May 19, 2006
1980s Tech
HowStuffWorks has a retrospective of 1980s tech, including PCs, camcorders, cellphones, and more (along with plain-language technical explanations). Most of the technology appears outsized and cartoonish compared to today's incarnations (like the early cellphone above—not something you're going to stick in your front pocket).
I can remember driving with a realtor in the early 1980s. He had the predecessor of the cell phone -- an in-car radio phone. The way this worked was simple. There was a big radio tower in the middle of the city. The car had a big radio in the trunk -- This was a huge 25 watt radio transmitter/receiver. Inside the car was a handset and a button panel that let you choose between one of four different channels. Yes, in the early 1980s, the entire city of Raleigh, NC was served by four radio telephone channels. That's how rare car radio phones were at that time. They were incredibly expensive.
Several decades from now, our grandchildren will be saying, "You mean you had to carry your cellphone around? They weren't implants?" But they'll still be asking, "Where's my flying car?"
[via Gizmodo]
Posted by johndanseven at May 19, 2006 12:26 AM