Tag: 1980s

While it’s certainly no longer the case, there was a time when solving the Rubik’s Cube was one of the greatest accomplishments of the geek world. Now, there are people (and robots) who can solve it in a matter of seconds.

If there’s one thing I don’t miss about the early days of GUI-based computing, it’s those uncomfortable mice with the squared-off edges, which clearly weren’t designed for the human hand. About the only thing worse in my opinion was those stupid puck mice that came with the original iMac.

Like classic arcade games? Why not treat your houseguests to a game of Pac-Man the minute they arrive at your home? I’m not proposing that you put an arcade cabinet on your front porch, though. This Pac-Man doormat should definitely do the trick.

While Apple is known for their industrial design and packaging, their early branding elements weren’t exactly the sleek, modern, minimal ones of the 21st century. That said, I still love the time capsule that is the 1983 Apple Gift Catalog.

While I’m particularly excited about LEGO’s new VW Camper Van, I have to say that this retro LEGO creation is equally as awesome. What you’re looking at here is a Roland Jupiter 8 synthesizer, built from LEGO bricks.

I’m totally dating myself, but back in the day, I owned an Atari 520ST computer. Under the hood of this powerhouse of its time was the same processor you’d find in the more expensive early Macintosh computers, along with the unique ability to control musical instruments via MIDI, and advanced full color graphics.

Well, actually, there was no 1982 TRON Christmas show, but the guys at Funny or Die perfectly captured the feel of those horrible early Eighties holiday specials in this hilarious parody clip.

Now I was always a big Atari fanboy back in the day, with one of my first computers being an Atari 800, followed later by an Atari 5200. But one of the things Atari was notorious for back in the day was their long list of vaporware and delayware systems.

See if you can name all of the iconic retro images you’ll find in cutoutpaper’s Retro Laser Cut art. I definitely recognize my Speak & Spell, NES controller, Casio calculator watch, Etch-a-Sketch, ViewMaster, Atari joystick and Rubik’s Cube.

I have a thing for cars and gadgets. I tend to mark the films and TV shows of my childhood by the car the characters drove and the gadgets in the flick. Magnum PI had his Ferrari, Rockford had his Trans Am, Bo and Luke had the General, and Back to the Future II had that sweet DeLorean, the hover board, and those shoes that lace themselves.

On the surface, this TRON-inspired NES mod doesn’t look like much. But when the lights go down, it’s like a Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner invited your console to a party. Once fully charged with black light, Thretris‘ modded NES really comes to life, glowing with a brightness that could only be bested if it were electroluminescent.

Star Wars geeks are getting older and it’s time to teach the next generation about the world of Jedi and Sith. This should be made a lot easier with the Return of the Jedi jungle gym, from Gym Dandy.

In the ultimate insult to his shiny new Sony PS3, modder Baron Von Shaggy took his modern-day gaming console and shoved it inside a crusty old Compaq portable computer. Shaggy ripped out the guts of the old Compaq, and replaced the circuitry with the boards from his PlayStation 3.

Remember those old Nintendo Game & Watch LCD games from back in the 1980s? Well if you’re a fan of these classic precursors to modern handheld games, you’ll be happy to hear they’re back! Only this time, they’re much, much smaller.

These Atari-themed shot glasses manage to combine two of my favorite pastimes addictions – one from my childhood (playing Battle Zone), and one from my adulthood (sipping shots of Pappy Van Winkel’s.) The set of 6 shot glasses includes graphics from six retro Atari arcade games: Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, Breakout, Missile Command and the aforementioned Battle Zone.

Back in the ’80s, Apple was already thinking about a tablet-like computer. These are the early prototypes that were created all the way back in 1983. This tablet was named Bashful, which seems kind of strange.