The Gadgets Page

This old Buick was parked in our neighborhood the other day, so I had to snap some photos of it because it looks so good!

You can see ALL the photos here:

I love the design of the Ericofon.

It was designed by a team working for Ericsson back in the 1940’s. The design is so beautiful and unique that it is featured in the Museum of Modern Art.

Links about the Ericofon:

• Ericofon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• MoMA | The Collection | L.M. Ericsson Telephone Company, company design, Hugo Blomberg, Ralph Lysell and Has Gösta Thames. Ericofon Telephone. 1949-54
• ericofon.com: Online museum and place to purchase original Ericofons that still work.
• Scandiphone at Amazon.com: Purchase a brand new phone based on the Ericofon.
• Ericofon – Google Images

It’s surprising to me that this phone was designed over sixty years ago. It is obvious that the “brick” cell phones were based on this design, so it was years ahead of its time.

• RT @BrookBuchanan Bank Will Allow Customers to Deposit Checks by iPhone http://bit.ly/FbFQr [Would end my need to drive to a bank/ATM!] #

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I love this old advertisement comparing the old Volkswagen bug to the bus.

It reads:

That’s about the size of it.

That special paint job is to make it perfectly clear that our Station Wagon is only nine inches longer than our Sedan. Yet it carries almost 1 ton of anything you like. [About twice as much as you can get into wagons that are 4 feet longer.]

Or eight solid citizens with luggage.

Or countless kids with kids stuff.

The things you never think about are worth thinking about, too. You never worry about freezing or boiling; the rear engine is air-cooled. You can expect about 24 miles per gallon and about 30,000 miles on your tires. And you can forget about going out of style next year; next year’s model will look the same.

The most expensive VW Station Wagon costs $2,655. It comes in red and white or grey and white or green and white.

And you won’t ever have to go around painting sedans on it to show how small it is. Just Park.

Right now, I really wish a company would adopt the Volkswagen company model. The cars are the same every year for decades, allowing me to fix my 2009 car as easily as the 2020 car. They brag about their gas mileage, small size and practicality, not their luxury, massive size or status symbol.

I froze and boiled in my old VW bug. It failed me on numerous occasions, dropping parts on the road as easily as birds drop feathers. I was grateful to have a new car when I finally stopped driving my old beetle, but it was a twenty year old car by then. I want a car company like Volkswagen used to be, because the new VW isn’t like it at all.

Advert via: vintage_ads:

Update 08-14-09: Here is another VW Bus ad that was good.

Check out this cool video of a new laser/audio technology.

Here is the team that put this together:

• Alvaro Cassinelli: concept, software and hardware development
• Daito Manabe: sound concept and sound generation
• Kuribara Yusaku: latest software development including contour tracking and interface
• Stephane Perrin: participated in early development of the smart laser scanner technology used for tracking.

They call it Sticky Light:

• Sticky Light

A laser spot bounces on a figure being drawn on paper, trying to escape the labyrinth of lines. There is no camera nor projector; this is an experience where the audience can touch and interact with a beam of pure light – and even play a pong game with bare hands. The quality of the laser light, and the fluidity of the motion makes for a very unique experience.

This project is in development right now, but wouldn’t it be a fun toy to have at a party? I can’t wait until we can buy one at the local Radio Shack!

Via: Email from reader, Daniel Vest

• RT @devonanne: I could be an Apple Genius…may have taken me a few days but I fixed my iMac that wouldn’t boot up, not even from a cd! #

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• RT @casiejeanne: I had forgotten how fun it is to have a new toy! Yeah for potentially unwise computer purchases! #

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I was looking through some of my old files the other day and I found this advertisement for the Yamaha DX100 Synthesizer.

It reads:

It has two wheels, two sources of power and can go from 0 to 192 in just one shift. But instead of riding it, you strap it over your shoulder. Because this machine is so powerful, it can take you places just standing still.

The DX100 synthesizer.

Anything’s possible.

Yamaha

This advertisement happened to be on the back of a Swatch ad that I have kept for the last twenty years. I always thought it was an advert for a motorcycle, considering the helmet and all. I never read the copy on the ad until a couple of days ago.

What in the $#*@ were they talking about?

They are talking about a synthesizer that looks like this:

• Vintage Synth Explorer – Yamaha DX-100

The DX-100 is a small and portable budget DX synthesizer from Yamaha. Like all DX’s it uses (FM) Frequency Modulation synthesis. It’s not the easiest form of synthesis to program but can result in some excellent sounds. The DX100 is not as flexible nor powerful as a DX7, but it does have some cool sounds. It is most renowned for its great analog bass sound (Patch #01) that is awesome for techno, house, jungle, and acid music styles; it’s very gritty, the bass tone with gristle! However, any other preset sounds that you’ll find in the DX-100 are pretty bad and require editing for anything else useable.

The DX-100 has mini-keys and only 49 of them. No filters, arpeggiators, effects or programmable controllers are available either. Small pitch and mod wheels in the upper left and guitar strap pegs make this synth usable for live use if you’re feeling whimsical. If you mess around with the settings on Parameter 13, even if you don’t know anything about FM, you can get some seriously twisted sounds out of it. If you’re willing to spend a little time with it, it has a lot more potential than just that one bass sound that people will eventually get sick of. And at its currently low street price, it just might be worth getting. It is used by Orbital, Scanner, Jean-Michel Jarre, Autechre, Laurent Garnier, and countless other house and dance artists.

All the talk about wheels and power and shifting are “funny” double-entendres comparing music gear with motorcycles. Considering that this ad was run in Seventeen magazine, it was a complete waste of money for Yamaha.

For fun, here’s a video of a guy jamming on a Yamaha DX100:

The Yamaha DX100 is one of the more beloved of the old synthesizers from the Eighties and you can find them selling on eBay anywhere from $400 to $150 for working models. Even a broken DX100 will earn the owner fifty bucks. In fact, this ad itself is something of a collector’s item, so feel free to click on over to Flickr and download the full size if you want to print it up and put it on your wall with the rest of your Yamaha memorabilia.

It has been a LONG time since I’ve been able to say that I’ve enjoyed a Microsoft advertisement for anything other than train wreck gawking. This ad for Microsoft Office 2010, however, is enjoyable!

I’m sure that no one is mourning the loss of Clippy, but I’m most excited about the return of Visio. I used to use that program for everything from flow charts to floor plans. I hope it’s just as easy to use as it was when it was a Visio Corporation property.

Via: A funny Microsoft ad? Yes

Our old neighbor, Lisa, just remodeled her kitchen. When we heard about it, both NakedJen and I were wondering what happened to her beautiful old pink oven. Fortunately, Lisa was smart enough to keep it. While we looked at her lovely new kitchen, we also took the time to take some photos of her old Frigidaire. Here are the photos:

The cool thing about this oven is that it is meant to be built into the wall at body level. The doors open out like a refrigerator to reveal a fairly small oven.

I love how the dark color of the knobs contrast with the light pink color. This oven was made during that time when you coordinated your appliances with your color scheme. Instead of only a choice of white, black or stainless steel, you had a rainbow of colors to choose from.

This timer is PERFECT and I trust timers like this so much more than the digital ones on my current oven (mostly because they are easier to set).

Lisa plans on selling her oven on eBay, so, if you like it, keep an eye out there for it.