Category: Retro

Looking, and listening, back…

~ Shaun ~ Leave a comment

The sounds above actually hit me quite hard as the memories came flooding back. A sensory experience for those of you who are old enough to have experience them before. Thanks to Simon.

Kirk also sent over 17 Pictures Showing How The Past Saw The Future Playing Out which vary in their future accuracy. Some are simply crazy, but others got quite close to what we experience today.

OpoLua: the return of Psion!

~ Shaun ~ Leave a comment

View MBM image files, OPL scripts, and AIF resources, listen to sound files, and run OPL scripts and programs from Psion and Psion-compatible computers on iOS and iPadOS… More here.

It’s not perfect and it takes some time to understand how to install files, but this is a welcome development for those of us who have never forgotten the magnificence of the Psion system.

The Nostalgic Macintosh

~ Shaun ~ 2 Comments

Ian Zelbo wasn’t around when Apple launched the first-ever Macintosh in 1984, but he was well aware of how that product sent ripples that would be felt even decades later. Likewise, what started out as an almost tongue-in-cheek joke and homage to the landmark product ended up sparking interest and discussion over the Internet. After all, nothing fuels the imagination more than something Apple would never do yet still remained within the realm of what is possible if it ever decided to do so… More here.

This is one of the few concepts that marries retro and modern almost perfectly. If Apple released something like this today it would fly off the shelves.

The SMEG Futro e-scooter concept

~ Shaun ~ 1 Comment

Relying heavily on the Vespa (and even SMEG’s) soft, rounded, colorful, fun-loving image, the SMEG Futro is an e-scooter concept that embodies the feeling of driving down to the beach, the park, or the lake for a lazy Sunday. The scooter’s curved form language is a direct inspiration of SMEG’s own design styles and leans heavily into the golden age of Italian automotive design (when companies like Vespa and Lambretta came to be), while its side panels open up to reveal a whole host of picnic items and tiny kitchen appliances, all the way from tiffins and thermoses to even a toaster and wine cooler! More here.

That is adorable, completely adorable. Imagine riding to a peaceful field on a sunny day, sitting reading a book and eating your picnic for one. Shame it isn’t real (yet).

Early Smartwatch Attempts that were ‘not’ dumb

~ Shaun ~ Leave a comment

Companies have been trying to smarten up watches for more than 40 years now. It started with a move to digital numeric displays, then was followed by an avalanche of questionable features, unorthodox designs, and functionality that was passed off as smart, but in hindsight, was kind of dumb to try and strap to your wrist. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to remember all the terrible wearables that walked so the Apple Watch could fly… More here.

I like looking at some of these early smartwatches, but I disagree with the premise of the article. They were of their time and used the technology available. To call them dumb is dumb in itself.

90s Websites That Still Exist

~ Shaun ~ Leave a comment

The idea that once something hits the internet, it’s there forever, isn’t true. Things disappear from the internet all the time, from once-thriving online communities being killed when their hosting company goes under, to publications that have their archives wiped, to personal sites that vanish when their owners stop paying the server bills. But the sites below are 1990s soldiers that avoided all of those pitfalls, to give us a look at the early internet, and a way to see ourselves online… More here.

These websites are simultaneously awful and highly memory inducing.