Retro Tech Tuesday: 70's Tech from the History Channel

Hey folks, let's face it: this probably won't be the most productive week at the workplace. Between swapping holiday stories, finishing off what's left of the holiday cookies, and generally taking it easy while the boss enjoys another few days off, productivity this week is in the toilet.

So what a perfect time to dive in to 42 minutes of 1970's technology. Rather than our usual bite-sized portions of retro tech, today we bring you a whole decade, courtesy of the History Channel. enjoy:

Happy Holidays, Everyone

I know, I know... the un-written rule of the online world is that there's never a day off for an online publication. Well, we're going a bit old-school, and closing down our little content factory until 2012. So Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, and most of all, thank you for making it another great year here at TDL. Also, look for a post early next year to talk about some changes and plans for the future of the site.

Thanks again, and please take some time as we are to actually have a few days off, and maybe, just maybe, not even check email/IM/text, etc.

Oh, and per our usual holiday tradition, here's a digital yule log until we return:

Retro Tech Tuesday: Mario Bros. for... Atari?

The 1980's brought some strange bedfellows to the world of videogames. Take, for instance the game cartoonishly highlighted in this ad. Mario Bros... for Atari. Yes, Atari. Remember, Mario made his debut in Donkey Kong (as mentioned in the ad) which ironically was a huge breakthrough home arcade hit for Atari rival Coleco. Long before he was making his way through side-scrolling, mushroom-taking adventures, Mario had to jump and bump platforms with his brother, who is quizzically the star of this ad. Enjoy:

Retro Tech Tuesday: Famicom

Before you and I knew it as the NES in the United States, the Japanese had the Famicom, or family computer. It was the same basic system, but as you'll see in this compilation of ads, there were some interesting tweaks before the system made it to American shores. You'll notice in lieu of the futuristic light gun, the Famicom sported a more realistic (and anachronistic) six-shooter style gun, with holster! And look closely at those controller buttons, and you'll see they're not the circular mashers we're all familiar with. And hey, what's with putting the game in the top!? How are kids in Japan supposed to experience the thrill of needing to blow dust out of the cartridge to make it work!?

Retro Tech Tuesday: The Fascinating Pre-Calculator World

You know, in my day, we used a physical calculator to add, not a calculator app on a computer. Okay, so maybe the advances in basic math tabulation have slowed down a bit, but that wasn't the case in the age of the slide rule calculator. Today from the good folks at RetroCalculators.com (who knew!?) we're taking a look at an interesting slide rule / and addiator. (Addiator may be my new favorite word, even if spell check doesn't recognize it as word) I've always been fascinated by the world of mechanical computation, even if I'm often left stupefied by just how it works. This handy little unit stays just on this side of comprehensible. And I'd highly suggest checking out the other cool retro calculators on their site.