Remember that crazy little thing called 8-track? We didn't know you could still order albums in the format, but apparently you still can--at least when it comes to Cheap Trick's latest, which also happens to be called The Latest.
Going retro will cost you, however. The 8-track tape version costs $30 (it's available for pre-order) while the CD is going for $12.99 on Amazon. The record is $20 and the digital download is $8.99.
According to the site 8-Track Heaven, the 8-track tape is mostly dead--but not totally. The site says major labels quit producing 8-track tapes in about 1988, but "a number of entrepreneurial souls have kept the 8-track tradition alive in the form of small production runs of independently released carts." (Link: new releases on 8-track)
Anybody still own an 8-track tape player or have fond memories of using one?
(Via kottke.org)
The Casio A158W, looking great on my hairy wrist.
(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)Here's a retro tale for you: I wear a watch again. To be more specific, I wear a Casio digital watch, the A158W. Sporting an aluminum wristband, beeping buttons that can't be deactivated, a chronometer, and a cheesy green microlight--no fancy backlighting for you--it's a carbon copy of '80s wrist fashion. I got it at Duane Reade on my street corner for $20.
For a while, I tried to go without a watch. It's been commonly written lately that watches are passe, having been replaced entirely by cell phones. After my last watch's wristband broke, I tried to go phone-only for the time. I'd worn a watch for so long that my wrist had developed a permanent tan line. My left wrist is even slightly thinner from years of watch-wearing. It's a little scary (but not as scary as the hair that sprouts from my arms like fur).
One problem: I have a baby. And I live in a city with no car. Every morning, I commute with a baby strapped to my front and a backpack on my back as I head to daycare before work. Reaching for a phone in my pocket to tell the time is not just difficult, it's dangerous.
I got the Casio because I realized that practically no stores sell watches anymore. The few I found were high-end retailers, and so I settled for the local Duane Reade, where an embarrassingly lost-in-time selection of watches lay trapped in a white plastic display. Rather than go halfway with a cheapo brand or modern digital, I went whole hog by picking the most ridiculous throwback in the display, a model that looks like it could actually have been in the store since 1984.
The watch is, in fact, a current model, created for its retro classic appeal. (Casio's own site doesn't list this particular model, but does have the very similar A158WA.) And you know what? The numbers are nice and large, the glare is minimal, and the microlight is low enough to not wake up my kid when he's going to sleep.
Do you wear a watch? If so, what do you sport? If not, what would get you to wear one? I say the retro watch needs a comeback. Leave that phone in your pocket where it belongs.
(Credit:
Bertrand Planes)
If you've a thing for nostalgia, this antique music box has a pretty modern spin--a USB drive. What we couldn't discern was whether this Music Box USB is capable of producing any tinkles, digital or otherwise, or if it's just a husk. All the literature onsite says is it's an iron music box modified into a USB drive.
Designer Bertrand Planes has also attempted to add more functionality by imbuing the top lever with the scroll wheel properties of a mouse. Not a very ergonomic choice, which may account for only five of these music boxes being released as limited-edition collectibles. For all else, such as storage capacity and price, you'll have to buzz Mr. Planes since you can only get one request.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Friday marks the 153rd birthday of one of the greatest geeks and most amazing minds of all time: Nikola Tesla. This genius is almost certainly why you have electricity in your house. What's more, most of the gear you own is powered by parts that use his ideas. We owe this man the modern age.
So what better way to celebrate his birthday--and thank the man--than to share a video of two Tesla coils playing the Super Mario Bros. theme song?
We couldn't think of one either. It's not the newest or most impressive Tesla coil demonstration on YouTube, but it's probably the most fun.
Nintendo's portable virtual console is going to the source.
(Credit: Wikipedia)Nintendo's DSiWare service, like its WiiWare platform, are temptations and teases for the lovers of the independent and obscure. Because no boxes or cartridges/discs need be sold, the ability for much-loved indie titles to be finally unleashed or re-released seems to be too good to be true.
Making good on part of that promise, Nintendo has had a busy week announcing both downloadable versions of their retro Game & Watch series, as well as their cult-classic music/art title, Electroplankton.
For the uninitiated, Game & Watch was Nintendo's first electronic gaming platform, dating to the very early 80s. These black-and-white LCD standalone handhelds were what I grew up on, and they were lovingly re-created in a series of compilations on the Game Boy Advance (and in a Club Nintendo limited-edition DS cartridge). Nine of these games will be available for $2 each, a steal when you consider that's the same price as a Mario-themed calculator. Breaking them down to individual titles is also a smart move because it allows the fans to build their own collection instead of having it forced down their throats.
Electroplankton was a Japan-first project created by visual artist Toshio Iwai which synthesized music and motion into a collection of quirky aquatic visual toys. The 10-creature set will be broken down into three installments selling for $2 a piece, which is fantastic for deal-seekers--for a grand total of $12 you can own what previously cost over $20.
First of all, these better hit the U.S. shores. Second of all, we hope that this encourages Nintendo to explore other DSiWare avenues, including releasing the Japan-only bit Generations retro games that inspired the Art Style titles currently on DSiWare and WiiWare. And while we're at it, how about a proper DSi Virtual Console with GBA games galore?
This should be what downloadable games are all about--large catalogs of rare treasures, priced affordably. That, of course, depends on the whims of developers and publishers. Years after the Virtual Console debuted, many fans are still waiting for Mother 3.
What do you want on your DSi? Let us know (and maybe let Nintendo know, too) in the comments.
(Via Offworld)
Pick your weapon.
(Credit: HighSnobiety)You can find plenty of iPhone applications that use software to create effects for the built-in camera, but the Quattro iPhone 3G Case, made by Japanese company Factron, is one of the first hardware add-ons to actually mount an aftermarket lens onto the front of the phone.
The case itself is made of aircraft grade duralumin for durability and a sexy polished-silver finish. The backside of the case is covered with supple calf leather for the highest in dead-animal quality, but the external lenses are the real stars and include fish-eyes, macros, wide angles, superwide conversions, and more. Put them together and the case and lenses turn your iPhone into a futuristic Victorian steampunk Transformer.
The Quattro case sells for $200 on the Factron Web site, and unfortunately you have to shell out even more for each custom lens.
Click through the slideshow below for more pictures of the case and lenses.
(Source: HighSnobiety)
One of the most enduring images of the '80s is also one of the decade's most notable gadgets: the DeLorean. Not just because Doc Brown turned one into an iconic time machine, but because there were some amazing and high-tech design elements throughout the machines, like the gull-wing doors, fiberglass and stainless steel construction, and Flux Capacitor.
All kidding aside, they're fantastic cars, yet still fairly expensive. One young man, due to the current recession, no doubt, had trouble paying for his DeLorean. So a team was sent to repossess it. Of course, a reality TV show crew from TruTv's "Operation Repo" was there to document the event. What nobody expected was that the young man who purchased the car was an insane Michael Jackson impersonator.
The fun in this video really starts at 1:50 and just keeps getting more crazy, including a Jacko-Fu kick to the repo man's undercarriage.
I feel bad for the guy and hopes he finds a way to pay for his awesome ride. I recently had a short trip in one of these cars and, if I had the extra cash, I'd be driving one myself.
(Yes, yes, we know "Operation Repo" consists of scripted--and no doubt sometimes embellished--re-enactments of actual repossessions. That said, we're just happy this video happened and like writing about DeLoreans.)
The Einstein Sound Master Photon Ball iPod Dock.
(Credit: Buy.com)As a child of the '80s, I can distinctly remember a time when decorative electrostatic plasma lamps were very cool. They were also very expensive and--for the most part--useless. These days, though, I can't look at one without thinking of that creepy, evil, wizard crystal ball thing from Lord of the Rings.
Whatever side of nerd nostalgia you fall on, the Einstein Sound Master Photon Ball iPod dock has you covered. You get an iPod dock, clock radio, USB port, and a bitchin' plasma lamp--all for $34.99. I'm not sure how they shield the speakers from interference, or protect your iPod from the constant static-electric charge, but I know wouldn't risk putting an iPhone in there. Anyway, I wouldn't want Saruman the White reading my e-mail.
(Via Techfresh)
First we said good-bye to Polaroid, now it's Kodachrome. What's a film sentimentalist to do? After 74 years of making the color film used by many of photography's greats, Kodak announced Monday that it's ending Kodachrome's production.
(Credit:
Kodak)
Kodachrome makes up less than 1 percent of Kodak's total sales for still film, according to the company. Digital cameras are obviously the main culprit contributing to Kodachrome's demise, but photographers are also using newer kinds of color film that are easier to process. Only one photofinishing lab in the world still processes Kodachrome--Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kan.
Photographers like Kodachrome for its warm colors and fine grain, which are perfect for shooting portraits. The famous portrait of the Afghan refugee girl with the bright green eyes that graced the cover of National Geographic in 1985 was taken with Kodachrome film by Steve McCurry. But even McCurry has moved onto digital and other still film.
Even though Kodachrome is largely known as still film, it has also been made for movie formats, including 16mm. In the past three years, Kodak has come out with several new professional still films and motion picture films.
Kodak is donating its last rolls of Kodachrome to the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, N.Y. One of these last rolls will be shot by McCurry, with the photos donated to the museum. Dwayne's Photo said it will continue to process any leftover Kodachrome until 2010.
The best part is...
(Credit: NilesZ/Etsy)I'm a sucker for geek nostalgia. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you are, too. Or you know someone who is.
Enterprising Etsy seller NilesZ repurposes old Atari cartridges into wallets. Yep, that's right. You just pop it open, and your stuff is inside. He estimates that each wallet--made almost entirely from the original cartridge--holds 6 to 8 credit cards and 15 to 20 bills.
He offers a fair variety of cartridges to choose from, with varying prices. I noticed that there aren't any wallets made from third-party games for sale, which is a bummer, because I would totally dig a River Raid wallet. Or Megamania. Or Seaquest.
...no one would ever think to steal an E.T. cartridge.
(Credit: NilesZ/Etsy)Or maybe a wallet made from a Squeeze Box cart. That was one of the crappiest games I owned for the Atari 2600, and it would be nice to finally find a use for it other than to balance a wobbly table.
I'm not sure exactly how comfortable it would be to sit down with one of these wallets in your back pocket, but if you're a geek who carries your wallet in your coat pocket, this should be perfect.
(Via Technabob)
