Retro Thing

The Original Star Trek Series On DVD For Only $60

I know, you don't usually turn to Retro Thing for financial advice. But hear me out just this once and you could save quite a bit on DVDs of classic TV shows.

Before we go any further, I have two things to declare.

First: this post is aimed at readers in the USA and Canada. If you're hanging in Middlesbrough, you'll have to make do with free post and packing.

Second: My shopping style isn't exactly environmentally friendly. Follow this advice and vast flocks of polar bears will drown as the arctic warms to temperatures unseen since Sarah Palin's great grandpa hunted wooly mammoth herds on the Alaskan plains.

The trick?

It turns out that many DVD box sets are much cheaper on Amazon UK, even when you add transatlantic shipping. In fact, the prices are lower than published on the Amazon site, because there's 20% VAT added to all purchases made in the UK. If you're outside the EU -- hunkered down in a little house on a mountainside in Canada, for example -- VAT will be subtracted from your purchase at checkout time.

So, all 79 episodes of Star Trek: TOS can be yours for £32.39. Shipping to the USA is £5.06, for a grand total of £37.45. That's only $60.

On Amazon.com, you'll pay $132.47 for basically the same thing (each season alone is over $60).

Pricing seems to be somewhat hit and miss. For example, The Prisoner ends up costing about the same as it does in the US, while the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series on DVD is a bargain at only £46.64 ($80). British shows like Doctor Who can be significantly cheaper as well -- Doctor Who 2005 Series 1 to 4 can be yours for £37.19 ($60), and the Swedish sensation The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a bargain at £4.16 ($6.70).

Now for the big gotcha. These are Region 2 DVDs, so your player has to be region free and capable of playing PAL-format discs for them to work. That's not as big a deal as it might sound, because many DVD players sold within the past few years can be unlocked with a few button presses and automatically handle PAL to NTSC conversion. Just Google your player's model number with keywords like "region free" or "unlock." It took all of 30 seconds to unlock my player, and so far it has played everything I've thrown at it (dvdhacks is also a great resource for unlocking your player).

The other gotcha is time. It'll take a week or two for your purchases to arrive, but you weren't planning to watch all 25 Battlestar Galactica discs in a single sitting anyway.

So what are you waiting for? Extreme international shopping awaits.

Pete's Commodore Micro Record Player

No, not the same Commodore that brought us the PET and C-64 microcomputers. Pete Verrando recently sent us photos of his very cool little Japanese Commodore Transistorized Micro Record Player. The minimalist design is ingenious -- the motor drives the record directly using a rubber wheel, eliminating the need to cram a 7" platter into the case.

Pete writes, "This 45 rpm player is early 70's Japanese vintage, and employs a crystal cartridge with a 3 transistor amplifier. The label 'Precision Transistorized Instrument' is molded into the cover. Precisely or not, it works very well after some cleanup and lubrication."

YouTube: Vintage Commodore Transistor Micro Record Player
Photos on Pete Verrando's site

More pics after the jump...

The ZX81 Museum

The ZX81 Museum is a massive showcase of Sinclair hardware, software, adverts and add-ons related to the groundbreaking ZX81 computer, which retailed for under $150 in the early 1980s. It sold millions of units and introduced countless impressionably youngsters to the wonders of 8-bit computing.

My only serious criticism of the site is that nearly all of the images are small and the urge to click them to reveal (non-existent) full-sized versions is almost overwhelming. Still, it's a wonderful place to relive the memories if you were once a ZX owner.

The ZX81 Museum [via @mnadeau1 on Twitter]

 

IBM 5100: Advertising The First Portable Computer

Ain't she a beauty? You're admiring IBM's first microcomputer, released in late 1975. The featherweight (it tipped the scales at a mere 55 lbs) Model 5100 was marketed as a portable, thanks to an optional carrying case. It was based on a 16-bit processor module dubbed the PALM which featured no less than 15 discrete chips, and the machine was available with between 16 and 64 KB of main memory (at a cost of $8,975 to $19,795). Two programming languages were available: BASIC and APL.

I imagine this svelte little beast must have set the research and business worlds on ear by integrating a 5-inch monochrome CRT, computer, keyboard and 200K DC33 tape storage unit in a compact case. Still, it was far too expensive for casual hobbyists, who would have to wait another couple of years for mass market "home" machines like the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I, the Commodore PET and the Apple II to ignite the microcomputer revolution.

IBM 5100 Portable Computer [IBM Archives]

Casio Still Sells Telememo Watches?!

Casio is a weird company. Not only do they have a vast product line, they sometimes keep products alive for decades. A case in point is this Telememo & Schedule calculator watch. It's basically unchanged since the late 80s (well, except for a switch from orange to green sidelight).

One has to wonder if someone at Casio catastrophically miscalculated demand, resulting in a warehouse filled to the brim with mid-80s microchips and watch cases. Still, this offers a brilliant buying opportunity for those of us who are unnerved by the pace of technological change.

In exchange for under $50, they'll give you a data bank watch that holds up to 50 name/phone number combinations (as long as none of your friends have more than 8 letters in their name). There's an 8-digit calculator that can do currency conversion (I wonder how many French Francs there were to the Ruble in 1988...). It even tells time and includes a stopwatch. Yes, your phone can do all of these things, but it doesn't wrap around your wrist. So there.

Mercifully, the auto calendar is correct until the year 2099. That means Casio still has a few decades to unload these antiques on future generations who might regard calculator watches as mysterious and very cool devices from the distant past.

Casio Telememo Calculator Watch

Galoob Die-Cast Enterprise D

My mother is not a science fiction fan at all (despite her prognostication about flat screen TV's), but she always liked this toy version of the Enterprise D. When Star Trek returned to our screen with The Next Generation in 1987, it boasted cinema quality special effects including a new version of the Enterprise. I remember reading about the design of the model in Starlog (yeah, yeah... I'm admitting it...) magazine. They actually built a number of models, the largest had a saucer that was 10 feet across, illuminated by neon tubes inside.

Not only did the Enterprise return with a dramatic new shape, it had the ability to separate into two sections - the saucer, and the stardrive section. The premise was that in an emergency, most of the crew could evacuate to the saucer, while the stardrive section freed of its bulk could wage battle. This facility was a long time fan rumor, spurred by a technical manual of the original Enterprise that cited "explosive bolts" that could separate the saucer permanently from the rest of the ship in an emergency. This was the first time we saw it in action on screen (a little too much in that first season, as I recall...)

Since this first-run syndicated show was a risk, no one could predict how successful the show would eventually become. Even toy companies were tentative to pledge too much support outside of a handful of action figures. This die-cast toy was one of those early toys. Even though I wasn't the right age for it, I bought it anyway... just to at least better understand the odd shape of the ship. I still have it on my shelf after all these years, and I still perform a slow motion saucer sep a couple times a year, just to keep the crew on their toes.

Since When Does McDonald's Have A Goony Looking Knight Character?

They don't, but it sure does look like a character from the the McDonaldland cast of characters, doesn't it? McDonaldland was the magical home to milkshake volcanoes and apple pie trees, and Ronald McDonald and his product tie-in pals would have adventures. This all-over "magical place" concept from 1971 earned Mickey D's a lawsuit from Sid & Marty Krofft (but that's a story for another time), but not before Burger King could create their own cholesterol carting cast of characters a few years later.

The Burger King Kingdom feature a ring-twirling magical monarch, the skeptical Duke of Doubt who didn't believe in magic, and Sir Shakes-A-Lot… immortalized here in drinking glass form. He was a knight made up of stacks of Burger King paper cups, and he consumed so many shakes it rendered him permanently cold. The Kingdom concept was phased out by the late 80's, but you've probably noticed that the Burger King character is back in an ironic web 2.0 version since 2003, now as a disturbing glossy-masked character. I hope they don't create a creepy Sir Shakes-A-Lot too, unless he's portrayed by Sir Mix-A-Lot, of course.

Pedal Cars For Adults

The velomobile might be the perfect choice if your New Year's resolution involves getting fitter, but you can't tolerate the typical speed of bicycles.

Velomobiles are essentially recumbent trikes encased in composite bodies — sexy in the case of the Trisled Avatar and zoom-zoom cute in the Velomobiel Quest. Despite some relatively high-tech materials, they can trace their lineage to the Velocar, an early 20th century French vehicle.

Some of the finer modern examples bring to mind a 1950s vision of the future — or at least fake visions of it. (I could totally see one of these painted like a tin toy rocket parading around town.) Though they might be mistaken for something you might see at the Bonneville Salt Flats, they actually can take a ton of cargo and require minimal energy to go twice as fast as a well-tuned road bike.

Josef Janning recently wrote about his experiences in a velomobile at Commute By Bike. He put it thusly: "The velomobile … allowed me to ride faster than on any of my other bikes, in more comfort, with better weather protection through all seasons, better luggage capacity, and on top of all this, with the most sensational feeling I have ever experienced on wheels."

Not bad for an adult-size pedal car.

Chocolate Records That Really Play

Gio writes, "Hand made chocolate records that actually play music! Yummy." This is neither a kind nor high fidelity thing to do to your turntable, but it's clever. [YouTube via DIY Audio Projects]

Ernie Kovacs Remembered

Inveterate video genius Ernie Kovacs died on January 13th, 1962. Most people don't recognize the name today, despite significant accomplishments (most of which weren't really lauded until after his death). He was an occasional host in the early days of the Tonight Show, he was the first host ever of a morning television program (so successful was the experiment that he was pushed off the air by a little morning show called "The Today Show"), but most significantly he was the first comedian to really use television in a way that you seldom see... even today.

Fairlight's First New Instrument In Over 20 Years

The Fairlight CMI was a groundbreaking digital sampler from the 1980s. Last made in 1989, an updated 30th Anniversary CMI-30A will be presented at the massive NAMM music show in Anaheim this weekend.

The CMI-30A shares two things with its vintage bretheren. The first is the iconic Fairlight sound library, and the second is a stratospheric price tag ($17,000). Apart from that, the new Fairlight is leaps and bounds beyond the original. It's built around Fairlight's Crystal Core Media Processor, allowing it to reproduce the nuances of the original CMI Series II and III instruments without having to deal with the unpredictable nature of vintage electronics.

The CMI-30A ships with a 76-key Fatar keyboard (with an iPod taking the place of the original numeric keypad), 17" LCD monitor with lightpen, qwerty keyboard (with "clicky keys"), and a system unit housing a modern motherboard with 500 GB hard drive, DVD and USB, 12 channels of balanced TRS analog output and stereo balanced inputs. The machine supports 44.1kHz, 48 kHz and 192 kHz sampling and even includes old school MIDI jacks.

While the CMI-30A is priced out of reach for all but the most well-heeled musicians, the Fairlight team might release a far less expensive version that included just the Crystal Core card, software and sound library in the sub-$10,000 range.

Oh, and if ten grand is still a little steep, a little bird tells me that there are iPhone and iPad software versions in the works that includes a library of sounds from the original systems.

Fairlight Instruments - The Next Generation

Let's Do The New Dance Craze: "The Reel To Reel"

Our journeys here on Retro Thing have introduced us to a lot of interesting characters along the way. Many times their unbridled enthusiasm is the flame that keeps their corner of "obscuriana" alive.

For example, think of all of those folks who steadfastly defend analog tape even in the long pixellated shadow of digital music. We're analog fans here on RT too. Everyone knows that I've got more records and tapes than I could listen to in my lifetime. You might think that's a mark of my enthusiasm getting a little out of hand, but it could be worse. For example we could have created the next dance craze, "The Reel To Reel".

Walking In Circles

NPR's Robert Krulwich goes for an artful stroll to contemplate our inability to walk in a straight line without a visual reference.

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? [via BoingBoing]

The Visual 6502 Simulator

The MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor became the inexpensive heart of the Apple II, Commodore VIC-20, Atari 800 and dozens (if not hundreds) of other popular home computers.

It's been impossible to actually watch one work -- until now. Greg at Visual 6502 spent six weeks creating a working transistor-level visual simulation of this classic chip by aligning and combining over 200 microscopic photographs.

He writes, "In the summer of 2009, working from a single 6502, we exposed the silicon die, photographed its surface at high resolution and also photographed its substrate.  Using these two highly detailed aligned photographs, we created vector polygon models of each of the chip's physical components - about 20,000 of them in total for the 6502.  These components form circuits in a few simple ways according to how they contact each other, so by intersecting our polygons, we were able to create a complete digital model and transistor-level simulation of the chip.

This model is very accurate and can run classic 6502 programs, including Atari games.  By rendering our polygons with colors corresponding to their 'high' or 'low' logic state, we can show, visually, exactly how the chip operates: how it reads data and instructions from memory, how its registers and internal busses operate, and how toggling a single input pin (the 'clock') on and off drives the entire chip to step through a program and get things done.

You can see this operation right now in your browser (except for Internet Explorer) with our interactive JavaScript simulation."

Visit Visual6502.org for more.

CES: Chasing Fool's Gold

[I penned this editorial several years ago, but it still rings true today. CES 2011 runs from January 6th through the 9th, so expect to hear lots in the next few days about devices vying to become The Next Big Thing.]

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is underway in Las Vegas, as thousands of gadget makers vie for mindshare. The pages of tech blogs are saturated with new gadgets. And 99.9% of those devices suck.

The CES is an almost perfect demonstration of the scarcity of true human ingenuity. Each and every novel device is cloned a thousand times over as manufacturers jostle to introduce the thinnest, shiniest and most desirable widget in each product category. Part of the problem is the state of technology itself -- Manufacturers are always constrained by component availability, since it's insanely expensive to custom design bleeding-edge components such as the tiny hard drives (courtesy of Toshiba) that made Apple's iPod a runaway success.

Modern engineers were weaned on LEGO, and they find themselves applying the same building-block mentality to electronic design. If the boardroom calls for a new digicam or TV, it's often built around generic chipsets and display components from the same chip fabs and panel manufacturers that the competition uses.

Why am I taking the time to ramble about this? Because the most beloved devices from yesteryear were usually The Next Big Thing in years past. The Palm Pilot, Apple Macintosh, Sony Trinitron, Canon AE-1 SLR, Atari 2600, Apple iPod and other ground-breaking products are amongst the 0.01% of devices that demonstrate true innovation. Such development often requires massive financial and operational risks, which is what makes it so unpalatable to even the bravest CEO.

The scarcity of brilliant innovation highlights the technology industry's dirty little secret -- Innovation is bloody hard, and precious few companies are able to sustain cutting-edge development.

Sadly, many true innovators fail to achieve lasting financial success. Those that manage to get hit by lightning on a regular basis go on to become industry leaders. Sony was at the top of their game for almost four decades, Atari achieved greatness in the late 1970s before imploding a few short years later, Commodore shone brightly throughout most of the 1980s, while Apple has been on a wild roller coaster ride for the past 32 years.

Part of Retro Thing's quest is to highlight some of the most innovative gizmos from the past, such as the Regency TR-1 transistor radio, Sony Walkman, Canon 814 XL-S and Sinclair ZX-81. These devices are part of our collective past, which is why they evoke warm memories and eager anticipation for The Next Big Thing. Just remember it's often hard to see the forest for the trees. And that's especially true at CES.