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Culture |
Electronics in the 1980's: They may have been huge clunky boxes that had remotes on wires, or cell phones that you could have used as house bricks, computers that displayed eight colours, but the electrical products of the 80's have a certain appeal. These products certainly are dated now, but they are incredibly well made, as I all ways tell people who look at my twenty year old top loading VCR, you won't be keeping anything new that long. I know this statement will add a couple of decades to my perceived age, but they just don't make things like they used to. Many people consider anything over five years old outdated, not useful anymore. This couldn't be further from the truth, the electronics made in the 80's were incredibly modern and ingenious, most do everything their modern counterparts do, but with a more dependable mechanical system. We weren't living in the dark ages, we were quite happily programming our digital timers on the VCR to record Dallas while we were out, many of us were just bringing CD players in to our sitting rooms, even a few were talking on cell phones back in 1985. Don't forget this is the decade that started by mass producing millions of popular computer systems like the Commodore Vic 20, or C64, and was selling the most popular type of computer from IBM back in 81'. So why would anybody think the 1980's were old and out of date? I guess it can only be down to the company's that keep updating appliances, but to keep them selling they have to make them look like they are some kind of new product people have to buy. I find it quite amusing to take a trip through a modern electrical store, only the other day I saw a advert that was selling DVD players, the slogan was, "You've never seen anything like it before, it's video on a disk!" My first reaction was, umm, well what about those RCA CED players? They even predated the 80's, of course most people wouldn't buy a video on a magnetic record now, yes they were like magnetic LP's! But what about laser disks, I recall seeing one from at least 1981 before, these were much better. For those who don't remember they were giant CD's the size of LP's, but they used the latest laser technology. A very nice modern system, I personally don't own one, but I can see why they could have sold very well given the chance, considering the high quality picture, and the fact they are easy to store being packaged just like LP's. Still this leaves me with the question, why do they have adverts which claim something is new when it's quite an old idea? Again I suppose it's to persuade people to buy it? The fact is all these things from the 80's are destined to stay a good long while yet, whatever the companies throw at the consumers they will inevitably buy what they really want. Regardless of mini disk players people will keep on buying CD's (yet another 1980's format) And DVD players, will they win against VHS? Just ask the people who made CED players, betamax or V2000 for some insight. Despite the manufactures best efforts there's still a large amount of people that buy records whenever they have a choice, and a few still listen to 8-track players as their main source of music. It's not just about plastic disks, and old cartridges though, most who haven't tried it don't realise the fun and enjoyment a record lover can find in a dusty box of disks in a car boot sale or Oxfam shop. I guess memorabilia and all those old things we all seem to collect just don't sell, mass production and expensive marketing do. But wouldn't it be great to have just thirty minutes in a electrical shop back in the 80's again? Maybe it's just me looking back with a happier image than it really was, but shopping in the 80's was much more fun than I find it now. This is what made me start a project, I intend to find as many stores as I can that sell things I would have bought in the 1980's, preferably online shops so you can visit as well. If you have any relevant links don't hesitate to send them my way at Ben02@thefreeinternet.co.uk |
