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Gadgets That Refuse to Die
- brtkdotse 6y agoI thought it was going to be about that Game Boy that took a direct hit in the Gulf War and still worked.
- jansan 6y agoNo list of immortal gadgets will ever be complete without the Casio F91W.
- jonathankoren 6y agoAh yes, “the terrorist’s watch” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Usage_in_terrorism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Usage_in_terrorism
- patrickk 6y agoAlmost any Casio to be fair. Although it’s an unfair comparison to cloud-tied devices in the article.
- ginko 6y agoThat said, wristwatches are generally very very long lived. I own a Citizen marinaut which is powered through a solar cell in the face of the watch. I've been wearing it pretty much every day for 15 years now and I never had to charge or service it. Only the occasional shortening of the metal wristband.
- jansan 6y agoRight, but the F91W was first released in 1989 and is still the second best selling men's watch on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Mens-Watches/zgbs/fashion/6358539011 https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Mens-Watches/zgbs/fashio...
- Cyberdog 6y agoI find on cheaper watches like this the band eventually breaks, and you can't really find replacement bands which are much cheaper than a whole new watch.
- ggm 6y agoNASA has tapedrives on life support.
- edude03 6y agoTape drives are still heavily used in the data center as well, as you can backup TBs of data on a single tape.
- saagarjha 6y agoThere’s a lot of places with extremely high data storage requirements that use tapes; they’re fairly dense and fail much better than spinning hard drives (as in, you can just splice out bad tape rather than toss the whole disk).
- battery_cowboy 6y agoOn my first ship in the Navy, we had a Windows 3.1 beige-box desktop PC (well, there were 3 of them, 2 for backups) that ran a tape drive emulator that connected to wiring in a bank of disconnected tape drives/computers (took a whole wall, these were the reel-to-reel kind) that ran some old targeting radar. The weapons that used that radar were gone, but they kept the radar running for auxiliary purposes. I'm surprised they wouldn't use something like that at NASA. We only left the drives installed due to weight distribution for the ship, but NASA could just replace a whole room of them with a Raspberry Pi, probably.
- newswasboring 6y agoI think NASA (or space industries in general) has the same problems as Navy (or military industries in general), they don't want to change anything that works. Reliability is one of their paramount KPIs, and what has survived for more than a decade is considered tested for a decade and will have precedence for managers in this space.
- hwj 6y agoCan anybody recommend a good tape drive for SOHO use?
- jasondclinton 6y agoAnother product with a much longer time horizon is those electronic dial pads on apartment buildings and entry gates: https://www.google.com/search?q=apartment+door+dial+pad&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=apartment+door+dial+pad&tbm=... These things are running on technology from the late 90's virtually unchanged. Even the most advanced ones are low end silicon with terrible thermal designs and horrible user interfaces (scrolling through pages of residents on a bad monochrome display one line at a time). Nothing competes with them. They have no high-failure parts and can last for decades. (And some have.)
- mab122 6y agoI hate those, they mount them even on brand new buildings where even elevetors have screens and touchpanel buttons.
- joyj2nd 6y agoI always wondered why you have this in hospitals. Buttons in elevators should operate by non-touch/finder proximity sensors.
- catalogia 6y ago> elevetors have screens and touchpanel buttons. I've not encountered systems like this. How do they handle accessibility for the blind? Are the physical buttons still present?
- Nextgrid 6y agoElevator screens aren't much better either. The hardware has lots of potential but it is held back by often crappy software.
- modeless 6y agoThese things are the worst. There was a YC startup that was building hardware to hack into these and make them smart but it seems like they have pivoted to pure software: https://www.doorport.com/ https://www.doorport.com/
- 6y ago
- SpikeDad 6y agoThis article is nonsense. The gadgets aren't refusing to die due to fan support - it's companies buying old nonsense tech and then trying to resell it. We'll be see these on late night infomercials soon.
- eythian 6y agoThat is literally not true.
- modeless 6y agoI still wear my Pebble Time Round every day. The form factor is unequaled. Less than 8mm thick is just not where other companies are going with their watches, and I'm sad about that.
- andrelaszlo 6y agoI was wearing mine until it fell apart and nothing on the market seems to be a decent replacement... everything else is really clunky and weird looking.
- everetm 6y agoI agree. Give me a slimmer Fitbit with less functionality and basic controls and I'm sold. I loved my pebble time. I won't get back into wearables until they start slimming down.
- amelius 6y agoThe same can be said about phones. Apple loves to sell big screens so they can sell more content and apps, but I just want a compact phone.
- bluishscreen 6y agoStill wearing mine... until it falls apart. Then, I'll unbox my backup Pebble and wear it until _that_ falls apart. Hopefully they'll have something comparable by the time I run out of them?
- h4waii 6y agoDitto but for the Pebble 2. I bought a few backups that I can continue using for a few years until something similar is released (week long battery life, easy to read always-on display, hacker friendly, etc). I have my eye on the PineTime, but it has quite a while to go before it's usable.
- patd 6y agoI have an HP TouchPad, the tablet that ran WebOS. Almost ten years later there are still people that are making Android versions for it. The battery sucks by now and the CPU is not very powerful so it’s not snappy but it’s still usable for light apps.
- FlyingSnake 6y agoDitto. I’ve an HP touchpad that i got in that famous firesale. It works like a charm even today and i like it as a minimal reading device. The UI was so ahead of its time
- lsh 6y agoStill got my HP TouchPad, still works, mail app is quite superior. Screen is starting to go and casing is getting a little cracked in places but I just love the UI
- onli 6y agoIt's a very nice Youtube viewer, with Android and NewPipe. I had hopes in the beginning we would see a free webOS for it, but sadly got disappointed there.
- AdmiralAsshat 6y agoMy HP Touchpad did not survive my last move, unfortunately. Can't tell if it had something pressed on it or if it was stored at an improper temperature, but the battery swelled to the point of pressing on the display (!), so the thing no longer turns on. If it still worked, I'm probably still be using it as a comic book reader.
- generatorguy 6y agoRegret throwing out my Chumby now
- themodelplumber 6y agoInteresting list...I didn't own any of those, though I would guess most of us here can name many others. Last weekend while I was putting the finishing touches on a Bionic Puppy install on my MSI Wind (purchased through a Linux computer company years ago), I started to realize I need to get more serious about active care for my devices or get rid of them. From the Cybiko Extremes to the N810 to the Casio pocket organizers. For now I'm going to move to a basic stance and just start text files for each set of devices. That usually gets me moving in a more organized direction. It feels good to be taking care of (some) things from my past, and I can tell my kids all kinds of stories about how I courted my wife via Cybiko text chat in University classes, etc. :-)
- teruakohatu 6y agoMy Bose QC15s have lasted so long. AA batteries are easily replaced and cheap aftermarket parts on ebay keep is going. It is now my backup as having Bluetooth and better noise cancelling is worth upgrading for but they still work incredibly well on flights. Sadly lithium batteries kill gadgets these days. I have an old gen kindle and I can't find a replacement battery for it. Seems such a waste for a device that is otherwise in excellent shape.
- ehnto 6y agoI always double check battery replacements before buying items for this reason. It is hard to predict what sizes will stick around, but I am also not against busting a device open and fitting a near-enough sized cell with the right output.
- Lio 6y ago18650 cells seem to be a good standard for things like torches and bike lights. As a plus you can pick them up in e-cigarette shops, apparently vape units use them too.
- alias_neo 6y agoThey do. I vaped for a while, and my wife bought a battery powered fan for when she went into labour and it came with some cheap 18650. Luckily I had a few high quality Samsung ones lying around from my vaping days that came in handy!
- peshooo 6y agoI have a cheap-ish bike light with 18650 battery. After it stopped working, I tried to replace it, but I couldn't solder it so well like the factory one. The mtb rides shake a lot, so my solder joints break. Any hints how to solder it better?
- ehnto 6y agoIn motorsport wiring they use crimped connections instead, due to it's mechanical strength compared to solder. It withstands the vibrations and movement better. You can get really small crimps so you should be able to find some that fit. If it's soldered to the PCB I haven't got much advice sorry. One option might be to mechanically support the wires near the solder, maybe hot glue the battery or wires in place so they can't pull on the solder.
- Mikhail_Edoshin 6y agoAFAIK Apple Newton still lives and people still write programs for it despite it being discontinued 22 years ago.
- hwj 6y agoDo you mind sharing what niche the Newton lives in?
- jamil7 6y agoTheres a pretty good podcast on the topic if you’re interested https://overcast.fm/+Xn2zXxLf4 https://overcast.fm/+Xn2zXxLf4
- Mikhail_Edoshin 6y agoHobby, I guess. E.g. here is a rather lively talk about it: http://lists.newtontalk.net/pipermail/newtontalk/2020-March/ http://lists.newtontalk.net/pipermail/newtontalk/2020-March/
- sp332 6y agoHere's someone who uses it as a ticketing system. https://twitter.com/XioNYC/status/1162073057881722881 https://twitter.com/XioNYC/status/1162073057881722881
- qubex 6y agoThe Apple eMate 300 (a Newton clamshell released in 1997, when I was 16. For some reason, though I lived in Italy, I became obsessed by the device. Finally, when I turned 32 (16*2), I bought myself one off eBay and set one up as a SSH console with a WiFi card. I enjoy the experience immensely.
- sp332 6y agoWhat sort of wifi card do you use with it?
- 6y ago
- FlyingSnake 6y agoDoes anyone know what can be done with a Chumby? I got one free from a startup that went belly up.
- knolan 6y agoYou could read the Hardware Hacker by Bunnie Huang and learn about its history. That might spur more ideas.
- submeta 6y agoMy Hewlett Packard calculator from the 80s (HP28s)
- ehnto 6y agoThe Audio-Technica ATH A500 headphones I bought in 2008 are still going strong. The adhesive for the sodt ear muff degraded but that was easy enough to fix. I thought the novel headband design would cause issues but it has lasted just fine.
- ccozan 6y agomy ATH50 also refuses to die. After more than 10 years of usage, they look like they've been in a war but the sound and the quality are the same.
- Jnr 6y agoAfter reading the title and before clicking the link I instantly thought of my Pebble Time steel that I got from Kickstarter.
- reikonomusha 6y agoMy LaserJet 4 Plus is still going strong with no special software.
- sharma_pradeep 6y agoWatch
- kashishgrover 6y agoBring back Pebble. Someone please bring back Pebble. :'(
- TeMPOraL 6y agoSeconded. I don't know what I'm going to do when my Pebble Time gives up the ghost. I'll probably buy a dumb, mechanical watch for a change. There's still nothing on the market remotely comparable with Pebble.
- teekert 6y agoYeah, I don't understand how there is still no simple smartwatch company without any fitness bs, with thin light >1 week always on screen. Years after Pebble did it. Does everyone but us really want and oled screen and heart rate monitor? I'd don't understand where Casio is with cheap BT smartwatches that can just show texts/notifications.
- iamwil 6y agoWorked on the ecommerce and marketing teams at Pebble. I can tell you we tried to tell people about our strengths: 1 week+ battery life. Always on screen. Readable in sunlight. Water resistant up to X meters. But what gets people to buy isn't what gets people to stay. I can tell you that by far, most people wanted the fitness angle with smartwatches. And all those features that you love about Pebble, while great, wasn't all that convincing for people after we ran out of die-hard fans like yourself.
- xyzzy_plugh 6y agoI turned down a job at Pebble after a call with VP of Eng. and when we were discussing the product, I mentioned that health & fitness seemed like the next big hurdle for them. He seemed to agree, but was almost uncomfortable admitting it. As if, "yeah, we know...". Anyways I turned them down and before May 2015 I started telling anyone who would listen that they were an amazing company full of smart people solving incredible problems that are completely unimportant to the world and FitBit would buy them sooner or later. I imagined a more successful exit than they got, and I miss my Pebble dearly to this day. FitBit's products are garbage.
- dawnerd 6y agoMy Boxee Box still works and I use it occasionally https://github.com/boxeehacks/boxeehack https://github.com/boxeehacks/boxeehack The remote still works great too.
- kilroy123 6y agoThat brings me back! I loved boxee and was so sad when the company shutdown.
- jhinra 6y agoReading this article got me wistful for my Peek https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(mobile_Internet_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(mobile_Internet_device). You can do so much with email (todo lists, news, etc) and the device just felt good. It had a physical keyboard (!) and a real scroll wheel on the side. Peek was also created by a small company but doesn't have the community support that the Chumby or Pebble has now. Maybe that's a product of being connected only to a cellular network?
- awiesenhofer 6y agoSuch a wonderfully simple device! I always wanted one of those. Do they still work/can they still access the internet?
- jhinra 6y agoSadly, no - there's no wifi option. Peeks were (seemingly) hard-wired into a T-Mobile network that is no longer operational.
- kendallpark 6y agoGamecube controllers. Three console generations later, Nintendo keeps re-releasing them. I'm not sure why they don't lean in harder and embrace the design as the standard Nintendo controller. It is the most ergonomic and intuitive game controller I've ever used. The asymmetric layout and shape of the A, B, X, and Y buttons make it impossible to forget which is which. All the controller needs for a 2020 refresh is a ZL button, a true analog for the C-Stick, and a slightly larger D-Pad. The electronics underneath are rock solid--a favorite for modders. Nothing has really changed except the cord length and the omission of metal braces in the triggers.
- dawnerd 6y agoThey need to make an exact replica on all their controllers that are wireless. The ones available now are slightly smaller and not even made by Nintendo. The quality just isn't there.
- kendallpark 6y ago100% agree. The 3rd party imitation controllers are not just not there yet. Best bet for now is to mod the GC controller with a Bluetooth adapter. Bluetooth adapter mod kit: https://hackaday.io/project/165060-bluecubemod-bluetooth-gamecube-controller-mod-kit https://hackaday.io/project/165060-bluecubemod-bluetooth-gam... Made my own "SwitchBird" using an 8bitdo gbros adapter: https://imgur.com/a/e3OwU3I https://imgur.com/a/e3OwU3I
- qqssccfftt 6y ago>I'm not sure why they don't lean in harder and embrace the design as the standard Nintendo controller. I hope not; I've used it and a Switch Pro Controller and I much prefer the pro controller.
- sorahn 6y agoI have so many hours in smash bros for the gamecube, I just can't play it on a different controller. My fingers get lost in the buttons. That doesn't happen for any other game, but there is just so much muscle memory for that specific game. Also I still have a wavebird that is alive and kicking, shame it lacks rumble.
- rwmj 6y agoI couldn't read the article because of ad blocker issues, but Logitech Squeezebox is going strong in this household. You can pick up the physical devices reasonably cheaply on ebay as people replace them with functionally worse and privacy invasive modern alternatives.
- freepor 6y agoThe analog outs on those Squeezeboxes are exquisitely clean.
- aurea 6y agoOur Squeezebox is still going as well, but with most using iOS devices at home, we’re not able to control it anymore because the app was discontinued. Does anyone know of a solution for iPhones?
- bcrack 6y agoPossibly the best solution would be an installation of the Logitech Media Server (LMS) on a raspberry pi (e.g. piCorePlayer [0]) or an already available home server. LMS can then handle all squeezeboxes (or squeezelite installations on other hardware) on the same network and allows control via a web interface. [0]: https://www.picoreplayer.org/ https://www.picoreplayer.org/
- aurea 6y agoThanks, I have an unused Raspberry Pi, I will try this out.
- davewongillies 6y agoIts not cheap but iPeng[0] is the most up to date squeezebox app for iOS [0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ipeng/id767266886 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ipeng/id767266886
- dementik 6y agoForget the native app, just use material-ui plugin for web UI. Works quite well on mobile.
- dzhiurgis 6y agoThere's millions of old routers running OpenWRT.
- oarfish 6y agoOff-Topic: Can we ban links which redirect to advertising domains? When I click this link, due to uMatrix I see that it redirects to https://guce.advertising.com/collectIdentifiers?sessionId=3_cc-session_4cf21ef9-2a5f-4f96-9010-faca569779de https://guce.advertising.com/collectIdentifiers?sessionId=3_... Which doesn't sound like something I would want to visit.
- encom 6y agoDidn't happen to me (but it has before). Instead I got a huge modal popup about something, which I didn't read, so I hit `back` immediately. archive.[is,ph,li,fo,vn,md,today] is like a condom for crappy websites like that. https://archive.ph/agh5m https://archive.ph/agh5m
- m463 6y agoarchive.* has some really strange dns-based tracking built in
- gruez 6y agoElaborate? Are you talking about the whole cloudflare ecs debacle?
- m463 6y agoif you load archive.<x> it will load a cache-busting specific-to-you dns name your.ip.address.foo.lots.of.stuff.pixel.archive.<x>/pixel.gif that gets by most blacklists including umatrix and others and they have a new domain name dujour so that too.
- Nerada 6y agoAnything on Archive.* fails to resolve for me for this reason; I just don't bother clicking their links anymore either.
- alias_neo 6y agouMatrix also blocked the link for me. I'm at the point now where I stop bypassing it for links like this, and just don't read the article. The information in the comments is almost always more interesting/useful anyway.
- joyj2nd 6y agoHP48 Thanks god there is Droid48
- freepor 6y agoFor me it’s film cameras. Because they were not a rapidly obsoleting product, they were built for decades upon decades of use. The mechanical perfection is just a joy to use in every knob and click. My two favorites are a Canon F-1 with 85mm f1.2 Lens, and a 1953 Rolleiflex with a 75mm Schneider f3.5 lens. Neither one needs a battery. A modern camera is built with the expectation that its sensor will be obsolete in 5-10 years so nobody will pay for the build quality for a 50 year service life. As I tell people when they ask about them, I’m not a photography enthusiast, I’m a camera enthusiast, taking pictures is just what I do to find an excuse to use these exquisite pieces of machinery.
- timw4mail 6y agoThere is just something about a decades-old mechanical device that still works. I'm not sure any company made a smoother film-winding mechanism than Nikon, especially on the Nikkormat series. And on the other side, you have the clunky soviet cameras, which one wonders how they worked in the first place, yet they still do.
- smileypete 6y agoIf you like old soviet tech then this channel might appeal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvvFI9XEW1w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvvFI9XEW1w Lengthy reviews of soviet consumer electronics, in one of the most ASMR sounding voices I've heard (subs available)
- pkorzeniewski 6y agoI never heard about Chumby before but oh my it's one of the most ugly and hideous product designs I have ever seen, I don't know why but looking at it makes me uneasy... something about the way that leather is cut, combined with the colors and overall shape, even the name is strange
- patrickk 6y agoiPod Classics also refuse to die, I'm using a used one I got cheap on eBay. You can also mod them with open source software (escaping the clutches of iTunes), install a higher capacity battery, replace the case and install a power-sipping micro SD card - if you so wish. It helps that it's not tied to a cloud service, you can get an older version of iTunes if you really need it. More details[1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19712077 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19712077
- OrangeMango 6y agoI found a couple of old iPods in the bottom of a box in my closet a month or two ago. My kids were interested so I dug around until I found one of those 30-pin cables. Plugged it into my Mac; it worked fine. I transferred a bunch of songs they wanted and the kids have been listening to them since. For one of them, Apple even had a software update available for it.
- meerita 6y agoAnyone still using a Palm III or similar with internet connection?
- jwr 6y agoThis site slams me in the face with a popup that tries to get me to "Agree" to all kinds of trackers. I tried to "Learn More", but there is no way to disagree, so, I guess no article for me. Goodbye.
- jdubb 6y agoExactly this. It uses all the dark patterns similar to sites like techcrunch. Is the incentive so big to have these trackers enabled?
- L0stLink 6y agoUsing Ublock origin with additional filters enabled, didn't get any popups or redirects (all built in, all under privacy, easylist from adds, all from malware domains, all from annoyances, Dan Pollock’s hosts file and Peter Lowe’s Ad and tracking server list from multipurpose, Adblock Warning Removal List from custom) additionally I have these custom rules to block YouTube suggestions so I can better focus, has the added advantage that the UI looks better, autoplay can be controlled from the player and playlist can be accessed in full screen mode (which is the only time I really need access to them). ##ytd-compact-video-renderer.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope ##.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope > paper-button.yt-next-continuation.style-scope www.youtube.com##ytd-compact-playlist-renderer.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope ! Block the upnext video and the autoplay button www.youtube.com###secondary
- ycombinete 6y agoI'm using Ublock Origin with no extras enabled and also go no pop-ups.
- m_t 6y agoI'm using Ublock Origin with no extras enabled and I had the popup. Since I'm using firefox, I just forced the Reader view by typing this in my address bar: about:reader?url=https://www.engadget.com/2020/03/03/undead-gadgets/
- 6y ago
- fidelramos 6y agoI still use an IBM Model M keyboard every day, made in 1993. I'm currently looking for a new keyboard that takes less desk space and doesn't require a PS/2 adapter, but the Model M still works fine and is a pleasure to type on. Keyboard rant: I'm appalled that it's so hard to find a good mechanical keyboard that is not meant for gamers with those RGB lights. Part of the problem is Europe, some options either don't get here or are usually out of stock. But even looking at the total market there are just not that many mechanical keyboards with quality switches, a simple backlight light and a USB hub with a couple ports in the keyboard.
- Paianni 6y agoThe outgoing HHKB Pro2 might interest you if it's within your budget. It's hard to find now as it's been replaced by the HHKB Pro Classic with no USB hub.
- fidelramos 6y agoI know HHKB are good quality, but I'm looking for a Tenkeyless (i.e. without numpad) keyboard, my muscle memory is too ingrained by now I fear. Also pretty ridiculous that the two USB ports are mini USB. I don't really have a budget if I could find the right keyboard, but after searching extensively there is none that checks all the boxes. Either I need to give up the USB ports, go with full size or go with lower quality (Das Keyboard). I thank you nonetheless for the suggestion!
- Paianni 6y agoThe USB ports are full-size although the power output on them is a bit low. Realforce 87/88U is TKL but has no hub.
- fidelramos 6y agoYou are right, the image on the website is just very small. The input USB port is the one that is mini-USB, probably for durability reasons (microUSB breaks easily).
- rvz 6y agoIt's the nostalgia of ye good olde days of when those devices where perceived as good ideas or the best in town when there was a early market growing when they were around. Their existence was tested by the competition and found to have been commercial failures but can still live on as useful toys, like the Commodore Amiga days, BeOS days and the CHIP days and so on. They are remembered and kept alive by niche communities around 'what if' they survived with open source alternatives, aftermarket additions or more additions. Very happy to see this and good luck to them.
- DeathArrow 6y agoI dislike gadgets as in "tech objects which primary function is to be perceived as cool and to make the owner feel good as owning it". I think tools can survive more than gadgets. I have an old HP LaserJet 4l which I think was manufactured in '90s and which still works like a charm. I also have a Nikon D300 DSLR which still works. My car is 16 years old.
- nicbou 6y agoThe gadgets listed in the article were meant to have a short shelf life. Though a few still survive, it was never intended. On the other hand, my more generic gadgets simply never die. My projector, my Bluetooth speaker, my headphones... they all do exactly what I bought them for. There might come a time when that's not enough, but that will be decided on my own terms. It won't be because of a dead server or a useless battery life. As you say, tools last a lot longer, because they were designed to fulfill a simple role without any bells and whistles. This is why I don't like the trend of pairing long-lasting tools to short-lived tech. A car or a watch will last a really long time. USB-C and Android 9.0 won't.
- fit2rule 6y agoGadgets don't die, their users do. Every single computer that was ever made is still out there, and a use could be found for them, somewhere in the world. We just don't have the resources to distribute 'old' computers for which find no use, to those who would find a use - so we throw them away, usually with the excuse 'archaic/outdated, consumes too much power, etc' - excuses that were as equally valid the day the machine came out of the box, but are only really issued when a human decision has been made. You can still pick up a stone axe and use it to feed your family, even if its original user died tens of thousands of years ago. The same is true of every single tool ever made - its only the arbitrary decision making of humans which make an inanimate object useful or otherwise. disclaimer: grumpy old retro computing enthusiast who really wants people to stop throwing functioning electronic gear in the landfill...
- justinclift 6y agoHmmm. I have an ancient dual Intel 3GHz Xeon Nocona (~2004 I think) with 5MB of RAM :) hanging around. It's mostly used as a stand for other things (powered off, but has good case) left on top of it. Although it runs, each of the two CPU's uses about 100w. And the whole thing running flat out is about as slow as an older model laptop. There's no real use for this things computing power any more, except on the very rare occasion I need to spin up some OS and don't have other available computing gear handy. So, the whole "all tools are useful" thing is only marginally true for very old computing stuff.
- fit2rule 6y agoNot useful for you. And that is your right, duty and responsibility as a user, and owner of the hardware. But there are tens of thousands of human beings within a few km's/clicks of you, I am willing to bet, who will find a use for that computer. A lot of valuable things can be done with 100w, should a user choose to apply it.
- justinclift 6y agoThat's 100w per cpu. eg this thing burns 200w continuously when on. A raspberry pi 3b+ is likely around the same computing power, and burns a small fraction of it. So, I really, really doubt it.
- stevewillows 6y agoI really regret not picking up a Little Printer when I had the chance. I've considered building a networked thermal printer, but its not quite the same. My dream is to have a 2" impact printer (e.g. receipt printer) for to-do, grocery, etc, lists. I really don't want to have a life of joy and pure bliss that relies on a thermal printer. I love the concept so much. With the others, I've still got three Pebbles and I love them all equally. The two OG Pebbles needed a piece of paper between the vibrating part and the screen, but the 2HR has been perfect. These concepts are all so great. Chumby is another I've always admired.
- asclepi 6y agoI had a Little Printer, and I believe the article is slightly over-romanticizing the device. It was slow, not only the printing itself but there would also be a considerable delay before it would start printing as everything had to go through the cloud. The printing paper had very uncommon dimensions and was hard to find. You could buy them from Berg, but they charged a lot for the rolls. There would also be a lot of paper waste due to the "face" that needed to be printed after every job. Cute, but no practical use. In the end, however, it did what it advertised, and it did so with remarkably few of the hiccups that were (and are still) common for the IoT devices of the time; it was a good "version 1" for an IoT device. It's unfortunate that they never got to make a second version. After the project was shuttered I bought an Epson TM-T20II. It prints from the LAN, it prints extremely quick, and the standard paper dimensions that it uses are easy to find on Amazon. It doesn't print a cute face after every job, though, but you can buy a buzzer add-on to make it beep after every job if you want.
- stevewillows 6y agowell, this is very reassuring! Weird that the face would print every time -- what a waste. I had thermal printer for a while for another purpose and loved it. It was so handy to have --- but ultimately, thermal paper isn't great for the ol' environment. Do you still use the thermal printer for lists and stuff?
- RaoulP 6y agoI agree on the Little Printer. I didn't get one, now I'm also on the lookout for something to fill that role.
- awiesenhofer 6y agoFor me its my Sony MiniDisc Player(s) and the MiniDisc format in general. Such a great medium, durable, great haptics. Works perfectly all these years later and still looks and feels like something from the future. Still angry at Sony though for basically killing it from the beginning with all their DRM.
- TrowthePlow 6y agoDo you need more empty MiniDiscs? I just found a new, in-wrapper one the other day at the bottom of a box of electronics as I was searching for N64 games :)
- ronancremin 6y agoWeb MiniDisc has added new life to the format. It lets you manage the contents of a MiniDisc ..from a web browser, thanks to WASM. Add MP3s, FLACs etc. https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/
- PeterStuer 6y agoIsn't it time for HN to start refusing links to domains that openly flaunt non-compliance with the GDPR?
- mjbrusso 6y agoHP-12C, been there since 1981
- gadders 6y agoSome people in the UK kept their early Tivos going for a while after Sky shut down the service. I think they found a way to supply the programme guide.
- Larrikin 6y agoMy mom loves her TiVo but basically has to spend hours on the phone every year and especially gets a new box. Years ago she paid a pretty significant amount of money for lifetime service and they try every year to force her off it and pay for a subscription.
- gadders 6y agoGood on her! In the UK, Tivos are tied to a specific cable service. I don't think you can get a standalone box over here.
- HumblyTossed 6y agoI recall wanting a chumby, but never got one. I have no interest in the new devices like Amazon, Google and Apple have come out with, however.
- flippyhead 6y agoIt really feels like in 2020 it's possible for a one or two person team to create a successful hardware company.
- HeyLaughingBoy 6y agoBeen like that forever. My first job was at an electronic hardware company started by the owner in his basement in the late 70's. I wasn't there at the time, but I heard he had about 15 people working in the basement until they finally moved to a rented storefront. He wasn't billions of $$$ successful, but he sold the company for about a million or so in 1989. Last I heard from him, he was living on a Caribbean island.
- habosa 6y agoI know it's not that old but after ~7 years on paper books I recently went back to my Kindle Paperwhite 1st generation which I bought in 2012 ... I was pretty shocked that it just booted up and I was able to start buying and reading books again. I had a software update or two but I didn't even have to sign in to my Amazon account again.
- brk 6y agoWhile I think it is dead now, the 3Com Audrey was another gadget that was hacker/user supported and lived on long after its official demise. A mini (mostly) functional web terminal was a pretty novel thing when it was released.
- macintux 6y ago> “The Chumby was introduced shortly after WiFi was introduced," Andrew "bunnie" Huang, Chumby's founder, told Engadget. "To rewind to those times, there were no smartphones, and if you wanted to use your computer away from your desk, it meant dragging an ethernet cord to your bedside." The first PowerBook with WiFi was released in 1999. The Chumby in 2006.
- vageli 6y agoYeah I remember when the chumby came out I was debating getting one but couldn't think of a use case for it (besides the ever-popular-at-the-time live twitter feed or something along those lines).
- AdmiralAsshat 6y agoSansa Fuze mp3 players are still kicking around, with open source replacement firmware like Rockbox still under active development. I'm kicking myself that I gave mine to a friend around 2012 when I got my first smartphone.I feel like the used price on them has actually gone up in recent years, as nearly all smartphones have since removed their headphone jacks, and battery life on smartphones can't hold a candle to dedicated mp3 players.
- theandrewbailey 6y agoI got a Sansa Clip (something or other) around 2012. I barely tolerated it for a few years until I discovered Rockbox. Now, it's a joy to use! I would gladly use it every day if given the chance. I hear new batteries get manufactured from time to time, and my parents have a Clip that they don't use if mine breaks.
- jimmydddd 6y agoI got a Fuze in 2008 because they supported a WiFi connection to LAUNCHcast radio (acquired by Yahoo! at the time). (LAUNCH as probably the first streaming service with a recommendation engine.) I had spent years curating my personal LAUNCHcast station, so it was amazing to have access to it via Wifi. Then Yahoo! shut down LAUNCH because of fears of high royalty rates. The streaming services actually won the lawsuit and kept the low rates, but it was too late as Yahoo! had already pulled the plug on LAUNCH.
- blackfawn 6y agoSansa Fuze + Rockbox are great and even better together! I even used to watch movies on mine on flights (before phones had giant screens and laptops had decent battery life) I still use mine for music since it's a convenient size and I don't have to worry about draining the battery on my phone. And unlike people trying to bring in mobile phones, I was also allowed to use it when I was selected for jury duty (while waiting for selection, of course!)
- racuna 6y agoI still using my Sony Smartwatch 2 (2014), not even changed the wristband. The only thing is lack of software updates and support. Sony made very good hardware. But they are not good updating their software. Just like the Sony Xperia Play, they don't even upgrade their Android version when they could.
- racuna 6y agoCowon X7. Heavy, weird UI, but very good sound and capacity (160Gb)
- lostgame 6y agoiPods. I have several friends who have, within the last year, sourced out classic iPods for personal use - I personally find my first-gen iPod shuffle to be one of the most useful digital devices in my collection. Next - old game consoles. My Nintendo DS and Sega Saturn consistently get the most use out of any console I've ever had, to the point where I've stopped buying new consoles. Best part - I turn it on, pop in the game, no waiting for updates. It's amazing. Not to mention top-notch games like Animal Crossing: Wild World, Scribblenauts, New Super Mario Bros, Sonic Rush, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Mario Kart DS, Panzer Dragoon, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Street Fighter II Alpha (which I am constantly playing with friends) - the list goes on and on. I could turn on my Dreamcast if I wanted to bask in Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Grind Radio, etc...but there's enough great games for these systems alone I haven't played that it makes it completely irrelevant to buy a new system. Because in 20 years since I bought my Dreamcast I have still yet to siphon all the value out of it I can get.