CNET.uk has a feature on “Format wars: the tech that should have won,” sizing up some media and computer systems that lost out in the marketplace, despite their technical advantages. The article imagines a world where technologies like the 8-track and Betamax predominated, instead of cassettes and VHS. Two of my favorites–that I still use–are […]
Archive | retro tech
Can Data Storage Media Ever Be Retro-Cool?
It must be retro-goodness week. While I’m musing about cassettes, Aj files a Requiem for the Floppy. I actually backed up all my old 3.5″ PC floppies onto CD-R (two copies each, of course) this past spring. Less than 10% of them were bad, but because I’m kind of obsessive about backing up, it seemed […]
Next Big Retro Thing: The Cassette Revival
I’m not known for my trend-watching skills. I won’t be selling my consulting services to corporate America in order to peek into the mind of youth culture or what’s hot with generation Z. But occasionally my antennae are sensitive enough to pick up a low-level lame-geek trend. It occurred to me today that there has […]