[Samurai]

Guys,

Ok, your mobile phone can be excused. Now even an average villager carries a mobile and it has become as ubiquitous as a wrist watch.

But what else do you carry on person all the time? Have you become a gadget freak?

Here is a list of gadgets that can make you look freaky: Gadgets that make you look like a jerk - Digital Home- msnbc.com

Let's show off some gadgets we had from the early era, the pre-historic gizmos.

Here is my first PDA in 1993, I didn't own it, but I had it for a while. I recently found a snap in one of my old negatives.


This was the first PDA I bought in 1996-97. The 32KB Casio Digital Diary.



Here is the second PDA I bought, the Xircom REX 6000. It was a PCMCIA card and could fit into my wallet.


Yes, the Microsoft watch. Bet most of you never knew Microsoft was briefly into watches. This one communicated wirelessly with the PC using barcodes. I presented this to my brother in 1995.


This is how it communicated, run the sync software on the PC, and hold the watch towards the screen. The software displays series of barcodes and the barcode reader on the watch reads it and updates the contact numbers, etc. Don't ask me the datalink speed.

That's it for today, hope you enjoyed it.

[ajitkommini]

Samurai, if you think the Microsoft watch is a relic, I had (till recently) a Casio Databank remember that one? used to store around 50 phone numbers and had a 'dialer'. The way it worked was, press dial and hold it in front of a telephone receiver, and it emits a series of DTMF tones (the same tones you hear when pressing the keys on a push-button phone). Only trouble is, when I got it, Half the telephone exchanges in bangalore were pulse and not DTMF!!

[srasania]

oh man..the first pic of the Casio organizer reminds me of my 32kb casio organiser long long back..i got it from dad as a present on my birthday years years back..!..and was so happy tht i had a 32kb organizer !!!...and showing it off to friends,etc !..those were the days man !..
I didn't know about the microsoft watch though..!..pretty cool..
Cheers,
-sr

[esteem_lover]

I have a relic of a discman (aiwa). Will put up the pic shortly.

[DCEite]

Here is a Pager, widely used in late 90's.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by srasania

oh man..the first pic of the Casio organizer reminds me of my 32kb casio organiser long long back..i got it from dad as a present on my birthday years years back..!..and was so happy tht i had a 32kb organizer

Oops! that just reminded me, this was the first PDA I purchased, not REX 6000, that was second.

[navin]

Well long before all this there was something called a FiloFax. We used a pen much like you guys use a stylus.

[theMAG]

Surprisingly, I cant think of any gadget that I've used before that I've not used recently. Unless calculators count

[Jomz]

I've a commodore 64.... Dad bought it on a whim... We still have it.. Heard that it still works.... It was Funny.. a Keyboard and a TV...

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Surprisingly, I cant think of any gadget that I've used before that I've not used recently.

@MAG, your N-series

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

@MAG, your N-series

Of course, how did I forget that? You the genius

[pawan]

you guys had some amazing stuff the only thing i can think of from 93 is my car toys.

[squarecut]

5 1/4" floppy disks do not count, I hope. I saw them being used in Malda (Bengal) as late as 2001.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by squarecut

5 1/4" floppy disks do not count, I hope. I saw them being used in Malda (Bengal) as late as 2001.

No, no. Let's focus on fancy gadgets, not the normal stuff of earlier days. If not everything that's old ends up here. By that rule, pagers won't count here, that was quite common place.

Here is one more. My most expensive impulsive disaster purchase. The $400 video eyewear:
Watching one movie can give you a day long head ache.

In the mid 90s I also bought an equipment that enabled viewing 3D movies on your normal TV. You had to wear special 3D glasses to watch it. One needed specially recorded 3D VHS tapes, that was the catch. Although it worked well, getting the 3D tapes was a pain.

[amitoj]

A gadget freak may not be a gadget jerk!

Btw, according to that article, having linux makes you a jerk!! LOL. We know now where the jerks actually are.