The Gadgets Page

Televisions for eyes were a popular theme at Comdex 1996. There were more than a few companies who used that idea for their display.

These displays were from ATI. They were promoting the All-In-Wonderboard. It was really ahead of its time and despite all the power that we have from the DVRs of today, this product did things that you still can’t do.

• You could look at thumbnails from nine channels at once (better than picture in picture) and when you clicked on one, it would show you full video and audio.

• It would “listen” to programs using the closed captioning and if a program mentioned one of your preset keywords, it would save a .txt file of the audio from that program.

• It had a zoom feature that would let you focus on a specific part of the television screen.

This display (also from ATI) looked better than all of them. ATI are now owned by AMD and you can see them here:

• Advanced Micro Devices, AMD – Global Provider of Innovative Microprocessor, Graphics and Media Solutions

Tomorrow is our last day about Comdex 1996. Join us!

We are continuing our reminiscing about Comdex 1996.

I snapped this photo of American Megatrends booth just because it was shaped like a pyramid. American Megatrends now goes by AMI and they are still making motherboards and storage:

• AMI : American Megatrends Inc. : Home Page

Filed under the category of things that are the wrong size is this tiny LCD television screen.

I had Mike hold up his hand so we could show people how small it was. Once again, I have to apologize to the company that showcased this little screen because I have no idea who you are. When I saw this LCD screen, I imagined that we could have television on our watches. Now that it’s possible, I don’t really care anymore. It turns out that a screen that small is just too small to enjoy movies or television shows.

That was the year that LCD screens for computers were released in 11″ and 13″. Now that you can get LCD screens as big as 109″, it all seems so humble.

Tomorrow, there is more Comdex 1996.

Big Things! Comdex 1996 was filled with things that were the wrong size. My apologies to the company who had this booth. I have no idea who you are, but your displays were cool. I think it might be Compaq’s PDA, but I’m not sure. If you know, please tells us in the comments.

This is a big version of a handheld PDA. Windows CE was announced that year, so there were lots of compact PCs running Windows CE. The battle between Windows CE, the Apple Newton and Palm Pilot started that year and here we are twelve years later with no clear winner between them, although my personal favorite right now is Apple with their iPhone.

Ah, to sit down. We were all so tired that year that any place to sit down was a welcome respite. These seats looked like huge computer keys, so I snapped a photo of them. It looks like it was a booth for Fujitsu. Where are they now? They are still making notebook PCs and Tablet PCs. You can find them here:

• FUJITSU : Fujitsu Computer Systems –

Tune in next week for the continuation of Comdex 1996.

The most impressive company that had a booth at Comdex back in 1996 was Drive Savers:

They had a Museum of Disk-asters in which they showed the burnt, dropped and drown computers from which they were able to rescue data.

Disk Savers still exist today. You can see their website here:

• Data Recovery by DriveSavers | Hard Drive Data Recovery – Home

Here is a link to their Data Recovery Hall of Fame:

• Data Recovery by DriveSavers | Hard Drive Data Recovery – Hall of Fame

I remember being so impressed that they helped save an episode of The Simpsons. They are still touting that accomplishment almost twelve years later. So many companies from back then have disappeared. It’s nice to see that Disk Savers are still around.

The BEST advertising that any company did in 1996 was Iomega. EVERYONE was carrying around their bags and everyone was collecting their buttons. If you notice on yesterday’s entry, all the people at the Mylex “virtual reality” booth were carrying Iomega bags.

Here is a photograph of an Iomega employee wearing all their buttons. You can’t see it in the picture, but each of the buttons said different things. They were all pretty funny and collecting the entire collection was a goal of many of the people who attended. I still have a large collection of them in storage somewhere.

Back then, Iomega was selling ZIP disks and drives. They are still around and have branched into external hard drive storage as well as their own proprietary disk storage.

• Iomega Data Backup: Data Storage Devices: Removable Storage: Managed Services

This photo of the booth for AT&T was another disappointing one. So many of the companies insisted on trying to “entertain” us with skits and bad actors spouting computer information. Within two minutes of the start of the AT&T skit, Mike and I couldn’t take anymore. We stood up and walked out on their presentation because it was so bad.

Back then, AT&T was a telecom monolith. Now, they are the proud and exclusive providers of wireless for the iPhone.

• AT&T Wireless

More Comdex 1996 reminiscing tomorrow.

Before there was CES, There was Comdex. In 1996, Mike had his first book signing at Comdex and I gave myself permission to take as many pictures as I wanted with my 110 camera. This was unprecedented in my days before digital and I have scanned in the old photos and am sharing them with you over the next few days.

The photo on the right is me back in 1996. I remember thinking how cute I looked and how I hardly looked fat at all. I look so different now. Is it wrong to feel like you look better at 38 than you did at 27?

This is a photo of the Sands Expo Center. I had never seen the Expo Center covered with so many advertisements. Now, EVERY hotel is covered with advertisements for various companies when CES comes to town, but this looked unique to me. It felt like Las Vegas had been taken over by the computer geeks. The casinos and the strip clubs had to move over for the computers and software. It was a very exhilarating feeling.

This is a rare sighting of the Energizer Bunny in the wild. Actually, it was a balloon flown over the Las Vegas Hilton during Comdex, but I LOVE this photo for its Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom feel.

Let’s start out with the worst. This was hands-down, the most disappointing booth at Comdex in 1996. I remember looking at this booth, saying, “Wow, Mike! Look, it’s like virtual reality! We should try that one!” There was a long line and Mike replied, “They don’t really look like they’re having fun.” I made him stand in line anyway and sadly, Mike was right. It was just an advertisement for the company. I don’t even remember which one now, although I think it was for computer storage or something boring like that. I kind of expected it to act like a video game and move around when I moved my head or hands. Instead it was like wearing a TV on my head.

Here is a copy of Mylex’s webpage from 1998:

• Welcome To Mylex Corporation

Here is the story of what happened to Mylex:

• Mylex – once upon a time #1 RAID controller company profile on STORAGEsearch.com

Tune in tomorrow for more Comdex 1996 reminiscing.

God, I love new construction gadgets. Jay and Ryanne present the new, Pothole Killer!

Momentshowing: VIDEO: pothole_killer

The company that makes the Pothole Killer, Patch Management Inc., describes a more efficient way to fill potholes:

The traditional method of road repair – shovels, a dump truck and two or three workers – is not only inefficient and expensive, but it is ineffective in solving the problem or keeping up with the demand. That is why you should turn to Patch Management’s services.

Working closely with Patch Management, Scott Kleiger developed the PK2000, the most sophisticated spray patching system in the industry. Referred to as the “Pothole Killer”, this self-contained spray patching vehicle quickly and safely produces pothole and road surface repairs that are more effective, more economical and longer lasting than any other patching method – a claim supported by trade journals and government studies.

The pothole killer was featured in a town parade:

• pothole killer in a parade on Flickr

According to the photographer, candice quates, “It got cheers from the crowds…”

This latest winter has left us with all our streets in ruin. I wish Utah would invest in a couple of these machines.

Seventeen years before Thomas Edison, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville recorded the first human voice. Unfortunately, he had no way to play it back.

• BBC NEWS | Technology | Oldest recorded voices sing again

The device etched representations of sound waves into paper covered in soot from a burning oil lamp.

Lines were scratched into the soot by a needle moved by a diaphragm that responded to sound. The recordings were never intended to be played.

It was retrieved from Paris by Mr Giovanni, working with First Sounds, a group of audio historians, recording engineers and sound archivists who aim to make mankind’s earliest sound recordings available to all.

To retrieve the sounds scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California made very high-resolution digital scans of the paper and used a “virtual stylus” to read the scrawls.

However, because the phonautograph recordings were made using a hand-cranked device, the speed varied throughout, changing the pitch.

All of this brings to mind patent and copyright. Edison held the patent for audio recordings, yet Edouard-Leon Scott beat him to the process by seventeen years. Since Scott was unable to reproduce the sound and only made a visual representation of it, I can understand why Edison’s machine was better, but in today’s environment of patent law, I could envision Scott suing Edison over this.

Via: Shiny Shiny: Oldest recorded human voice finally played back; Radio 4 newsreader amused

The Nike+, which has been a successful accessory for the iPod Nano has nothing on what Apple is planning for you!

• Starling Fitness » iPhone: Your Lifestyle Companion

Apple has filed SIX patents on a “Lifestyle Companion”. Not only will it communicate with a sensor on your shoe, but it also communicates with exercise machines so that if I run five miles on a treadmill, it doesn’t have to approximate with the sensor, it can get the information directly from the treadmill. It also can track your eating and nutrition.

Here are some images from the patents:

Via:

• The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.

• iPhone. Your Lifestyle Companion » Unwired View

This video from the Wall Street Journal talks about the second biggest problem with the One Laptop Per Child XO Laptop:

The biggest problem with the OLPC is discussed here:

• Gadgets Page » One Laptop Per Child Review from the.Inevitable.Org/anism

It seems that the OLPC is neither useful for developing countries nor developed ones. I wanted this to be a good product that could be a computer alternative for children, but it appears that it is just a toy and not a very fun one.

Via: Kids Prefer Aging Desktop to OLPC XO Laptop | notebooks.com