old on technabob...

vintage calculators web museum: the accountant’s happy place

corvus-check-master-1

If you think that a bunch of old calculators isn’t as interesting as a collection of old toy robots, well you’re mostly right. A calculator is useful – hell, even an abacus is more useful than a toy robot -  but it’s also one of the most boring gadgets ever. It calculates. End of story.…

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October 7th, 2009 comments stumble it! digg it! author: lambert v.

filed under: gadgets mobile tech retro strange + wonderful technology

rare computer space arcade machines turn up on ebay

computer_space_yellow

Wanna own a bit of video game history? Then get your ass on over to eBay and put in your bid on one of these original Computer Space machines that are currently up for auction.

The seller “mywantlist”, is offering both an original super-rare yellow Computer Space machine (only 1800 made), and one of the slightly less…

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September 10th, 2009 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: retro technology video games

rare red original mac computer up for bid on ebay

first_mac_computer

This just in… It turns out the very first MAC computer was not released in 1984 by Apple. In fact, you can get your hands on a very rare candy apple red MAC made all the way back in 1980 if you’re the high bidder over on eBay.

Gotcha! This relic from 1980 wasn’t made…

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August 30th, 2009 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing retro technology

windows 7 runs on a pentium 2 [how low can you go?]

windows_7_ultimate_pentium_2

Some expert computer technician crazy person has managed to get Windows 7 to run on a ridiculously underpowered Pentium II PC. Why? I say, why not?

Amazingly enough, PC enthusiast Hackerman1 got his old 266 MHz Pentium II machine loaded up with Windows 7 Ultimate. The machine has a paltry 96MB of RAM, and a…

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June 23rd, 2009 comments (12) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing retro technology

remote controlled granny does her own stunt work

When somebody says to me that they’ve got a new radio controlled vehicle for me to look at, I usually think of cars, trucks, helicopters or maybe even a tank. The last thing to pop into my mind is someone’s grandma strapped to a wheelchair. But what’s to say that I’ve always gotta be right?…

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July 17th, 2008 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: cool toys just plain fun

electronic paper could have worked like this

Electronic Newsboy

For those of you out there who aren’t big fans of electronic paper devices like the Amazon Kindle and Sony’s e-Reader, just be thankful that we didn’t end up in an alternative universe where this was the way you’d receive your daily newspaper.

The guys over at Modern Mechanix dug up this priceless gem of…

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December 26th, 2007 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: retro weird science

second rotation: turn old gadgets into cash

Second Rotation Description

Are you an early adopter like me? If so, I bet you’ve got some old electronic gear lying around and gathering dust. This new service makes it easy to easily make some cold hard lucre in exchange for your old gadgets.

Second Rotation provides all the tools you need to quickly estimate the value of…

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July 24th, 2007 comments (5) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: gadgets

worst computer ever

Soviet Sinclair ZX Clone

Check out this rare DELTA-C vintage Soviet computer (if you can call 1991 “vintage”) that I found over on eBay. It’s apparently a clone of the classic Sinclair ZX personal computer, but it sure looks like something you’d find down in a Dharma station on LOST.

I especially like the keycaps that have paper labels…

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March 19th, 2007 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing retro strange + wonderful

miracles of modern medicine: the giant eyeball magnet

800 pound magnet

This makes me very, very glad that medical science has progressed in our lifetimes. Apparently, back in the 1930’s, doctors thought this giant, 800-lb. magnet would be a good way to remove metal fragments from patients’ eyes.

It’s also quite good for sucking all the metal fillings out of their heads. I’m pretty sure that…

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January 26th, 2007 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: retro strange + wonderful