Tag Results
5 posts tagged electronics
Braun TP1 Radio/Phonograph
At first glance, the TP1 looks like another transistor radio, and could easily be lumped in with products of similar shape and appearance. It is actually both radio and a portable phonograph, made possible by the availability of transistors. This product took the mechanics of a record player and stripped away all unnecessary features from the most basic function: a speaker, as stylus, and a spinning record.
Ahead of its time in 1959, Dieter Rams is said to have designed it for personal reasons - he was learning English, and wanted to listen to recorded lessons while on the road.
Braun made some of the most influential products of the past century. Braun’s legacy is an influence that reaches across design disciplines and continues to inspire as it has for decades. read more
Radio Transmitting Tubes
A few of the many ‘FireBottles’ in the huge collection of vintage transmitting tubes at the Hammond Museum of Radio in Guelph, Ont. Canada. Since Hammond Mfg. makes large commercial power transformers, that is what provides the current to light these classics up…but just for a few minutes as the heat is pretty intense. It does not take long before the area of this display gets very toasty!!!
Here is the link to the WebSite for the Hammond Museum of Radio: www.hammondmuseumofradio.org
Podfather
Excellent Documentary telling the story of silicon chip inventor Robert Noyce, godfather of today’s digital world.
Re-living the heady days of Silicon Valley’s seminal start-ups, the film tells how Noyce also founded Intel, the company responsible for more than 80 per cent of the micro-processors in personal computers. Noyce defined the unconventional, innovative culture of Silicon Valley - the likes of Apple and Google would be influenced by his egalitarian management style.
Podfather shows why Noyce may be the most important person most people have never heard of. Contributors include industry giants Gordon Moore and Andy Grove.
Click in picture to watch this on youtube.
Quite possibly the cutest things ever:
Tiny cardboard synthesizers and musical equipment by Dan McPharlin.
Wire to the Ear has an interesting interview with him, where he discusses the impetus behind making his awesome synth miniatures. read more
A Portable Revolution In Your Shirt Pocket!
The transistor radio was the vehicle of social change for a generation of teenagers during the 1950’s, bringing portable music to the masses for the first time!
James Butters’ absolutely awesome site features transistor radios manufactured between 1954 and 1965; the ‘Golden Age’ of transistor radio design.
These icons of yesteryear feature stunning ‘Jet Age’ design influenced by the space race, fifties automobiles, architecture and popular music. Most of these radios still look modern and sharp even today; fifty years after they were created. Good design really is timeless!
For him the transistor radio represents youth, freedom, innocence, rebellion and independence. They evoke images of James Dean, fast cars, cigarettes, Elvis Presley and gyrating hips!
These are the iPods of the 1950’s and 1960’s. read more
