I've fallen in love with the gadgets of the '70s...i cannot explain it. maybe it's because most of 'em started the tech fads of the 1980s which further primed the boom of computers and the internet as we know it today?
Maybe it is because various electronics, such as TVs, Microwaves, Stoves, and the panelling of homes had that woodgrain simulation, coupled with the likes of John Denver, the Doobie Brothers, and Creedence Clearwater Revival that matches my love of nature and deer?
Maybe it's that i can find them for less than $5 at flea markets and they last forever? maybe it's how they're so retro cool and do the same things as most gadgets do today (without giving me a migraine and raising my blood pressure!)?
Maybe it's ALL those things!
either way, enjoy:
TVs started getting remotes and on screen display:
The Magnavox 'Star System' TouchTune Color Television--a marvel of techonlogy at least one decade before its time. crafted in a wonderous wood veneer, down to its huge brick of a remote control, this TV did what most do today--mute, on screen channel/clock, digital tuning, auto color. it did it all. back then, in the '70s, remote controls used a 9V battery and used ultrasonic (sometimes sonic) tones to control the TV. in fact, the loud clunking sound heard from the TVs during tuning and off/on operation (a large solenoid later replaced by relay banks) is what gave these early TV's remote control the nickname, 'clicker'
It didn't stop with this one though, i have one working example, a Sears Sensor Touch, that also has a working remote (RARE--they're usually MIA). there were other TVs using the same tech, although the TouchTune was the only one in the decade which had the on screen display, which is possibly the most unique--as it does a 3-D effect of panning and shrinking to nothing shortly after displaying it in huge simulated digital numerals.
The Sony U-Matic. the predecessor to betamax. i don't know much about these other than the GE Motor plant in town still uses them for training videos, but the Beta units used the same loading scheme, known as the 'U' loading scheme, which i think the name, 'U-Matic' came from.
3D Model Courtesy of Guy van der Walt www.plasticboy.co.uk
My favorite gadget--the wood veneer Analog Clock with Digital Display, commonly called 'flip clocks'. the imitation Digital...not only does it fit in perfect with my decor, but i cannot resist the animation they do. it's so cool how it's not digital but comes off as it. and, they LIGHT UP at night!!
They also have a very loud, obnoxious alarm that no man could sleep through, nor dare hit SNOOZE after hearing it--which works great, since i sleep like a dead man; including sleeping through the more common, softer "beep! beep! beep!" of the digital ones today...
I have a mini-collection of these and although most are bad, i have a few working ones in use today. i cannot resist them when they show up at the thrift stores...
Who can imagine the '70s without the glorious 8-track tape? aside from the lack of rewind function, there's nothing about the cassette tape, CD, or MP3 that cannot be done on 8-track, as it's merely a format. there's even portable players and recorders, which enable people to use line-out from a computer to record, say, MP3s, to a 8-track tape so instant '70s mobile player!
Don't leave out the kids! this was one of my favorite toys, a hand-me-down i played with often during my early childhood. notice the rainbow face--definite harking to the '70s...
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