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RCA's 1969 Two Thousand TV Was Computerised Vision of Future, for US$2,000
Posted by Kit Eaton at 1:40 AM on August 19, 2008
Back in 1969 RCA made an attempt at a high-end TV that was a vision of the sets of the year 2000. The Two Thousand was even made in a limited run of 2,000 and cost US$2,000. That's around US$12,000 in today's money, but for that price you got a 23-inch Hi-Lite tube that had "such a vivid, detailed picture" you could "even watch it in a brightly-lit room." There were even "computer-like "memory circuits" that stored your fave channels, and preserved settings for volume and picture control. That must've seemed like the future indeed in an era of dial-twiddle-tuning to find the right VHF channel. The full advert page makes fascinating reading.
"No motors, no noise and no moving parts to wear out," just computer-designed "electronic memories"... fabulous, especially since I remember hunkering down before our old TV to swirl the dial. My Dad used to get me to change the channels, as a kind of intelligent remote control. Nowadays my cat brushes past the touch-controls on my flat-screen LCD TV and does that job for me. [Paleofuture via Boing Boing Gadgets]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
parliamentpoet
Posted 2:12 AM 19/8/08
elvis had one [images.google.com]
parliamentpoet
godwhacker
Posted 2:03 AM 19/8/08
i wonder how many of these are still in service, with only 2000 sold it would be a natural for post purchase tracking
godwhacker
Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish
Posted 2:02 AM 19/8/08
It was sorely asking for one person with $4,000,000 to buy them all and line a spherical room with them a la Architect.
Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish
frigg
Posted 2:00 AM 19/8/08
As hi-tech as it seems today, sometimes I feel as though the 9 inch B&W screen on my Mac SE will seem as outdated as that RCA 2000!
frigg
Carmen Sucks
Posted 2:00 AM 19/8/08
@future-proof: @future-proof: Perhaps they are the speakers?
Carmen Sucks
mjgolli
Posted 1:58 AM 19/8/08
Amazing! This would look goovy with my new shag carpet!
mjgolli
wanago
Posted 1:53 AM 19/8/08
That reminds of a project I did where i researched the price of the average sized tv in the 60's 70's 80's 90's and the early 00. The price was a constant $250 dollars. The size however went from 12 inches to 32 inches until flat creen took over and changed the math.
wanago
m4ximusprim3
Posted 1:49 AM 19/8/08
They actually got the aesthetic surprisingly period correct, for the equipment they had.
m4ximusprim3
future-proof
Posted 1:48 AM 19/8/08
Yeah... I'm not getting it... Are these some kind of sliding doors in the first picture that open up to a crappy tube?
I was hoping that at least they thought of flat panel as a way of the future but it appears not.
future-proof
pharago
Posted 1:48 AM 19/8/08
ueah, but im sure it was a good rip off...
pharago
monkeyrotica
Posted 1:47 AM 19/8/08
Laugh while you can, monkey boy. But that flatscreen dealie you blew a grand on is going to seem positively medieval in another 18 months.
monkeyrotica
hu_hu_cool
Posted 1:46 AM 19/8/08
Doesn't look as impressive in the second picture as it did in the first.
hu_hu_cool
General Halfshaftery
Posted 2:34 AM 19/8/08
Needed more woodgrain.
General Halfshaftery
MickeyMoo
Posted 2:33 AM 19/8/08
@EBone: REALLY old remote controls actuated a motor that turned an internal dial tuner
MickeyMoo
EBone
Posted 2:29 AM 19/8/08
Motors? What the hell did motors do in old tube-type TVs? Am I missing something?
EBone
lpranal
Posted 3:04 AM 19/8/08
@future-proof: "The black translucent doors slide back and disappear into the set. Just think about all the morons who will be dumbfounded by the concept of hiding such an electronic marvel!"
Ok, I made that second sentence up.
lpranal
mangamonster
Posted 2:58 AM 19/8/08
@EBone: The motor rotated the channel dial until it found a tv station.
mangamonster
Tarv
Posted 2:57 AM 19/8/08
i wish i had one of these to hook up my CED player to.
Tarv
UofITom
Posted 2:52 AM 19/8/08
@EBone: that was my thought too.. UHF motor?!?!
UofITom
out2getu
Posted 3:35 AM 19/8/08
Remote? I was the remote when I was a kid.
Now my kid complains like I did when I ask her to hand me the remote she is sitting next to.
out2getu
ibelli
Posted 3:22 AM 19/8/08
Looks like a wooden XBR.
ibelli
Lewis
Posted 3:12 AM 19/8/08
I smell a Gizmodo competition to design/write marketing copy for 40-year-into-the-future versions of today's products.
Lewis
plwh888
Posted 3:56 AM 19/8/08
i was like WOW with the first pix, then the 2nd pix totally killed it . . .
plwh888
MickeyMoo
Posted 4:19 AM 19/8/08
@otis123: The same Space-Age technology that brought us Tang (the other kind ;-) )
MickeyMoo
otis123
Posted 4:11 AM 19/8/08
people this was made in 1969, how can you expect a flat screen when, a fucking calculator still needed a wall outlet then?
otis123
curiouscomputer
Posted 4:01 AM 19/8/08
too bad this article wasn't found about 9 years ago....
curiouscomputer
Monty
Posted 5:07 AM 19/8/08
My actual year 2000 TV (HD widescreen) does not even do this, and it has plenty of "memory circuits". Despite the fact that we tend to separate audio amplification from the TV, in this day and age there has to be a way to switch a channel or source device and have the system remember all of the audio settings. Or maybe I just have not invested in the "2010" equipment that can do it yet?
I suppose you could use a remote like the Harmony to change the settings, but even there I do not believe there is a way to set the exact volume when switching a source or a channel, is there?
Technology simply can not keep up with the brilliant minds of 1969, apparently.
Monty
helldiver
Posted 4:26 AM 19/8/08
@otis123:
not true, the first handheld calculator appeared in 1967:
[education.ti.com]
helldiver
HFC
Posted 5:38 AM 19/8/08
@Monty: Crestron can do that for you. I agree, though, that it should be built into the TV.
HFC
anatak
Posted 5:57 AM 19/8/08
Oh, RCA. How far you've fallen.
*frowns*
anatak
mjgolli
Posted 6:29 AM 19/8/08
@UofITom: I think in this one there was a stepper motor to actually turn the tuning capacitor for the UHF band when you tuned up and down. Apparently digital tuning control was too advanced for such high frequencies in '69. Hafta wait for the RCA 2001 for that.
mjgolli
vinnyr
Posted 8:14 AM 19/8/08
it said something about solid state drives in that ad.
vinnyr