Take a trip down tech memory lane with these eight retro devices.
PHONOGRAPH
Invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, the phonograph is a device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. You may have seen it in old films but in its later forms, it is also called a gramophone or a record player. Over the years, industry adopted several sizes, speeds of reproduction, and use of new materials (especially vinyl which came during 1950s).
INSTANT CAMERA
Hold up your camera, press a button and minutes later you have a fully processed physical image. Instant photography is not only a thing today but also a blast from the past. Polaroid Corporation pioneered (and patented) consumer-friendly instant cameras and film, and were followed by various other manufacturers.
PAGERS
Before mobile phones became the norm of communications, pagers were commonly used from the 1970s to the ‘90s. They are still used by emergency responders as they are not subject to network outages or similar disruptions in communication.
CASSETTE PLAYER
The original Walkman cassette player, released in 1979 by Sony, changed music listening habits by allowing people to listen to their music whilst on the move. It was a hit in the last century and turned everyday tasks like commuting and running into pleasurable experiences, giving a sense of privacy and adding a soundtrack to urban surroundings.
TYPEWRITERS
Before personal computers became popular, practically every office on the planet (and many homes) had one of these mechanical letter-writing machines. It’s a hand-operated character printer for printing written messages one character at a time.
GAME CONSOLE
Before online gaming, ultra high definition and controllers with too many buttons, there was the Atari 2600. This video game console which debuted in 1977 comes bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge. Atari even licensed the arcade phenomenon Space Invader for the 2600 in 1980 which helped double Atari’s sales to US$415 million that year.
BOOMBOX
The boombox was an icon, inextricably linked to the early days of hip-hop and breakdancing. They weren’t just portable tape players with the speakers built in, but could also record off the radio. It was an object on the street, front stoops and shoulders of many burgeoning breakdancers. They can easily be seen pumping out music and breakdancing on a black-and-white checkered mat.
ROTARY DIAL TELEPHONE
Popular throughout the 20th century, this communication device dials numbers in a very different way to the more modern push-button systems we’re familiar with today, requiring the user to rotate a numbered dial to key in digits rather than press a series of buttons.