• @[email protected]
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    911 days ago

    I own a model electric train that was built in 1937. So, 88 years young?

    Runs well, it’s kinda weird to think that this was a toy and this level of build quality was normal. To be fair, it wasn’t exactly. This was a high end toy aimed at affluent teens and young adults. It would have been equivalent to buying a new PlayStation. But still, I have trouble imagining any toy you could buy today that would hold up like this.

  • Lorindól
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    812 days ago

    I have a battery operated tube radio from mid to late 1940’s. It even works, but the battery it uses is getting rare and quite expensive. And my country doesn’t really use AM radio broadcasts anymore, so it’s more of a curiosity nowadays.

    I also have a lot of working stuff from the 1950’s, mostly radios and amplifiers. Great gear, and much easier to service than their modern counterparts.

    • @[email protected]
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      12 days ago

      Hah, you stumbled upon one of Lemmy’s weird UI quirks. If you start a line with a number and period, it assumes you’re making a numbered list. But that period is placed at a specific indent, so long numbers spill off the left side of the screen.

      1. Here’s what it is supposed to look like.

      (Adding a line break here)

      1. And here is what happens when the number is too long.

      It only works with 8 numbers or less though, because 99999999 is the highest value that the numbered list supports.

  • @[email protected]
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    1012 days ago

    i have an old magnavox TV from the early 70s, with the wooden slat curtain thing you pull in front of it.

    Old 8 track players,

    my great grandfather was an electrical engineer and made some custom lighting controls in wooden boxes, with dials and meters and switches, he did made it all for his church!

    from that same grandfather, he had some portable reel to reel tape recording stuff, an old portable projector that comes in a cast iron cowl.

    tons of stuff that everyone makes fun of me for holding on to.

    • @[email protected]
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      412 days ago

      i have an old magnavox TV from the early 70s, with the wooden slat curtain thing you pull in front of it.

      i grew up on old floor wooden console tv’s and had one up until 2014 when it died and discovered that neither replacement parts nor repairmen existed anymore despite the tv being manufactured not very long ago in 1992.

      i haven’t bought a tv ever since then and my plasma died after only 8 years, so i don’t have a tv anymore; but would instantly buy one they made another console tv.

      • @[email protected]
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        312 days ago

        i keep wanting to rip the guts out and install a 40 inch tv with some self hosted stuff in the cabinet, amplifier etc.

        it would be cool! but also that thing is cool as it is

        • @[email protected]
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          312 days ago

          i thought about doing this multiple times, but each time i remember that i’m considerably less handy than i like to think i am and that my hubris lead me to almost killing myself when i changed the breaks on my car myself. lol

  • scytale
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    1412 days ago

    I cleaned up when I moved, so the oldest gadget I have right now is a 15 year old MSI laptop, still happily running with linux.

  • @[email protected]
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    212 days ago

    A panasonic lumix dmc-fz50 that I got from my mum after she got her new camera. It’s from 2007, so not that old, but still, it’s only three years younger than me. It takes pretty good photos for it’s age, especially macro shots. It’s biggest flaws are the display and view finder. The image in the view finder got yellow and foggy with time, to the point it’s almost unusable. And the display is rather dark so it’s no good in sunny weather.

  • The Velour Fog
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    212 days ago

    A Bell & Howell 8mm/16mm projector and a handheld super 8 video camera that belonged to my dad. I’m not sure how old they are but probably late 70s/80s. From what I gather, he was very much into manual film editing.

  • @[email protected]
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    712 days ago

    My husband has a collection of obsolete technology. The oldest thing he’s got in there is a VT100 terminal.

  • @[email protected]
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    312 days ago

    I believe it’s my Atari 2600! I can’t think of anything older that I’ve got that runs on electric juice.

  • @[email protected]
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    12 days ago

    I have a Milton Bradley Microvision from around 1979, the first handheld game system that used cartridges. I have the block breaker game, it still works but I think some components are wearing out as the game speed feels way too fast. Thing takes 2 9V batteries!

    • @[email protected]
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      311 days ago

      hello fellow “never EVER let a console go” gang

      Over the years i had friends come over for retro video game / lan parties and they sometimes left their consoles. Picked up an extra dreamcast and an original playstation that way.

      I want to get my grandmas old china cabinet and put some LEDs in it and have the consoles on display!