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New "old school" gadgets?
I recently realized that many of my favorite gadgets are basically "new" versions of old technology.
- I use Sony Xperia 1VII, with a headphone jack, side mounted fingerprint, no screen cutout, stock Android. It's running the latest Snapdragon chip, however, and the camera hardware is better than the current iPhone (doesn't mean the software is better)
- My favorite smartwatch is Pebble Time. My rePebble Time 2 is on the way. I'm currently using a Garmin, but I'm not exactly happy with it.
- My keyboard is a Niz EC84. The default keycap looks like my keyboard in middle school and it is just perfect right out of the box (except I should've got the 45g one). As a Topre clone, it bounces with rubber domes. I don't like mechanical as the tactile point is not right at the very top of the curve. It also supports hardware mouse key and Bluetooth which is useful when you're working with multiple machines. (Sadly no QMK in this layout)
- When I was buying my PC I couldn't find a single good modern case (i.e. with USB C ports in the front panel) that doesn't have any glass like old school PC. Luckily, Fractal North was just released back then and I immediately preordered.
- I suppose the ThinkPad line may fit into this aesthetically, but it's not exactly the same as it was in IBM era. I heard that the Chinese are making new board for the old ThinkPad chassis though.
I feel like this is an underserved market - why can't they just give me the same phone/computer I have but with the latest technological advancements. Sure, it'd be niche and many people will complain at the price, but at least there is a choice.
Does anyone have other favorite new old school tech they wanted to recommend?
Since you mentioned your keyboard - Unicomp Keyboards! They're manufacturing genuine IBM Model M keyboards - they didn't just purchase the patents and rights to the designs, they bought the original manufacturing equipment. Their main product is the New Model M which uses the modern 104 key layout, but they do sell the Classic 101-key layout and a Mini M (10keyless) option.
It would be hilarious if Framework offered a ps2 port.
Most of the devices aren't for me personally, but Techmoan on YouTube reviews a number of products like this. Most recently a couple of newly produced Boomboxes that can play physical formats.
I find most of his videos interesting but just not things I would buy. :)
wow, i have been looking for a boombox with cassette player for a long time but nearly $700? a little too steep for me.
I got a boombox with a cassette player off Amazon for under $100 and it's fine. I also later bought a second, smaller one for under $50 for the garage which has also been OK considering the price. Both support bluetooth as well, so the only thing you're missing from the $700+ things that guy was demoing is the extra cassette and CD player.
Without the extra cassette, how will you make mix tapes?
I've been using a thumb drive with music I copied over (the boombox also has a USB port and SD card slot) to make mix tapes. You can also record from bluetooth, but I feel like that is just asking for even worse quality.
I believe Fujifilm's X100 series cameras fall into this category. They're extremely capable modern cameras but you can do everything you need to do with physical controls. Dials. Buttons. Muscle memory not menu options. They're fixed lens with optical viewfinders. They're small and light and absolutely packed with joy. I have not had so much fun with a camera since The Olde Days of Filme (with the bonus of not having to mess about with film)
Just figured I’d leave a comment talking about how deeply impressed I’ve been with my Pebble Time 2 so far. Build quality is fantastic, the software runs butter smooth, and battery life is solid. I’d consider the Duo was a faithful “recreation” of the original Pebble, but the Time 2 is a massive improvement on the original Time and I’ve been loving it so far. I think you’ll be really happy with it!
I got my own Pebble Time 2 in recently, and also am quite happy with it. It's my first smartwatch, after not being in the market the first time they came around, once I decided I wanted one they'd become hard to get and none of the other options appealed to me.
Battery life has been great, I like the app "Munin - Battery Wisdom" for tracking expected and actual lifetime.
I'm not sure about the market being underserved - it's more that smartphones have become "universal" devices that are good enough for most of the things that we used to need separate devices for. Cameras and music are an obvious example here.
With that being said, I'm personally a fan of devices that do a limited number of things really well. For an MP3 player, something like a HiFi Walker H2 when paired with Rockbox is a very capable iPod replacement. There are also a ton of handheld video game consoles from companies like Anbernic that scratch a retro itch as well.
Other than getting back into using a DAP instead of listening to music from my phone (due to lack of headphone port on a model that still supports GOS), I don't know that I have much to recommend.
I hear you on the PC cases though, I also went with a Fractal North on my most recent build. I have zero interest in having any glass on my PC case, let alone multiple sides being almost completely glass.
As for keyboards, I would like to note that not all mechanical keyboard switches have the tactile point lower, that is just the norm for Cherry MX based switches. Though I have heavily tamed that hobby, I have owned probably 30+ mechanical keyboards over the years and several switches have the tactile point right near the top. I actually dislike that, which is why I don't use either my Topre or Topre clones as daily drivers anymore, nor the swiches with a higher tactile point.
Edit: I forgot to mention that you should look around for the related EC boards with 55g domes. They are, IMO, much better than the 35g or 45g domes and feel more like true Topre. They also aren't exact equivalents to the Topre weights. The EC domes used by Niz, Plum, RK, etc boards are a little bit lighter than the Topres by about 5g or so.
What's your DAP of choice?
I don't love any of my current DAPs, but I own my old iPod 30GB with Rockbox on it (on its last legs) and I have a Mixxtape which is a DAP that can also be played in a cassette player like a tape (very fun gimmick). I still listen to 90% of my music from my PC so I haven't had the need to get anything much better yet.
DAPs are really nice, although too many are android boxes that resemble a phone just with high quality audio components in my opinion. I have a DIY one that has UI resembling an iPod, with clickwheel navigation, but streams from Spotify.
I am with you on that, I specifically won't use a DAP that is just essentially a tiny Android tablet.
Yeah, it just feels weird to carry around an Android device specifically for music, when I already have my Android phone. Also, with an Android DAP you don't get the distraction free music listening experience that is the draw to DAPs for me
I don't know if it fully matches what you said, but for me, the first thing that comes to mind in the "new old school" category is the Playdate.
It's a cute, simple portable console with a crank as one of the input methods, and lots of weird indie games from talented people on it. It even emulates Gameboy now too, which is fitting, because the whole thing is like an alternate-universe version of the Gameboy from a world where it was higher tech and open to anyone to develop for.
It's prohibitively expensive, there's no doubt about that, which sucks. For me, though, it was completely worth it.