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Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born. Click for full size Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way…
Seymour Cray’s big super computer was crazy. It’s signals between components had to be timed by trimming long cables up to 1/16th of an inch at a time by hand and was basically interwoven with a giant refrigeration system. Name: Cray-1 Year created: 1976 Creator: Cray Research, Inc. Cost: $5 million to $10 million Memory:…
If you liked the step-by-step instruction sheet on how to build the F-35 Lightning II fighter, you will love this awesome video on how they make them at the Lockheed Martin factory. [The Dew Line] https://gizmodo.com/build-your-own-f-35-lightning-ii-fighter-jet-5021998
Toshiba, the former leader of Blu-Ray’s enemy HD-DVD camp, is admitting defeat in the most final way they can: By launching a Blu-Ray player. The company’s first Blu-Ray/DVD deck should arrive (in Japan first, probably) before Christmas this year, and “sources” say it’ll be called the BD-18 (we think. The Google translation is sort of…
Nokia’s already got the N-Series (entertainment) and the E-Series (business), but what’s this new business about a recently-trademarked C-Series? The patent covers items in the general smartphone category (duh) but we don’t know much else right now. Some are suggesting that the C might stand for computer, but we disagree, seeing as how Nokia doesn’t…
Here’s a photo of Apple Employee #1, Steve Wozniak, as he plays for the Silicon Valley Aftershocks during the Segway Polo World Championships. Woz is one of the most prominent players of this silly and endearing sport. [Christian Science Monitor]
The Contest is currently titled “RadioShack/Gizmodo Lollapalooza Contest” (the “Contest”) and is scheduled to commence on July 1st, 2011 and end on September 30th, 2011. The Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are 18 or older at time of entry. Employees of Gawker and…
The network started to breathe in the 70’s. Above, the first ethernet cable, found in PARC’s labs by Boing Boing Gadgets. Dag Spicer, numero uno Curator at the Computer History Museum, tells us more: John Shoch and Jon Hupp at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center discovered the computer “worm,” a short program that searches…
From every kind of memory to A/V input/outputs, processors, and hard drives, this guide shows in easy-to-recognize pictorial form the possible guts in your computer. It’s either a really useful quick guide, or the nerdiest poster we’ve ever seen. [DeviantArt]
Many of our Gizmodo ’79 posts have illustrated just how far we’ve come in the past three decades, but in one important tech example, 1979 kicks 2009’s ass: The Concorde Jet. The Concorde, first launched in 1977, was a joint British-French governmental venture to create a commercial, passenger supersonic jet. It ran over budget (six…
No, the opposite of an invisibility cloak isn’t a normal jacket, smartass. This universal mirror uses metamaterials to bounce light back at the same angle from which it came, so no matter where you stand, you can see yourself perfectly. Normal mirrors reflect light back at a 90-degree angle, but this universal mirror reflects light,…
We’re pretty sure the BlackBerry Storm 2‘s announcement is coming soon, and we just got a little more evidence: The not-so-loved original Storm’s price has just been dropped to $99 with a 2-year contract. If you’re sure you need to stick with Verizon, this probably looks enticing, but we’d definitely recommend waiting. The Storm 2…
Even back then, there were computers for people who couldn’t afford the more expensive stuff. Take this Tandy, which costs little more than a upgraded Netbook today. From Core Memory, photographed by Mark Richards and written by John Alderman. TRS-80 Model 1 (and Model 100) Year created: 1977 Creator: Tandy Corporation Cost: $399 ($599 with…
After professional photographer Alex Dejong lost his sight three years ago, he thought his days of taking and editing photos was over. But the iPhone 3GS’s VoiceOver feature, plus a few key apps, has given some of his abilities back. Dejong’s field of vision isn’t totally black; he can distinguish light from dark, and had…
Lenses being equal, a large format 8×10 piece of film can capture the equivalent of 800 Megapixels. Just saying. But does it matter? Discuss! Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being…
Q: What classic computer and Apple II competitor opened its steel case up like a car hood? And was named after a domestic rock toy popular at the time? A: The Commodore Pet Gizmodo ’79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital,…
UK Internet provider TalkTalk asked a team from Goldsmiths, University of London to come up with some concept router designs focused around four areas: signal strength, energy efficiency, home design, and “pure enjoyment.” These are the four routers that spawned from the idea. • The Route O’Clock concept will tell you how much bandwidth is…
In a very special late night edition of your weekly iPhone apptacular: Apps that make things that are already good—FM radio, video games, shopping, spouses, the city you live in—a little bit better. Priceless Picks: Don’t let the advertising-crap-app appearance of Priceless Picks turn you off—this free download, branded all over with Mastercard, is great.…
I am not a full-size Gundam in Tokyo—although I want to be one when I grow up—but if I were attacked with greeeeeen lasers during my inauguration ceremony, I would get pretty damn pissed off. Then I would destroy everything in sight, and go to have a carrot cake and coffee afterwards. [Mainichi Daily News]
