I'm looking at various lines of vintage electronics trying to find the ones that were the most visually compelling.
The Sony Sports line is pretty interesting. Bright yellow, rounded corners, basic aesthetic pulled through the whole line.
What other vintage electronic lines were this dedicated to aesthetics?
Anyway, I have a couple of Sony Sports items (a radio, a boombox, and a walkman) on the way, in addition to a couple of Strikingly red gizmos.
I'd really love to find one of those hi-8 cameras with it's waterproof shell. I can't think of a *single* useful thing to do with a hi8 camcorder (and I say that as someone who regularly uses a 1968 Sony Portapak black and white video camera) and even if I could, I can't find a single one that works.
@ajroach42 I wanted one of those Walkmen so much when I was about seven — too expensive, so I had to slum it with the low-end one. Still gives me a thrill of desire.
@ajroach42 Oh, to be a fly on the wall for the "yellow means sports activities" focus group
@ajroach42 @ahermitforhire I had the one on the bottom shelf, second from right. It was the first thing I ever bought with a credit card and I probably paid three times what it cost in interest and late fees. I didn’t even need a waterproof one (or a credit card while we’re at it), but I was a dumb kid and it was the 80s.
@itsjustdj @ajroach42 @ahermitforhire I don't recall Sony walkmans being used as much as history seems to paint it. They were too expensive, and not noticeably better. Than the "mid" brand name ones.
They were too big too.
Also the term walkman in common usage didn't mean sony.
Being waterproof wasn't so great, they just would physically wear out from pockets and purses and backpacks and lockers ... etc.
Not water.
I covet the realistic auto-reverse non-radio ones.
@pkw @itsjustdj @ahermitforhire I had a red realistic with auto reverse for a while, best sounding portable tape player I've ever owned.
@ajroach42 What I’d love to find is a PXL2000. I borrowed one for a college project (converted to 3/4” for editing because 80d) and the low res monochrome was amazing.
@theotherbrook I have one, but it needs a belt replacement.
@ajroach42 Of course you do and of course it does.
@theotherbrook it's on the road map
@ajroach42 If I’d known you 15 years ago you might have ended up with a fair percentage of my basement.
@theotherbrook I wish I still had the things that were in my basement 15 years ago, but I've had to move cross country in a shockingly short period of time 4x since then (back and forth) and lots got left by the wayside.
I see a great need for a laptop and smartphone with the same aesthetic.
@suetanvil @ajroach42 Big yellow rectangle smartwatch
Maybe buy a toughbook and paint it bright yellow...
(Note: I have neither the time, energy, or skills to pull this off so feel free to steal this idea. But please send me pics if you do it.)
@suetanvil I do have a toughbook collecting dust.
If someone at the makerspace is looking for a project...
@ajroach42 way jealous ... Very nice collection ... Hugz
Hugz & xXx
@melissabeartrix that's just a photo I found online to illustrate my point, but it is a very nice collection.
@ajroach42 cuttercore! as re: Hardspace Shipbreaker
@noracodes These words didn't connect with anything in my head.
@ajroach42 Hardspace Shipbreaker is a video game about industrial unions with a flawless and very yellow aesthetic
@ajroach42 It looked pretty cool at the time
@aram It looks pretty cool today. It's not my look of choice, but I respect it.
@ajroach42 exactly how I feel about Ryobi power tools
@ajroach42 beats by dewalt.
@ajroach42@retro.social I've always covered the Alice 90 and its kin, in large part do to its aesthetics. Why go weird tan when you can go bright red?
@Cthululemon indeed! I don't even really care what the Look is, just do something unique. I don't need a plain black/silver/beige box. Give me something asymmetrical and brightly colored.
@Cthululemon The alice 90 is gorgeous, and not something I'd seen before.. If it wasn't AZERTY, I'd probably start hunting one, but I don't want to learn to type again.
@ajroach42@retro.social Probably not cool enough for your list, but growing up I had a sweet blue and gray Fisher Price am/fm radio with a microphone. We’d pretend to be radio DJs, or sing along to songs, or pretend to announce horse races or auctions. It was a blast, until my dad cut the microphone cord because we were making too much racket. My grandpa taught me to solder in reattaching it, then the whole deal disappeared one day. I loved the orange switches.
@Cthululemon That's beautiful.
@ajroach42@retro.social I fibbed a little bit: it was technically my brother’s, but the rest is true.
@ajroach42 Damn i got a lot of use out of it, plus survived a few bicycle accidents. Pity the motor doesn't turn any more, but I still use the headphones!
@notzed Probably needs a belt replacement, although I suspect it isn't easy to get at.
@ajroach42 didn't make any noise last time i tried but maybe the batteries were busted - i just got the radio to work but it started chewing up a tape (batteries are nearly flat tho)
@ajroach42 oh it lives. Sounds a bit off-tune but it plays.
Hmm, Mindy's mix-tape from 199x .... damn. She broke my heart and I never even met her. 😢
@ajroach42 I don't miss proprietary USB drivers, but I do miss my Rio Cali mp3 player hand feel.....
@twodimes @ajroach42 For me, it was the Diamond Rio PMP300. Aqua special edition.
@ajroach42 I have to say I love this one of the Sony Walkman ... Used to be water resistant ... So much I still have it, and works like a gem ... Hugz
Hugz & xXx
@ajroach42 Philips were really strong on modern aesthetics in the 70's, for example the RL047 transistor radio. There's also Brionvega, whose incredibly cool Cube radio is still made today. And of course there's the iconic Braun designs, particularly - but not only - by Dieter Rams... 🤩
@ajroach42 Bit more modern but I had a Sony NW-A3000, which I loved the design of.
It was a turd to use. Really really slow HDD inside, and the software to load music on to it was complete dogshit.
@ajroach42 Bang & Olufsen’s business model was aesthetics first, performance second. Not bad gear and nicely built, but definitely a substantial premium for their looks.
@jontymartin I feel like that's maybe a little unfair. B&O had some really impressive engineering to support their aesthetics.
@ajroach42 No, I totally agree — but they didn’t set out to make the best sounding hifi, or the TV with the best screen, but instead focused that engineering resource on aesthetics. We had a lot of their gear, it looked lovely, it felt gorgeous to use, but it didn’t ‘perform’ (according to the normal criteria, eg sound quality, picture quality) as well as other similarly priced gear.
@jontymartin I dunno, my beogram turntable outperformed basically anything else I've ever owned (but it was also about 4x the price when new)
@ajroach42 Realistic (RadioShack brand) seemed very dedicated to the "boxy, home built units" even long after they moved away from kit builds.
@ajroach42 1970s-90s GE handheld radios and alarm clock / countertop type radios, while more subdued, are kind of a Whole Thing.
I don't *love* the look, but I admire the commitment to the bit.