3 Retro Technologies Worth Celebrating

This week, Google decided to celebrate the 57^th anniversary of the first Video Cassette Recorder, or VCR, being sold in 1956. Yes, you read right. 1956. The first VCR was developed by a company called Ampex and it was sold for $50,000. Not bad, considering that it’s awfully difficult to buy a brand new VCR today.

So, that got us to thinking. What other “retro” technology do we wish we could buy brand new that has had as much impact on the world as a VCR has? After all, without VCRs, we wouldn’t have DVRs—and I know how much I enjoy my DVR.

Editor’s Note: On some YouTube Videos, you can now click the “VCR” button and it will transform the video into that retro, grainy look. Try it out!

1. Record Players – Now, this is going to date me, but I got my first record player when I was six years old. My father bought it for me and I remember my grandmother bought me a record of the Mickey Mouse Club to play. I loved that thing. I wore it out. I remember trying to learn how to place the needle EXACTLY in the right spot to minimize scratching and to ensure the song started precisely in the right place. Better yet, it was among my first introductions to good music, which would go on to become a life long passion of mine.

2. Slide Film – You’re probably saying, “slide film—what’s that?” That is the technical name given to those little plastic tubes of film that were loaded in cameras in the days before digital photography. In the early 1970s, the film (and most of the cameras) were made by Eastman Kodak Company, which led to Paul Simon, of all people, singing their praises by releasing the song Kodachrome.

Amazingly, 40 years after that song was released, The Eastman Kodak Company declared bankruptcy in 2012. The reason? They actually built one of the first digital cameras in 1975, but figured that no one would use it. Kinda feels like they forgot to take the lens cap off on that one, doesn’t it?

3. Walkman – What discussion of retro technology would be complete without a discussion on the Sony Walkman? I remember wanting one so badly as a kid that I was willing to go without any other presents for Christmas in order to get one (I know plenty of kids who feel that way about their smartphones today.) Regardless, most people believe that the Sony Walkman would not have been as big a hit had it not been for the fact that it’s launch coincided with the aerobics craze of the 1980s. Personally, I think it would have been a success regardless, because teenage boys would have bought them in droves just so they had something to listen to while their fathers watched them mow the lawn.

What retro technologies do you remember fondly? Tell us in the comments or share your memories on Facebook or Twitter!

--Andrew Parker, Managing Editor