Vintage Technologies...

Most of the technologies that we have used in the past have been eclipsed by the remarkable technology that we use today.

Super 8/8mm Handheld Video Cameras Kodak invented the Super 8/8mm video format in 1965. Soon after, handheld video cameras flooded the market and the living rooms of people everywhere were filled with families watching the hi-jinks at Freddie’s sixth birthday party.

Betamax

Betamax was developed by Sony in 1975, a year before the ultimately more popular VHS format was invented as a response to Sony’s attempt to control the format of the industry.

HS Format

Invented by JVC, VHS was the predominant video format by the 1980’s, despite what some argued was the technical superiority of the Betamax format.

Laser Disc Players

Initially marketed as Discovisional, laser discs were the format choice of tech enthusiasts who had the money to put together a collection until the DVD format came out.

Phonograph

The phonograph, or gramophone, was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and was on the mass market by the turn of the century. The gramophone was replaced by the considerably less bulky record player in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Turntables

Record players are still in use in DJ booths, recording studios, and radio stations all over the world.

HAM Radio

An estimated six million people are still involved with this hobby that began at the start of the 20th century. HAM radio operators communicate with each other over short wave radio. HAM radios have been featured in many popular movies, including The Shining and Contact.

Reel to Reel

The first tape recorders were reel to reel and were the preferred technology for professional sound designers until digital formats rendered them obsolete.

Cassette Tape Recorders

These devices were considerably less bulky then their reel to reel ancestors, and were used mostly for transcription

Transistor Radios

Transistor radios typically only picked up on the AM band and were a ubiquitous sight in schools and businesses in the seventies.