Retro Tech Aesthetics

[The Westerley]

There's a lot of beautifully designed old tech out there, lets bask in their aesthetics.

I'll start with this awesome portable SHARP VCR:

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What have you got to share?

Thats dope.

 

[footcut]

I see a lot of consumer electronics here. What about old industrial equipment?

 

[Rikstah]

The Xerox Alto, an experimental PC from the mid 70s that was many decades ahead of its time. Object oriented programming, ethernet, GUI, mouse driven OS.

Xerox had it all in the palm of their hands at one point

 

[brentw]

Hey boss, I got a couple guys here, a Steve and, uh, Bill.
They want to take a look at the Alto project.

 

[Novem_IX]

 

[brentw]

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I typically hate the late 90'- early 2000's "silver plastic + rounded edges = the future" aesthetic but I unironically think that things is awesome and I wish I had one.

 

[Rikstah]

Hey boss, I got a couple guys here, a Steve and, uh, Bill.
They want to take a look at the Alto project.

haha exactly.

There's an excellent book called "Dealers of Lightning" that goes into the whole story in more detail.

Even though they didn't grab the entire PC market like they could've, the Palo Alto research centre more than paid for itself many times over because of the billions they made from the laser printer.

 

[elavat0r]

I'm in love with the design of laser disc players, especially the Magnavision:

View: https://youtu.be/EJ5msrmf5Tw

 

[elia925-6]

I typically hate the late 90'- early 2000's "silver plastic + rounded edges = the future" aesthetic but I unironically think that things is awesome and I wish I had one.

Honestly, the only downside was the bad quality of cheap plastic in consumer devices.

 

[Max Chill]

The soviets were close to pumping out their own vibe of retro. Sadly, their design bureau don't pump out much usable designs despite having unique and pleasing aesthetic designs stuck and piled up in their drawers. Imagine how people would clamber for these post-1991 if the Soviets managed to produce products with aesthetics like these before the dissolution, they'll be like the SKS's of the retro tech surplus market.

 

[elia925-6]

The soviets were close to pumping out their own vibe of retro. Sadly, their design bureau don't pump out much usable designs despite having unique and pleasing aesthetic designs stuck and piled up in their drawers. Imagine how people would clamber for these post-1991 if the Soviets managed to produce products with aesthetics like these before the dissolution, they'll be like the SKS's of the retro tech surplus market.

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Reminds me of 70's industrial design, which it got revisited again in early 2000s as part of 30 year nostalgia rule.

 

[brentw]

Came by pictures of some pretty obscure old tech I love the look of.

A creative attempt to redesign the mouse:

NASA's old work with VR:

Buick Riviera, WAAAAY ahead of it's time:

 

[JihyoParkXX]

We really peaked at clear tech huh, I loved these growing up and I really wished I could mod my PSP clear.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and Nothing Earbuds are two newer tech of which caught my eye in recent years.

Honorable mention for the Yeezus cassette tape.

 

[ReadItMyGuy67]

Look at this beautiful thing. Modern record players cannot compare.

That is one beautiful record player

 

[RIG]

 

[Sketch Relics]

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I know who these phones belong to

As far a retro tech goes, i do have a fondness for arcade machines and pinball tables

 

[Some_porcupine]

Do you need me | Do you miss *it* | Y2K ~ mid 2010s

Signal-201 // VFD Clock + Timer Device (Russia, 1970s)

www.tumblr.com

Do you need me | Do you miss *it* | Y2K ~ mid 2010s

www.tumblr.com

Do you need me | Do you miss *it* | Y2K ~ mid 2010s

Vintage Clear Blue Phone

www.tumblr.com

reflecting on my positionality

// Roadhog and Junkrat are Trans ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ // ----> Madcap. They/Them. A bitter queer. Why must I exist? We just don't know lmfao //Craft, Art, and Experimentation Blog: mx-alchemist.tumblr.com //

www.tumblr.com

 

[PraxHeadroom]

The dashboard alone is enough to make me want a Corvette C4 someday

I also have a soft spot for old luggable computers, but my favorite is probably the Kaypro II. I think it'd be really interesting to see where the design philosophy would have gone in the 90s and 2000s had they not been replaced by laptops.

 

[brentw]

View: https://youtu.be/EJ5msrmf5Tw

We got Leonard Nimoy for the promotional video boss. He's that Star Trek guy right? Lets have him talk to a rock. They talk to rocks in Star Trek right?

 

[imnotdeadyet]

I've always loved the look of these old SGI workstations, especially the SGI Indigo: