Nothing as old as old techology
While prepping for a “huge” neighborhood yard sale, I decided to look in our attic to see if there were any salable items. Ours is not an easy attic to get to,
My foot searching for a toehold
and (it appears) that I stored most of the stuff there prior to 1985, when we built a garage. (which now also has a full attic) And what a treasure-trove of useless junk I discovered!
NOT yard-sale grade!
A 1982 Timex-Sinclair 1000 “personal computer”…. billed as ‘The First Personal Computer Under $100” It has 2 kb of RAM memory! (that’s at least 100,000 times less that whatever computer you’re using now has!)
A reel-to-reel tape deck that my cousin brought back from Vietnam. (analog tapes, come on!)
A clock with ROMAN numerals.
Car radios with built-in cassette decks, tubs of electron tubes… and the best (and most useless item)… our first TV (handed down from the in-laws) …. although it apparently still works, there are no longer any analog TV stations to watch. I remember viewing “Falcon Crest” on this thing. (which starred the former Mrs. Ronald Reagan)
In 25 years (?) will I have to cart dozens of smart phones, I-pads, satellite radios, HDTV’s and Kindles to the landfill? At least they’ll be lighter.
(by the way, none of this stuff is going to the yard sale, but you can! Saturday Sept 11th, 9 to 5 @ 138 Meade Rd. across from Boyden Brook Body Shop, Canton)
Hang on to that reel-to-reel tape recorder! You never know what might be on those tapes.
Dear Bob,
Don’t be so eager to call it useless junk. Your analog tape reel-to-reel
deck will reproduce sound far superior to any compressed digital audio
that you get on your I-pads. Save your self 25 years and put your I-pad
in the landfill now. Because you will not get 25 years of use out of it.
I will take your reel-to-reel deck off your hands. Name your price.
David
Don’t worry about a thing…. I still have four professional quality reel-to-reels in my office at NCPR! The one (now somewhat moist in the back of my truck) has bad heads and wasn’t that great in the first place. But Dave, you’re welcome to it.
Well Bob. I’m not sure if you are complaining or bragging. While that old reel to reel might not be worth much, I’m sure it would bring joy to someone that appreciates analog recordings. About those tubs of electron tubes: even some of the more prosaic types fetch upwards of 75.00, some of the tubes as found in radio station processing gear are worth 200.00 or more. How about donating the proceeds to NCPR?
About that old television set and your statement that “there are no longer any analog TV stations to watch”, one might argue there are no longer any TV programs worthwhile to watch. I turned off the TV in house years ago, so much for that old technology!
Stephen, I was probably doing three things: complaining (about my own pack-rattedness), bragging (that I’d finally bit the bullet and disposed of some of the trash in the attic) and obfuscating….. because I was a little disingenuous about what I threw away. I did save all the tubes, and I still have four working professional tape decks (this old TEAC honestly had spend too much time in the damp attic to be of any use to any one) and I saved the Timex Sinclair computer… and the clock! And you’re right, TV WAS better when that old B & W set was new.
I remember the Timex at your Christmas party. We managed to write a couple of games with random bad responses for poor moves. Is it still in memory? Your dad was impressed.
A
How much for the foot?
A