LGR - Strangest Computer Designs 70s/80s

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snoopy

27 May 2017, 12:57

Very cool videos with a lot of pics of interesting keyboards.

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seebart
Offtopicthority Instigator

27 May 2017, 17:34

Very nice thanks for sharing.

I had forgotten about the Microwriter, a really cool idea for the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwriter

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Mr.Nobody

30 May 2017, 12:45

Scripting for a video like this involves a lot of research work.

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livingspeedbump
Not what they seem

31 May 2017, 00:27

I really just love so much of the design of stuff from this era. Aesthetics really seemed to be more at the forefront than it is today in a lot of ways.

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alienman82

31 May 2017, 00:52

removed.
Last edited by alienman82 on 02 Mar 2018, 03:44, edited 1 time in total.

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snuci
Vintage computer guy

31 May 2017, 01:36

livingspeedbump wrote: I really just love so much of the design of stuff from this era. Aesthetics really seemed to be more at the forefront than it is today in a lot of ways.
Esthetic preferences changes over time like fashion. Seems to go in a sine wave. It looks awesome when it first comes out, then is old-fashioned and garbage, then turns vintage and cool for a small segment of people. There are some great machines I'm after in those videos. My holy grail is the MCM/70 that was originally a Canadian computer.

For example, here is a "futuristic keyboard" from the 1997. These were always kinda rare so they didn't dip down in popularity too much but they are quite rare now and I would imagine they would go for quite a bit now. It's got an innovative feature where you can use the trackpad embedded in the keyboard or on the side or not use the trackpad at all and use a mouse. That said, you keyboard enthusiasts wouldn't think twice about this one because it has crappy key switches (it's a Powerbook keyboard mechanism built in). This was very futuristic along with the computer. Those left are now they are in the hands of collectors.
TAM keyboard - front
TAM keyboard - front
TAM - front.JPG (397.81 KiB) Viewed 3355 times
TAM Keyboard - back
TAM Keyboard - back
TAM keyboard - back.JPG (375.3 KiB) Viewed 3355 times
TAM - keyboard and trackpad separated
TAM - keyboard and trackpad separated
TAM - keyboard and trackpad separated.JPG (387.04 KiB) Viewed 3355 times
TAM - Trackpad and spacer removed
TAM - Trackpad and spacer removed
TAM - Trackpad and spacer removed.JPG (421.73 KiB) Viewed 3355 times

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MrDuul

31 May 2017, 13:30

Great videos.

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Stabilized

31 May 2017, 13:44

snuci wrote: For example, here is a "futuristic keyboard" from the 1997.
What a cute little keyboard, wish there was an updated one with mechanical keyswitches.
It's a great place for a pointing device as it removes the reach over needed when you have a trackball/mouse beside your keyboard.

Slom

02 Jun 2017, 22:48


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snuci
Vintage computer guy

03 Jun 2017, 01:23

Yes, that's what it goes with. The computer was very futuristic at the time too and would have been considered a strange computer design for the 90s but I love it.

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