by Kevin Burton
Technology doesn’t march on anymore, it flies.
Actually, flying seems to pedestrian a concept to describe it. Teleports, is that the word I am looking for?
Today we’re looking at old technologies, finishing a list from the Dictionary Scoop website that we started yesterday.
Number 9 on the list is beeper. I was never important enough to have one, but Mike Miller, my beep baseball pitcher with Columbus, did
One day at practice I sent a line drive screaming back toward the mound. Mike didn’t have time enough to get out of the way but he did manage to turn his back. After we determined that he was all right, Mike reached into his back pocket and proceeded to pull out little pieces of beeper. That’s as close as I ever got to one of those things.
On now with the list, starting with one I was never really into:
6–Atari 2600
“If gaming is your thing, you were probably expecting the iconic Atari 2600 to appear on this list.”
“One of the first and most iconic video game consoles, the Atari 2600 emerged in 1977, bringing our favorite games into our living rooms. Classics like ‘Pong,’ ‘Space Invaders,’ and ‘Pac-Man’ were just a few of the memorable games you could enjoy.”
“Although discontinued in 1992, the Atari 2600 played an important role in the development of other popular consoles and was a pioneer in the world of home entertainment. If you were one of the lucky ones who owned one, you probably remember it fondly!”
7–Walkman
“The Walkman is undoubtedly one of the devices that came to change everything. Launched by Sony in 1979, the Walkman was one of the first portable music players. Suddenly, people could enjoy their favorite music anytime, anywhere, whether shopping, running, or taking a walk. It was barely bigger than a cassette and came with a pair of innovative headphones.”
“Everything about it was cool: design, size, and functions. Even today, it’s one of the best-remembered vintage tech items. Did you and your friends have Walkmans?”
8–Box TV
“A few decades ago, TV tables were placed much further from the wall. It wasn’t a matter of trend; it was because there was no other option.”
“From the mid-20th century until the early 21st century, TVs and many computer monitors used CRT technology. Box TVs were the norm back then, but bringing one home could be a challenge, especially because of their weight.”
“By the late 1990s and early 2000s, box TVs were replaced by flat screens and LCD TVs, but no one can deny that the classic TV provided us with decades of fun and entertainment.”
9–Beeper
“Nowadays, it’s pretty uncommon to meet someone without a cell phone. We use them for almost everything, carrying them everywhere. But before cell phones, there were beepers.”
“The beeper -as it was called because of the sound it made- was formally known as a Pager and was the first commercially successful mobile device for sending and receiving text messages. While this might not seem surprising today, it was unbelievable at the time.”
“Early versions of devices similar to the beeper existed already in the 1950s, but it was during the 1980s that they gained popularity, becoming tech icons.
10–Car phone
“Next up is a tech item that might not have been as popular as some of the others on our list. Before cell phones, there was a groundbreaking way to make calls on the go: car phones.”
“Although they were often seen as luxury items, many people ended up having them installed in their vehicles. And that installation was far from easy. Car phones were large and heavy and required a power source and an external antenna for signal reception.”
“Maybe their time in the spotlight was brief, but we can’t deny that they were an important step toward modern mobile telecommunications.”
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