Cool Tech

A few weeks ago when discussing the personal narrative options, we looked at Gordon’s Rome-The Visible City, where she talked about using her Slide Master to view Rome. This led to us talking about older technology and how cool it can be. There are so many unique design elements and functionalities of old tech that make it awesome to have.

I want to talk about some of the cool technologies I own. I don’t want this blog to come across as me flexing my doodads. I am just really passionate and cherish the things I’ve collected over the years, and would gladly take any chance whatsoever to talk about them. Most of these items I have been very lucky with obtaining, like scouring Facebook marketplace for weeks just waiting to pounce on a deal, or finding something at an estate sale. I am fortunate and happy with the useless things I’ve collected, and wish to share them with anyone curious.

PSP Go

The PSP life cycle was soon closing, so Sony went looking for ways to extend the life of the handheld. This was seen through the PSP Go, released in 2009, and is what I have. It was actually my oldest brothers, but he never really used it, so he gave it to me after I asked about it. The main reason I love this device is because of the hinge mechanism, it’s just so of it’s era, a time dominated by sliding phones and the newly released iPhone. Unforutnately, this handheld did not sell as great as the original PSP, primarily because it was a digital only console, meaning you had no physical media you could play on it. We wouldn’t second guess something like this releasing now, but back then, nobody even heard of a digital only gaming system. It was way ahead of it’s time, and people weren’t used to the concept yet. This little device is so cool, and supports backwards compatibility for all PS1 games, which was remarkable for the time.

GameBoy Advance and GameBoy Advance SP

When talking about nostalgic tech, like the Slide Master, for me, it doesn’t get any more nostalgic than these. I’ve had these since I was very little, and I honestly don’t know how they are still functioning. With 4 siblings, we would pass them around like hot cakes. My parents didn’t want to buy us all DS’s (because when you buy something for one child you buy for all it seems) because of the significant upfront cost, so instead we all played GameBoys as they were far cheaper and games were a dime a dozen (not the case anymore at all). We have a total of 5 in our family, so we each got our own GameBoy. Some of my fondest memories were when we would all pack the car, go to the game store, and we each chose one game to take home. One of these games was Yoshi’s Island. That copy in the picture is the one I’ve had for over 15 years. There’s even a bite mark in the sticker label if you look hard enough. The flip-up screen of the GBA SP is just iconic, and the form factor was just perfect. It was so pocketable and just oozed of style with all it’s different colorways and labels you could choose from.

iPod Nano 7th Generation

This is the very last iPod Apple would release, shortly being taken over by the iPod Touch (I don’t count the Touch as an iPod). Released in 2012, this device would remain Apple’s thinnest ever, until it was recently passed by the newer iPad generations (when you exclude the camera bump). It is so impossibly thin it’s comical. If you stacked 3 quarters, that would be thicker than this. I’ve been using this as my go-to music player for a little over 6 months, and I haven’t looked back. When I want to add music, I plug it into my computer and find an album that might interest me. Then I load it up into iTunes, drag the files over, and play it all in glorious CD quality. This little guy also has so many features, including full compatibility with Bluetooth devices, meaning you can totally use your AirPod Pro 2’s (released 10 years after this device was made) with full support if you wanted to. And whenever you shake the device, it shuffles your entire library, leading to one ginormous playlist! Very neat.

Technics SL-B3

Technics turntables are regarded as legendary in the vinyl community. I managed to find this turntable at an estate sale and talked down the seller to get it for a reasonable price of $65. It was in great condition, but I had to replace the belt, so about $70 all in. This table has all the bells and whistles, including auto-start and auto-stop, which is very fun to watch operate. To my surprise, it also came with 2 cartridges, both vintage Audio-Technica. One of these cartridges I got very lucky with, as it ended up being worth more than what I paid for the table. You can tell the previous owner took very good care of it. The cartridge has a very clean sound signature, and pairs perfectly with the warmth of the vinyl.

Technics SA-EX410

To power my turntable, I have the Technics SA-EX410 receiver, which conveniently includes a phono preamp, eliminating the need for an external preamp to amplify the source. This pairs incredibly with my turntable, and I love how many bells and whistles it has, including an EQ, surround support, and all the different sound signatures it comes with to try out. My dad had this passed down to him, and he passed it down to me. He never used it for vinyl, and it was wasted potential using it for anything else. I’m very glad he gave it to me.

Polk RT-10

The most important part of any setup is the speakers. I bought these from a garage sale in my neighborhood when I was in 7th grade. I don’t entirely know why I did that, as I was very stupid with my money, and if I had to guess, it’s because they were big and heavy, and my dad loves listening to music. I didn’t know anything about speakers, nor did I even have the time to care, but when I look back I am very glad I bought them. The Polk RT-10 tower speakers were released in 1995 (barely falling into vintage). They are incredible, with a bass response that dips down into 35Hz with ease. They sound so good in fact that I replaced my other speakers, the ELAC Debut 5.2 that I saved up for months to buy, with these. My ELACs are incredible, but they lack the personality these speakers have. They are so smooth and warm, something I feel like the ELAC was lacking a little of. Paired with my turntable setup, I honestly feel spoiled and incredibly lucky to have such a thing in my apartment. With how much of an investment it takes to get into purchasing new audio equipment, like, unfortunately, my ELACs, it just shows how vintage audio will always be the best deal you can get for price-to-performance. Vintage speakers are the budget kings and will always be.

My last item is this cool lamp I made with my pops. I found a bunch of trumpet parts at a trading post and soldered them back together. The trumpet played and sounded like garbage, so naturally, I made a lamp out of it. The wire is run through all of the tubing, took forever to feed through the valves, but it was worth it. I put an Edison bulb on it to make it look extra steampunky, no lampshade because I couldn’t find one that worked with the look of it.

There are more things I could share but I fear that this blog is already far too long. I would like to thank anyone that read this.