The Speak and Spell, which was first shown at CES in 1978 and sold in 1979, was one of the first gadgets with a visual display to use interchangeable game cartridges, and it taught a whole generation how to spell.
Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analogue age gave way to the digital, and most of our favourite toys were just being born.
We didn’t forget the Walkman in Giz 1979. It’s just that its birthday was two weeks ago. Question: if it’s the first model, what’s with the complicated name? Regift! [The Original Walkman, Crazy and Notable Walkmans and Walkman Trivia]
Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analogue age gave way to the digital, and most of our favourite toys were just being born.
Before there were computer hackers, there were phreakers. And before there were macs, Jobs and Woz kept themselves busy building their own blue boxes (Above) which would emulate precise control tones to seize control of the phone system.
In 1976, Sony went to the National Stadium in Tokyo and lined up every single gadget they offered to photograph them. All were analogue, mostly in radio, audio and TV. This is a photo of that.
This table top stereo by famed Frog founder, Hartmut Esslinger, has a turntable, tape player and tuner. It was huge—speakers were separate—but gorgeous. From 1976.
