus lab, I would VNC into my own machine just to run the emulator.
There's a great HP-48 emulator for Android in the play store (and some great TI-8x emulators too).
I love the RPN on the HP-48, but the HP-16C was built for programmers so it will always rate higher for me.
I have an HP-12C financial calculator, that I use regularly, and it's still on the original battery.
Not only is it not forgotten, it still costs $110 new on Amazon.
I don't get that either. They are still standard here in the UK in A-level + university courses, are readily available in lots of shops and perfectly good bits of kit (I use a TI86 regularly if I want to "get shit done" still!)
Stuff that does maths doesn't really get old or forgotten.
Stuff that does maths doesn't really get old or forgotten.
Slide rules? I have a couple, but never learned more than the basics before the TI-30 came along, and have forgotten most of what I had learned.
I have my father's and my grandfather's slide rules, but I have no idea how to work them. But they're great geek conversation pieces.
Ok I give you that :)
My thought exactly, the 'forgotten' tech would be the TI-92 (my personal favorite)
Oh man, in high school I bought one of the first "dot matrix" screened calculators. I hate to admit it, but I used it once to cheat in a "data processing" class on a COBOL test. Yeah, that makes me really old.
Indeed. I graduated in 2006 and had to buy a TI84.
I still consider it a ripof, considering that it bash about 7mhz and just a few kilobytes of ram.
I still consider it a ripof, considering that it bash about 7mhz and just a few kilobytes of ram.
Agreed. Have you seen the Nspire CAS? It's pretty amazing.
I have got an older (2006) NSpire CAS with OS 3.2 which I rarely use other than for working out integrals/differentials when I get stuck with pen and paper.
TBH the Nspire CAS is large, clunky, complicated, unintuitive, eats batteries and is not a whole lot faster or more functional than a TI89.
I still however, use a TI86 all the time out of choice as the stat graphing is great (I mainly use it for regression analysis), it does base-N very well, has conversions built in, has a good solver and the programming language is simple enough to fit in my head.
I have a fairly large set of programs I've developed for the TI86 as well for dealing with navigation/triangulation/mapping.
TBH the Nspire CAS is large, clunky, complicated, unintuitive, eats batteries and is not a whole lot faster or more functional than a TI89.
I still however, use a TI86 all the time out of choice as the stat graphing is great (I mainly use it for regression analysis), it does base-N very well, has conversions built in, has a good solver and the programming language is simple enough to fit in my head.
I have a fairly large set of programs I've developed for the TI86 as well for dealing with navigation/triangulation/mapping.
The Nspire CAS is really more of a tool for students. I'd call the point-and-click interface clunky and intuitive--it's not hard to figure out how to do things, it's just going to take you a while to get there. :) I'd imagine if you have software you've written for the TI-86 and are inclined to do integrals and differentials on paper until you get stuck, it's probably not the right tool for you. :)
I agree with you there about the student comment! I do find it poorly integrated though, for example:
To do a linreg on some data and project that past the extents of the dataset requires...
NSpire: create document, create spreadsheet, enter data, create stats plot, analyse->regression->linreg, create graph, plot stat func, set zoom constraints, whack X value in, read Y.
That's just shit, student or not.
TI-86: {1,2,3,4}->xStat, {3,6,8,10}->yStat, catalog->LinReg, Graph, zoom, enter X, done.
Probably right about it not being the right tool.
Anyone want to buy an NSpire CAS? £30 including delivery to the UK :)
To do a linreg on some data and project that past the extents of the dataset requires...
NSpire: create document, create spreadsheet, enter data, create stats plot, analyse->regression->linreg, create graph, plot stat func, set zoom constraints, whack X value in, read Y.
That's just shit, student or not.
TI-86: {1,2,3,4}->xStat, {3,6,8,10}->yStat, catalog->LinReg, Graph, zoom, enter X, done.
Probably right about it not being the right tool.
Anyone want to buy an NSpire CAS? £30 including delivery to the UK :)
I've seen images and demos of them, just not in person. They do look very interesting. I'd love to get my hands on one.
My favorite forgotten tech is the Garmin iQue, which is a PalmOS-based handheld GPS unit. Because of its color screen, its battery life wasn't great, so it wasn't suitable for backcountry use, but as a dash-mounted GPS is was great. While other GPS units at the time required you to navigate through confusing menus to enter an address or find a point of interest, the iQue allowed me to use Grafitti handwriting recognition, which was a lot faster.
http://www8.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/
http://www8.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/
Floppy disks, of the 3.5" variety, were way more useful than Zip disks to me. You could get huge packs of them for cheap and distribute your files with zip or rar, and every computer had the drive. With Zip you'd have to lug around your dad's lone drive with parallel port cable to use it on general computers and wait a year to copy your files. Sure I could carry around Zipslack in my pocket, but where could you boot it?!
Developing on floppy disks also taught me about embedded applications and operating systems. I built some weird stuff. Floppy routers, floppy X11 net terminals, memory-resident openMosix clusters, voice-activated car entertainment and navigation systems, rescue disks, minimal network packet filters, system management daemons, even CGI applications in C (which turns out to be a horrible idea).
Developing on floppy disks also taught me about embedded applications and operating systems. I built some weird stuff. Floppy routers, floppy X11 net terminals, memory-resident openMosix clusters, voice-activated car entertainment and navigation systems, rescue disks, minimal network packet filters, system management daemons, even CGI applications in C (which turns out to be a horrible idea).
Speaking of floppies, in junior high, one of my buddies ran a BBS system off a pair of 8" floppies. Yeah, 8". I don't know where the hell he got them, because 5.25" floppies were the standard at the time.
Once we went to high school, he had upgraded to a 10MB Cider HD, which at that time cost like $1K.
Once we went to high school, he had upgraded to a 10MB Cider HD, which at that time cost like $1K.
Upvoted for reminiscing about carrying around your dad's zip drive (the worst days were when he needed it for actual work, and I couldn't use my stuff at school), however I found even lugging the drive around was a lot more convenient than splitting up files and carrying around 7 different floppys.
This reads like my life 10 years ago. Running BeOS with a zip drive sneaker net. Apple had the hot swappable bays much earlier than 2000, I remember using them as early as '98; compaq had the feature as well (floppy drive or LS120).
The one thing in that list that I'm sad to have missed was minidisc. It still sets off my nastolgia meter.
What about dial-up modems, IRQ settings, and serial ports?
The one thing in that list that I'm sad to have missed was minidisc. It still sets off my nastolgia meter.
What about dial-up modems, IRQ settings, and serial ports?
I still have a (parallel port) Zip Drive, a minidisc recorder/player (and shoe box of minidiscs) and a graphing calculator cluttering up my study.
We used to use a minidisc recorder and a pair of PZMs to record all our rehersals - It then took about a week to rip and burn them onto CD, but a few good ideas were saved/salvedged in this way.
We used to use a minidisc recorder and a pair of PZMs to record all our rehersals - It then took about a week to rip and burn them onto CD, but a few good ideas were saved/salvedged in this way.
>> What about dial-up modems
+++ ATH
+++ ATH
The Vadem Clio was brilliant! Glad to see it getting some love here.
> Alas, WASTE never caught on, in large part because it was disavowed by AOL shortly after it acquired WASTE developer Nullsoft.
Does the author imply that Nullsoft was acquired after WASTE's release ? Because I am almost certain Nullsoft was already a part of AOL at that time (and that the waste source code was online for a very short time before being pulled of).
Confirmed by wikipedia: Nullsoft was acquired in 1999 and WASTE released in 2003 (Justin Frankel left Nullsoft/AOL that same year).
Does the author imply that Nullsoft was acquired after WASTE's release ? Because I am almost certain Nullsoft was already a part of AOL at that time (and that the waste source code was online for a very short time before being pulled of).
Confirmed by wikipedia: Nullsoft was acquired in 1999 and WASTE released in 2003 (Justin Frankel left Nullsoft/AOL that same year).
lets not forget the palm. combined with intellisync it was truly the best thing on earth.
Along with a Stowaway folding keyboard:
http://danbricklin.com/log/stowaway.htm
People used to be amazed when I showed them how much real work you could get done with a Handspring Visor and a Stowaway keyboard. It kind of amazes me that today we have portable devices that are a thousand times more powerful than the old PalmOS devices, but only feel really useful for consuming media, not creating it. Shows you the importance of input devices in the creative process, I guess.
http://danbricklin.com/log/stowaway.htm
People used to be amazed when I showed them how much real work you could get done with a Handspring Visor and a Stowaway keyboard. It kind of amazes me that today we have portable devices that are a thousand times more powerful than the old PalmOS devices, but only feel really useful for consuming media, not creating it. Shows you the importance of input devices in the creative process, I guess.
My Favourite forgotten technology is the dialup BBS. It's like facebook, if it wasn't designed by your accountant.
There were dozens in any medium sized city, all with different flavours. They hosted ANSI art, message boards, walls(!) and online games. Exactly like Facebook, but 20 years earlier.
They disappeared in the late 90's as the internet became popular.
There were dozens in any medium sized city, all with different flavours. They hosted ANSI art, message boards, walls(!) and online games. Exactly like Facebook, but 20 years earlier.
They disappeared in the late 90's as the internet became popular.
MO disks caught on and remained popular in Japan for decades. Their popularity has only started to wane recently.
[deleted]
Can't say I miss zip disks that much.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death
Around the same time I was trying to run BeOS as my desktop. I would have liked to have developed for it, but at the time I was just barely grasping Python and C++ with threading really wasn't within reach for me. I'm happy Haiku has been getting press and may try to run it in a VM (haven't had much luck with that in the past) but there was something really liberating about running an OS on the metal that booted in ten seconds. Everything was so snappy. Of course, you couldn't do much with it, but what you could do, you could do really well. :)