Monday, January 28, 2019

The things I had in 1990 ; so analog and bricks and mortar !



This (in my opinion anyways) is a fascinating video, a throwback some 28 odd years where I randomly videoed what was inside my bedroom. There was nothing  to be censored ! It was just what a young man then would keep in his room, also laying out the things I felt were important to me at that time, like the photos in their frames - so last century !   

I am amazed at how technology has changed the products which we used then and now. As I panned the Sony Camcorder 7 around room, I am amazed ad how many things are gone with the wind and how some things still remain the same. More of that later.

I recall I purchased this gem of a 'toy' in  June 1990 when I visited Japan in the Akihabara electronics products district and the salesman promised me then something - he said, product made in Japan, for Japanese market is 100% better in quality than that made outside of Japan ; he was absolutely correct. The camcorder lasted me almost 10 wonderful years and I had many good experiences playing with it and taking (then) numerous meaningful videos and storing them in first cassettes and then I converted them to DVDs.All of this before the age of Youtube and file sharing generation of today.

This video starts with the cellphone, also Sony. With its antenna and a receiving range of maybe 10 meters, it was widely used then. It has now gone the way of the dinosaur. Behind the cellphone was the traditional handset phone. Does any youngster really know how to use such an ancient technology ? 

Next there was a slow panning of the table where I worked in my bedroom, and some of the stationery (there is a magnifying glass, some paper holders, an ink bottle (!) for a fountain pen, a nice portrait of a 27 year old me as well as the highlight of my student life, getting an Engineering degree from the NUS.

Then, there is a colour TV with antenna (Sanyo) also gone the way of the dinosaur. Along the ledge of the wall (the room was extended in the early '80s to add in the balcony so that the aircondition covered it and there was a small bar complete with small refrigerator, beer glasses and a display cabinet (IKEA no less) which I kept assorted stuff.    

The colour TV belonged to my Por Por or Grandmother who passed away in the early '80s and she had the TV for a good 8 to 10 years. I used it till perhaps the early '90s when I moved out after getting married. They don't make the TVs as reliable as those in the early 70s and 80s. That is my opinion. 

You can see the yellow wall and then a blue wall in the background. That is the extension to the room. The old bedroom extended till the yellow portion and the blue portion was the extension of the balcony becoming an add-on to the room. Below the Sanyo airconditioner (manual no remote then) stood the cassette player (!) and radio. This was just before the days of the CD, DVD, Blue Ray and Digital sound ! So I had 2 racks of cassette storage ; 

Panning over to the other side of the bed, on the mantelpiece lay the pager (!), my wallet, a Wolves sweat band, a dual fountain pen display, some analog clocks. 

At the glass display cabinet, there are the trophies (amazingly they never go out of fashion!) and finally to some nice pictures of a tiger family.

This is really a surrealistic throwback in time some 28 years ago !

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