Technabob » vhs

VHS Coffee Table: Be Kind, Rewind (and Keep Your Feet off of It!)

Technabob — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:45:53 +0000

VHS tapes might have gone the way of the dinosaur, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fond memories of the dominant video format before the rise DVD, Blu-ray and streaming. Kick back, relax, and remember the days when you had to rewind your movies and keep them away from magnets with this awesome handmade VHS tape coffee table.

While it’s not made out of actual VHS tapes, this stack of three giant wooden VHS tapes is way cooler than that. The limited-edition VHS tape coffee table from Amsterdam’s T76, and is handcrafted from teak wood in Indonesia.

The table features intricately carved details from VHS cassettes, including those windows that let you see through to the reels, and handwritten titles on the labels. Since each cassette seems to have multiple titles, and the write-protect tabs haven’t been punched out, I can only imagine these are bootlegged copies of these classic movies. Quick, call the MPAA!

The VHS coffee table measures appx. 49″ (W) x 25.5″(D) x 16″ (H), and weighs just under 80 pounds, shipped. It sells for $1980 (USD), plus shipping, and can be ordered from t76 by emailing them at order[at]t76design.com. Just make sure not to pop open the side and pull all the tape out of it. I know you want to.

[Thanks for the tip, Tom!]

Vhs Coffee Table: My Betamax Table is Better

Range — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:56:55 +0000

Just like me, you’ve probably got a bunch of VHS tapes in storage somewhere. Let’s be honest, some of us just can’t throw away some of this stuff. That’s why I really like this coffee table, made up of of old VHS tapes.

Luisa Montealegre used 92 VHS tapes to make this cool coffee table. Luisa also decorated the tapes before using them in her project. It’s a good idea and it recycles some tech that will usually find its way to the garbage heap. It’s such a simple concept, but I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.

What do you think, will you hack your VHS tapes into something useful? What will you make with yours?

[via Make:]

Nick Gentry’S Floppy Disk Paintings Offer Recycled Memories

Range — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:54:17 +0000

Even though you don’t want to admit it, you probably still got a stash of floppy disks hidden around somewhere, just like you probably have a stash of cassette tapes hidden in a pile of old stuff.

For some geeks, it’s hard to throw out old technology-related stuff, kind of like how some fashionistas have trouble throwing out old clothes. Heck, I probably have 4-6 old computers in storage at home. I don’t know why, but I still do.

Well Nick Gentry decided to use those good old floppy disks for a purpose, other than just taking up space. Nick’s art portfolio includes some really cool mixed media paintings, most incorporating old floppy disks.

You can check out many more of Nick’s amazing floppy disk creations over on his website, where you’ll also find that he has a fondness for VHS tapes.

[via Design You Trust]

Old Vhs Tapes Turned Into Slightly Less Old Hard Drives

Technabob — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:23:48 +0000

Need some additional storage for your computer? Then you might want to check out these wacky hard drives, fashioned out of old VHS tapes. Sure, VHS tape tech is definitely obsolete, but aren’t hard drives on their way out too? It just begs the question: why not a Betamax cassette with a 3.5″ floppy drive inside; or a U-Matic tape with a punch card reader built in?

So back to the topic at hand… The guys over at CentennialMerchant have been ripping out the guts of classic movie VHS tapes, and embedding new hard drives inside them. Ok, Star Trek: The Motion Picture doesn’t really count as a “classic.”

Was there really a need for a “Longer Edition” of this movie? All I remember is the original theatrical release had about 45 minutes of indulgent footage panning around the exterior of the Enterprise, and the second worst “futuristic” costumes in the history of mankind. The EPCOT Center employee wardrobe wins first prize.

Personally, I hated Top Gun as much as the next guy, but at least they have the original Star Wars trilogy available too.

The drives range in price from $104.99 (USD) for a 320GB model, to $154.99 for the 640GB model. And if you have a favorite movie, they’ll make one custom for you if they can find the VHS version for me. You can find them all over on CentennialMerchant’s Etsy shop.

Personally, I’ll only be truly impressed when they can cram an 8-inch floppy drive inside a Blu-ray disc.

Retro Skins Make for Delicious Apple Gadgets

Lambert Varias — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:46:28 +0000

Infectious is like Threadless for your gadgets – the designs are submitted by users, so you’re bound to find something that suits your tastes. Here are a bunch of retro laptop, iPod and iPhone skins currently available at Infectious:

The awesome cassette tape player skin is called Retro Stuff is Better, designed by Tony Aguero. Michael Sison calls his Gameboy skin Monochrome. Both have iPod Classic and iPod Touch versions. The iPod Classic version of the Monochrome covers the scroll wheel with a large d-pad. Sweet.

And that’s the appropriately named VHS Heroes skin by Hollis Brown Thornton. I think it looks way better as a laptop skin, but it’s also available as an iPod Touch, Nano and Classic skin. All iPod and iPhone skins sell for $15 (USD), while laptop skins sell for $30. Head on over to Infectious for more designs. The shop also has instructions on applying the skins, but you can also check out Testfreaks’ review of Infectious iPhone skins for a tutorial, complete with photos.

[via holycool]

Classic iMac + Vhs Deck = Ivhs [Casemod]

Technabob — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:25:41 +0000

Back in its day, the design of the classic iMac was pretty groundbreaking. Sure, by today’s standards, the original iMac was a little bulbous, but did it really deserve this punishment?

The mutant offspring of an old G3 iMac and a VHS deck, Cory Baker’s iVHS casemod is one of the ugliest Mac designs I’ve ever seen. Heck, even the original iBook toilet seat design was more attractive.

I guess the only good news here is that this bastard child didn’t get its start as an actual iMac. Cory actually purchased an a la carte iMac motherboard off of eBay (for about 20 bucks) and modded it to fit into the case of his old VHS deck. With the addition of an ATX power supply, a few cables, a VGA connector and some electrical tape, this Frankenstein’s monster of a Macintosh was born.

At least he could have used a Betamax deck, couldn’t he?