Everything from 1991 Radio Shack ad I now do with my phone

[MichaelB]

I thought this was pretty interesting. A look at a newspaper ad by Radio Shack from 1991, then a comparison to smartphone apps that offer similar functions. Everything from 1991 Radio Shack ad I now do with my phone - Trending Buffalo

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There are 15 electronic gimzo type items on this page, being sold from Americas Technology Store. 13 of the 15 you now always have in your pocket.

 

[Live And Learn]

that was great. ahhhhhhhhhhh the days of "fuzzbusters" !

 

[Walt34]

Interesting indeed. I still keep my $600 Betamax on a shelf in the basement. Why? To remind me don't get excited about the latest/greatest. $600 was a hefty chunk of cash for me then.

 

[bld999]

Closer and closer to a shiny black tricorder...

 

[Mulligan]

Interesting indeed. I still keep my $600 Betamax on a shelf in the basement. Why? To remind me don't get excited about the latest/greatest. $600 was a hefty chunk of cash for me then.

You had to say something like that and remind me of my stupidity. I spent $450 back in the 80s for a HiFi VCR. The worst part was I was making $950 a month back then. Half my months income on a VCR, what an idiot I was...

 

[aja8888]

how about $950 for a Mitsubishi 9000 car phone in 1988 (?) and $400+ to install it.

I was in Los Angeles working as a consultant and the darn thing cut out every time I went under a highway bridge. The thing was mounted to my transmission hump and had the amplifier/receiver/transmitter in the trunk. When I sold the car, I left it in it.

(I should have waited for the $199 Radio Shack deal in that ad)

 

[MichaelB]

Interesting indeed. I still keep my $600 Betamax on a shelf in the basement. Why? To remind me don't get excited about the latest/greatest. $600 was a hefty chunk of cash for me then.

You had to say something like that and remind me of my stupidity. I spent $450 back in the 80s for a HiFi VCR. The worst part was I was making $950 a month back then. Half my months income on a VCR, what an idiot I was...

Same here, 'cept I bought more than one, and living overseas they were more expensive. It's painful to recall how much money I wasted on some of that stuff.

Even worse, I think I'm going to buy one more so I can convert a box of old VHS tapes to digital files and put them on my iphone.

 

[Midpack]

It is amazing isn't it. When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, I remember being blown away, it was groundbreaking. And smartphones have only become more remarkable since.

 

[aja8888]

It is amazing isn't it. When Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, I remember being blown away, it was groundbreaking. And smartphones have only become more remarkable since.

Actually, yes, they are quite amazing and feature full, but several people I know are wishing for the comeback of simple flip phones and less costly phone bills. I have friends that have "big" Samsung and other similar phones and only use talk and text, except for the occasional weather check.

Maybe I am not hanging with people that grind through 20 gigs of data each month, but to watch movies, etc on those small screens seems like a lot of work. Actually, the phone I mentioned above that I had in my car in the late 1980's could be sufficient for today, except it was not portable. The portability is what made these newer phones superior.

 

[REWahoo]

Actually, yes, they are quite amazing and feature full, but several people I know are wishing for the comeback of simple flip phones and less costly phone bills.

Lots of no-contract phones and plans out there continue to offer this.

 

[aja8888]

Lots of no-contract phones and plans out there continue to offer this.

Yes, and two of my friends went with PagePlus from Verizon when they came off contract. One if the lingering issues to not get a simpler phone appears to be that people tend to use the newer phones as their main camera and don't want to part with it for mainly that reason. Plus, making the switch involves research and work and some people tend to avoid that.

A wife of a friend of mine comes to mind in this regard, but when her iPhone slipped out of her jeans back pocket and into the toilet, she had a rude awakenig as all her grandkids photos were stored on the phone and were not backed up to a hard drive elsewhere.

 

[calmloki]

My old Nokia 6230b candy bar gets and makes calls when my gal's Iphone won't. The thumbnail-sized screen has been glued back on after way too many hard crashes with the street or floor. It keeps workable battery power far, far longer. And don't get me started on how the Nokia's ability to make and receive calls isn't a patch on the WWII walkie-talkie sized cell phone I started with. Damn thing would re-heat a cup of coffee or destroy tumors with radio waves if the calls lasted more than a few minutes.

OTOH, my Nokia won't tell me where the next turn is, or if an object is level, or what the weather in Ohio is or who played Oly in Repo Man or play hours and hours of music or identify a song playing on the radio or....

 

[gauss]

Yes, and two of my friends went with PagePlus from Verizon when they came off contract. One if the lingering issues to not get a simpler phone appears to be that people tend to use the newer phones as their main camera and don't want to part with it for mainly that reason. Plus, making the switch involves research and work and some people tend to avoid that.

A wife of a friend of mine comes to mind in this regard, but when her iPhone slipped out of her jeans back pocket and into the toilet, she had a rude awakenig as all her grandkids photos were stored on the phone and were not backed up to a hard drive elsewhere.

DW has an off contract Samsung Galaxy that she uses for photos Email SMS etc while on WIFI. No monthly fee. She also has a flip phone for voice/SMS . .02/minutes with Lycamobile (T-mobile network). I also gave her a freedompop hotspot (advertised as free but costs $3.99/month for 3G in spots that do not have WIMAX - this gets her 500 MB of data).
Only negative comment was "I think were gonna need a bigger purse.."

-gauss

 

[Midpack]

Actually, yes, they are quite amazing and feature full, but several people I know are wishing for the comeback of simple flip phones and less costly phone bills.

Lots of no-contract phones and plans out there continue to offer this.

+1. Why wish when they're readily available for $7/mo or less?

 

[aja8888]

Only negative comment was "I think were gonna need a bigger purse.."

-gauss

Seems like collecting purses has become the "in thing" around here these days....what ever happened to 50 pairs of shoes?

 

[mpeirce]

A wife of a friend of mine comes to mind in this regard, but when her iPhone slipped out of her jeans back pocket and into the toilet, she had a rude awakenig as all her grandkids photos were stored on the phone and were not backed up to a hard drive elsewhere.

I know this happens to people, but Apple makes backup to iCloud the default, so you have to actually turn this off to get yourself into this pickle.

So for most people: the iPhone goes into the toilet; they get a replacement; 30 minutes or so after turning on the new iPhone, they have their dear little grandkids' photos available again.