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Old school tech you thought had died out ...

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  • 01-09-2014 1:26pm
    #1
    Beano
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭


    Walking along Henry street on saturday i seen a guy put something into his inside pocket. It looked like the worlds biggest MP3 player until i realised it was a walkman (or a walkman clone at least). I thought these had died out years ago. Anybody else see people using old tech that they thought had died out?


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    #2
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,379 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    There was a thread a year or so ago with a lad complaining about how hard it was to get decent VHS copies of films nowadays. Think he was saying how he reckoned it was better than dvd or maybe even blu-ray.

    There was a tape revival day or week going on a few months ago. Some bands only releasing stuff on tape, they like the fact it forced people to listen to songs in order, and can't easily skip by tracks.


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    #3
    Beano
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭Beano


    I must have a look for that thread, i've got boxes of VHS films that are just taking up space. Free to a good home.


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    #4
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,379 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    here it is
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83411148


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    #5
    Beano
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭Beano


    cheers.


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    #6
    nlgbbbblth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,668 ✭✭✭nlgbbbblth


    I use a discman if I am taking the bus or train.
    Don't have a smart phone.
    Buy records and CDs. Never buy downloads.


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    #7
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,249 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    I used a pencil today. Hard to beat a pencil to do the job of a pencil!


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    #8
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,956 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    rubadub wrote: »
    Think he was saying how he reckoned it was better than dvd or maybe even blu-ray.

    And he's insane, and possibly partially blind and deaf too.

    VHS has 240 lines of resolution, meaning it has less than half the quality of broadcast analogue TV. Low bandwidth analogue stereo audio - usually mono if recorded off TV compared to digital stereo on broadcast here.

    There wasn't a circumstance, ever, where VHS was better than DVD in terms of audio or video quality.


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    #9
    super_furry
    Registered Users Posts: 27,322 ✭✭✭✭super_furry


    But but but, it just 'feels a lot warmer'.

    Nonsense I know.


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    #10
    gouche
    Registered Users Posts: 416 ✭✭gouche


    Theres something to be said for vinyl, particularly older stuff where it was the target medium.
    But saying VHS is superior to DVD is just nonsense.


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    #11
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,249 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    gouche wrote: »
    Theres something to be said for vinyl, particularly older stuff where it was the target medium.
    But saying VHS is superior to DVD is just nonsense.

    There's a hell of a lot to be said for vinyl. But really only through a decent system. Lack of digital compression and the harmonic distortion inherent to the format really does make all the difference.

    I don't miss VHS though...


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    #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I remember we had no VCR and rented a "Videobox" back in the day


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    #13
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,956 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    super_furry wrote: »
    But but but, it just 'feels a lot warmer'.

    Nonsense I know.

    If you find black and white sparkles warm, I'd associate them with a night sky :pac:


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    #14
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person


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    #15
    nlgbbbblth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,668 ✭✭✭nlgbbbblth


    Agree re VHS. It was a clunky inferior format. Good for recording off-air programmes. I still have a couple of thousand tapes that I play every so often including a complete run of Only Fools and Horses on VHS. The Christmas special A Royal Flush is severely edited on DVD. John Sullivan's decision.


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    #16
    GerB40
    Registered Users Posts: 2,047 ✭✭✭GerB40


    My ould lad found his old record player in the granmothers house and I can't stop listening to it. There's some good stuff like Simon & Garfunkle, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison there.

    Even shyte like Donny Osmond and Eddie Cochrane doesn't sound too bad because that crackling sound is close to hypnotic..


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    #17
    demanufactured
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭demanufactured


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person

    Remember when you rented them....you would be fined if it was returned without rewinding it?


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    #18
    Beano
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭Beano


    demanufactured wrote: »
    Remember when you rented them....you would be fined if it was returned without rewinding it?

    yep. 50p per tape.


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    #19
    madmaggie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,827 ✭✭✭madmaggie


    I use my grandparents old 1960's Pye radio. It's a valve radio with a wood cabinet, and the stations with old names like Third, and Light. It takes a while to get going, and buzzes like crazy, but not bad for a 50 year old peice of tech.


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    #20
    Esel
    Registered Users Posts: 22,056 ✭✭✭✭Esel


    MYOB wrote: »
    And he's insane, and possibly partially blind and deaf too.

    VHS has 240 lines of resolution, meaning it has less than half the quality of broadcast analogue TV. Low bandwidth analogue stereo audio - usually mono if recorded off TV compared to digital stereo on broadcast here.

    There wasn't a circumstance, ever, where VHS was better than DVD in terms of audio or video quality.
    Maybe, but S-VHS ... :pac:

    Not your ornery onager



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    #21
    nlgbbbblth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,668 ✭✭✭nlgbbbblth


    madmaggie wrote: »
    I use my grandparents old 1960's Pye radio. It's a valve radio with a wood cabinet, and the stations with old names like Third, and Light. It takes a while to get going, and buzzes like crazy, but not bad for a 50 year old peice of tech.

    Great location !:)


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    #22
    Rotunda Shill
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 212 ✭✭Rotunda Shill


    Deleted User wrote: »
    What I hated about VHS was having to rewind it for the next person

    ...and you use to get fined for not doing it.


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    #23
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,920 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    MYOB wrote: »
    If you find black and white sparkles warm, I'd associate them with a night sky :pac:
    Remember analog satellite with the sparklies, and they'd encrypt the picture but not the sound ?


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    #24
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,956 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Esel wrote: »
    Maybe, but S-VHS ... :pac:

    Ooh, NTSC broadcast quality (just).
    Capt'n Midnight wrote: »
    Remember analog satellite with the sparklies, and they'd encrypt the picture but not the sound ?

    Perfect for when BBC R5/Talksport weren't covering the matches Sky were.


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    #25
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,379 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Remember this?

    130909210310-07-cassette-0909-horizontal-gallery.jpg

    I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.


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    #26
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,249 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    rubadub wrote: »

    I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.

    Good technique, but the wrong tool. A bic pin provided a more secure fit.


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    #27
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,379 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    endacl wrote: »
    Good technique, but the wrong tool. A bic pin provided a more secure fit.
    :) I think thats what I actually used! I remember having a dodgy walkman and having to do it regularly. You would hear the song going a bit odd and have to quickly stop the tape, then you opened it up and it was like one of those joke cans of peanuts where the springy snake pops out. You'd be sitting on a bus with reams of tape everywhere!


    Or they would get wound up around the mechanisms in the tape player.


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    #28
    Beano
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,357 ✭✭✭Beano


    I used to know somebody who always rewound his tapes that way. He said rewinding them in the ghetto blaster would wear out the motor.


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    #29
    imitation
    Registered Users Posts: 1,815 ✭✭✭imitation


    I went to the Guggenheim in Bilbao on holiday for a look see, the most interesting thing I saw was an old Sony Triton tv from the 70s that was actually some footage from a rooftop camera exhibit style thing yoko one had. Says a lot about me, but personally I preferred the nostalgia of an old CRT to yoko onos jazz wailings.


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    #30
    Ruu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    There is a lady who power walks by me every morning and she has a walkman in hand, suppose it works well for a weight as well, bit of resistance. :)


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    #31
    madmaggie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,827 ✭✭✭madmaggie


    rubadub wrote: »
    Remember this?

    130909210310-07-cassette-0909-horizontal-gallery.jpg

    I had a great technique over the years, I would spin the tape on the pencil, rather than twist the pencil itself.

    Remember?? Still doing it. :)


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