The queue-bothering proto-PowerPoint

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มี.ค. 2023
  • If you queued up in a UK Post Office in the 1980s you might have seen one of these carts in action. If you were in business or education in 1970s America you might have viewed a presentation from one of these carts. It's a format that you were made to watch, whether you wanted to or not.
    Here are the details for the museum that kindly donated this carad.org.uk - They are a charity, monetary donations can be made via their website.
    MERCHANDISE
    New Techmoan Merchandise is now available.
    etsy.me/3zzjweo
    SUBSCRIBE
    th-cam.com/users/Techmoan?...
    SUPPORT
    This channel can be supported through Patreon
    / techmoan
    ******Patrons usually have early access to videos******
    OUTRO MUSIC
    Over Time - Vibe Tracks • Over Time - Vibe Track...
    OUTRO SOUND EFFECT
    ThatSFXGuy - • Six Million Dollar man...
    AFFILIATED LINKS/ADVERTISING NOTICE
    All links are Affiliated where possible.
    When you click on links to various merchants posted here and make a purchase, this can result in me earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network & Amazon.
    I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to AMAZON Sites (including, but not limited to Amazon US/UK/DE/ES/FR/NL/IT/CAN)
    Regularly asked question
    Q) Why are there comments from days ago when this video has just gone live today?
    A) Patrons / techmoan usually have early access to videos. I'll show the first version of a video on Patreon and often the feedback I get results in a video going through further revisions to improve it. e.g. Fix audio issues, clarify points, add extra footage or cut extraneous things out. The video that goes live on youtube is the final version. If you want to see the videos early and before any adverts are added, you can sign up to Patreon here: / techmoan
  • วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี

ความคิดเห็น • 1.5K

  • @langam7017
    @langam7017 ปีที่แล้ว +78

    "HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUYING STAMPS TODAY?"
    Aye no, I'm at the post office to get my hair cut.

  • @hoilst265
    @hoilst265 ปีที่แล้ว +846

    The fact that they've used Iron Maiden's "Number Of The Beast" as the ideal gift - excellent. And supremely 80s Britain.

    • @catfish552
      @catfish552 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      Hehe, yup. That would still be the ideal gift for me today!

    • @davekp6773
      @davekp6773 ปีที่แล้ว +80

      Yep, and now the Post Office have come full circle by recently releasing Iron Maiden commemorative stamps. I think they are only the fifth group to be commemorated.

    • @jameslaidler2152
      @jameslaidler2152 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      Ya beat me to it. Seriously though, showing a young fellow holding a flippin' Iron Maiden album is hilarious.

    • @astroboirap
      @astroboirap ปีที่แล้ว +5

      with Christopher Reeve buying it

    • @odkres
      @odkres ปีที่แล้ว +29

      I was a bit surprised, I wouldn't have thought Maiden was accepted as a good and proper thing in that "official" sphere yet.

  • @congaman100
    @congaman100 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    In the mid 80's I worked as a security guard at night in a retail store being built in a local mall. The music system in the store was so accurately repeditave I could eventually tell the current time by the song playing.

  • @me3333
    @me3333 ปีที่แล้ว +322

    Back in the 80's my grandfather worked at a tractor dealership and brought one of these systems home. It was meant to demonstrate how to repair the new equipment coming out on tractors. It was pretty cool because you could have the part right there in front of you and it was like a step by step guide to work on it. As a kid I watched all of the tapes and it really helped me understand a lot of mechanical systems that could be applied to cars, trucks etc. and helped spur my interest in working on cars

    • @Caratcho
      @Caratcho ปีที่แล้ว +31

      An analog TH-cam tutorial 🤪

    • @IvanKowalenko
      @IvanKowalenko ปีที่แล้ว +11

      iFixit of the 80s.

    • @Breakstuff455khz
      @Breakstuff455khz ปีที่แล้ว +19

      My father worked for Amtrak when I was a kid and taught training classes for the mechanical department, meaning we had a few boxes of very technical VHS tapes in the basement at all times. I spent hours and hours watching all the hits like "Locomotive air brake departure test" and "Introduction to Head-End-Power". Knew more about P42 locomotives than anybody else in elementary school.

    • @denisohbrien
      @denisohbrien ปีที่แล้ว +8

      aaand fastforward to now where your not allowed to work on the tractor you own and bought.

    • @bertram-raven
      @bertram-raven ปีที่แล้ว +2

      But now the same manufacturer which ensures you understand you do not own anything and will be happy.

  • @bosstowndynamics5488
    @bosstowndynamics5488 ปีที่แล้ว +1476

    I like how Matt's long search for a 60Hz inverter that works properly with old audiovisual gear has finally competed successfully

    • @allenellisdewitt
      @allenellisdewitt ปีที่แล้ว +84

      It's such an obvious solution in retrospect!

    • @markjames8664
      @markjames8664 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      With a bigger battery, Matt could continue producing weekly videos after the collapse of modern civilization.

    • @jackbaxter-williams8059
      @jackbaxter-williams8059 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      I feel like a sponsorship is in order. I hear they pay pretty well. Do a review matt !
      BTW, i still love your outro song!

    • @SyntheticFuture
      @SyntheticFuture ปีที่แล้ว +38

      I also love how it's not an inverter at all XD Sometimes the right tool is the thing you weren't looking for 😄

    • @bosstowndynamics5488
      @bosstowndynamics5488 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      @@allenellisdewitt It really isn't that easy though, his previous attempt discovered that Ryobi's "pure sine wave" inverter was anything but.

  • @WrenFJ
    @WrenFJ ปีที่แล้ว +361

    We'd LOVE the story on your friend's pirate action movie business

    • @mariorossi9300
      @mariorossi9300 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I agree, must be an interesting story.

    • @llucos100
      @llucos100 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      ****** Manchester Police has joined the chat ******

    • @lundsweden
      @lundsweden ปีที่แล้ว +10

      No doubt a friend of a friend of a friend! ;-)

    • @deanagoes2791
      @deanagoes2791 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Hongkong connection 😂

    • @medes5597
      @medes5597 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Pretty sure it was a guy with a mail order business. Not a friend.

  • @ChrisMezzolesta
    @ChrisMezzolesta ปีที่แล้ว +680

    Well Mat, you've inadvertently solved a 50-year mystery for me! The quick succession of slides about Ernie and premium bonds helped me decipher just what Ian Anderson meant by the line "Saying 'how's your granny and good old Ernie, he coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win' " in "Thick as a Brick". Being in the States I had no idea what he was talking about so this quick bit of your video prompted me to Google Ernie and premium bond - and there was the answer! I had no idea the Ernie being referred to wasn't a local chap down the pub, but the acronym for the machine generating the numbers for the 'lottery'! I'll bet nobody else had a connection from this video to Jethro Tull on their Bingo card!!!! Thanks and great job as always!

    • @Techmoan
      @Techmoan  ปีที่แล้ว +153

      Glad I could help.

    • @Richardincancale
      @Richardincancale ปีที่แล้ว +53

      ERNIE == Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment

    • @EzeePosseTV
      @EzeePosseTV ปีที่แล้ว +29

      .. And he drove the fastest Milk Cart in the west!

    • @xaenon
      @xaenon ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@EzeePosseTV I thought it was Irving....
      Edit: Never mind. Got two different songs mixed up in my head.

    • @TWL380
      @TWL380 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@Techmoan I knew you were a fellow Metokur fan 😂

  • @cusemoneyman
    @cusemoneyman ปีที่แล้ว +510

    Importing a US portable battery with 60Hz AC output was a stroke of genius.

    • @lucasRem-ku6eb
      @lucasRem-ku6eb ปีที่แล้ว +2

      someone did forced that on him

    • @pvman2
      @pvman2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      So, he could import a Li-ion batt, but not an inert, obsolete, portable, rear projector? Bureaucrats!!!

    • @2009dudeman
      @2009dudeman ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @@pvman2 More likely the export paperwork wasn't filled out correctly. CBP is pretty anal about their paperwork and filing. They won't let an item through because they don't understand it and think it's prohibited, but if you call it an "engineering sample" it will get through no problem. This is how a lot of test and computer equipment gets through. If I want to ship half a dozen circuit boards to Australia for example, I could list what they are and what hazards they may have (simple don't put a CR2032 battery and you can list 'none'). But if the boards are just tough pressure sensors for recording overpressure events up close, and you call them "explosion sensors", there is a good chance the word explosion keeps your items off the plane.
      Thats just an example, there are far less ridiculous names that have kept things stuck in customs.

    • @ailivac
      @ailivac ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Sounds like the shipping would cost more than just importing an inverter without a heavy battery already attached.

    • @li5up6
      @li5up6 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@2009dudeman a😊

  • @borisgalos6967
    @borisgalos6967 ปีที่แล้ว +150

    The color fading is typical of Ektrachrome compatible film (which also includes things like Agfa and Fuji).
    Kodachrome typically is immune to fading. That process is unique to Kodak and required massively complex equipment to process. It's interesting to note that Kodachrome is actually a black and white film that has layers dyed during processing and it was invented by hobbyist chemists Mannes and Godowsky in Mannes' kitchen. Their day jobs were as professional musicians.

    • @v-g-z3689
      @v-g-z3689 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yes, Kodachrome is more or less immune to that, but Ektachrome suffered from it a lot, so did Fuji. However Agfa and 3m film held up a lot better, not quite as excellent as Kodachrome, but close!

    • @StackOverflow80
      @StackOverflow80 ปีที่แล้ว

      I think it is Eastmancolor production prints what fades so heavily. Ektachrome et al too, but not so extremely like the Eastmancolor mass production prints of that era.

    • @lunquewill
      @lunquewill ปีที่แล้ว

      Do the faded films have enough color remaining to be able to digitally resurrect them?

    • @v-g-z3689
      @v-g-z3689 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@lunquewill Pretty much anything can be done with digital tinkering nowerdays. If that's also authentic then is a different story, I consider any but the conservative methods as botch. (That opinion of course doesn't apply for heavily damaged but highly valuable material that needs to be resurrected at any cost.)

    • @StackOverflow80
      @StackOverflow80 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@lunquewill They say at least ca 4% of original dye density is necessary to fully restore the colour.

  • @bengineer_the
    @bengineer_the ปีที่แล้ว +19

    "Reinventing the reel" would have been the perfect advert for the micro cassette! XD

  • @bwc1976
    @bwc1976 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I remember when I was a kid, a saleslady for swimming pools came to our house and had a self-contained slide show unit like this for her presentation! Very exciting to see, but my parents never did buy that swimming pool.

  • @moserfugger6363
    @moserfugger6363 ปีที่แล้ว +161

    Mr. Techmoan really is the Indiana Jones of technical oddities. It's always great fun to join him on his adventures. :)
    Greetings from Germany

    • @filanfyretracker
      @filanfyretracker ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Germany gave us one of the devices that truly made this channel famous for its oddtech audio formats. the Tefifon.

    • @moserfugger6363
      @moserfugger6363 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@filanfyretracker
      Gern geschehen! :)
      Grüße aus Deutschland

    • @MingJianYap
      @MingJianYap ปีที่แล้ว

      needs to do a crossover with oddityarchive

  • @TheNugettinage
    @TheNugettinage ปีที่แล้ว +198

    I really like that slide changing mechanism. There's just something about the quick smooth movement and the little "swish" that appeals to me. Tickles the same part of the brain as when something is cut perfectly or perfectly fits into a socket or something.

    • @jamesbennettmusic
      @jamesbennettmusic ปีที่แล้ว +19

      it would be a great transition to have on modern presentation software!

    • @gunsunnuva8346
      @gunsunnuva8346 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      It's the auditory equivalent of the scissors gliding as you cut wrapping paper.

    • @3rdalbum
      @3rdalbum ปีที่แล้ว +8

      It looks like a special effect, but it's just the film advancing. And I guess Labelle was too cheap to have any sort of blanking mechanism for when the film is in motion, or maybe they realised it looks better this way.

    • @Mike28625
      @Mike28625 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I like how it fails. That warbling noise is neat o

    • @dancingwiththedogsdj
      @dancingwiththedogsdj ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'd never thought of that before...how nice it sounds... I mean with the daily use of slide show machines these days 📱💻 but hearing the mechanism perform is glorious.... I'm kinda scared now to see how many ASMR videos cover slides or something similar.... Might be my new sleeping partner. 😴🤤😴🤤 Great video as always! Have a wonderful day everyone! & Smile! - it makes everyone wonder what you're up to!! 🍻🌎❤️🌮

  •  ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Hello: I am a very old man from Patagonia, Argentina. We did not have those equipments but you remembered me when I went to the local and huge postal office back in the 60´s and 70´s. I thank you for all in your channel. Cheers!!!

  • @ennexthefox
    @ennexthefox ปีที่แล้ว +71

    As a Midwesterner, I’m very interested to hear Mat try to pronounce “Oconomowoc, Wisconsin” where La Belle Industries was based!

    • @IvanKowalenko
      @IvanKowalenko ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Or Wayzata.

    • @edherdman9973
      @edherdman9973 ปีที่แล้ว

      I used to be in the Midwest and had to look that one up! Wayzata too.

    • @jamespfitz
      @jamespfitz 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Muscoda

    • @craigduncan4826
      @craigduncan4826 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      AWK-On-omo-wock
      Is my guess - like oconomowalk
      Had to read it a few times but to me it seems like it prolly sounds just like you’d expect. Close?

  • @2Nu
    @2Nu ปีที่แล้ว +99

    Matt, you always manage to make the ordinary, mundane or otherwise arcane vintage tech utterly fascinating with your affable and engaging presentation approach. Kudos Mate! 👏👏

  • @moseshorowitz4345
    @moseshorowitz4345 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    Units very much like this one were common in the United States back in the Seventies. I would see them most often at those enormous Home Show, Camping Show, and other large-hall exhibitions. Salesmen of all types would set one up on a table to attract potential customers. Of course, it also drew in tech-minded tykes like myself, eager to figure out the inner workings of this odd beast.

    • @darryl7256
      @darryl7256 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I also remember seeing these running little info sessions about exhibits in museums when my family was driving around the US & Canada in the late 70s.

    • @toonman361
      @toonman361 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sounds exactly like me.

  • @patrickhobbs8201
    @patrickhobbs8201 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    I had a history teacher in 2004 that was still using these to supplement lessons about the American Revolution. It was mostly illustrated and narrated folklore. I *distinctly* remember how pink the slides were.

  • @kenmore01
    @kenmore01 ปีที่แล้ว +36

    Hey Matt, if you decide to fix that unit up, double check that there is no DC Voltage across that volume pot. If there is, it makes that crackling much worse and it has a bad blocking capacitor in it. Fun video! Thanks!

    • @caddelworth
      @caddelworth ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's also possible that the carbon (it WILL be carbon!) track inside the pot has either "come off" or simply been worn away over time. In which case, replace the pot (DUH!).

  • @HappyMinds1
    @HappyMinds1 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Matt is a cultural historian and as a nation we should acknowledge his hard work and effort. Amazing documentation not just of technology but the very time it was used in.

  • @jbaldwin1970
    @jbaldwin1970 ปีที่แล้ว +73

    In the mid 90s the large company I worked for (you’ll know them if I mention them) trialled a more up to date version of this. Computer monitors in every branch with content transmitted overnight via modem. I was responsible for putting together the slideshows.
    We piloted it with about six stores. I quite enjoyed messing with the system and trying to make it creative. But the library music they gave us was the usual guff and, despite my best attempts, it was difficult to make it anything less than irritating.
    The six trial branches immediately turned down the volume rather than go crazy and the resulting silent shows soon got covered up with stock.
    Fortunately I’d been reading about a new thing called the worldwide web and began experimenting with it. Bye bye remote AV system

    • @johnclarkorme5211
      @johnclarkorme5211 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I was thinking, I can remember these in the 90s, and I'm sure they had the word Video something on the plastic cabinet and I think they were CRTs rather than a projector. They were very irritating, and didnt last long

    • @Demiglitch
      @Demiglitch ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Did that World Wide Web ever take off then?

    • @jbaldwin1970
      @jbaldwin1970 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Demiglitch the jury is still out

  • @video99couk
    @video99couk ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I've run some of these for National Savings. My friend Chris Squires of savethosememories scanned the cine film and I ran the 8-track part, then we stuck the audio and video parts back together. I've mentioned this on my channel a while back.

  • @Asterra2
    @Asterra2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I just gotta say I really love the unique look of super high-detail 4K video recordings of inherently low-quality film slides. It's a juxtaposition that I consider a rare treat. Like seeing an old favorite film that you used to watch on VHS or whatever, but somebody went and found a film print and decided to make a 4K bluray out of it.

  • @lraszewski
    @lraszewski ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I never happened upon one of these in my youth. In the '80s, my semi-rural town was slow to move to videocassette, but we still used filmstrip projectors in school. However, the film side of this reminds me a lot of the endless-loop video cartridges that Fisher-Price sold as a children's toy.

  • @alextirrellRI
    @alextirrellRI ปีที่แล้ว +19

    I’m surprised we didn’t have something like this in my elementary school in the early 90’s. Our library would show a lot of film strips which were a much more rudimentary version, usually accompanied by a cassette tape with an audible tone to advance the film strip.

    • @jonc4403
      @jonc4403 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I suspect it came down to cost. Film strips were older, but the projectors were sometimes more recent. The older projectors used a record for the audio, the later ones used a compact cassette. The format having been around longer meant more content available, particularly since neither the audio nor the film technology were proprietary, which this was. Most of the projectors at my school were Dukane, so I suspect the Labelle projectors were more expensive, and this fancy format, being marketed to business, was more expensive still. And of course who cares if it's more work to set up, it's just a teacher doing it, not an important businessman. (sarcasm)

  • @dherrendoerfer
    @dherrendoerfer ปีที่แล้ว +19

    They had one of these in our school library in '84, and later I saw a similar format at a driving instructor, although it had been replaced by a VCR and was just left standing there.

    • @samuelcolvin4994
      @samuelcolvin4994 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That's where I remember this from too! Although I saw one sometime in 1997 or 1998.

  • @jamiestotz2516
    @jamiestotz2516 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    When I was in elementary school in the early '70s we had a similar educational AV system called the Ealing film loop. It was a cartridge with an endless loop of film which probably used normal sound-on-film for the audio. However, because it was a loop, it used a mechanism similar to the 8-track that pulled from the center and rewound on the outside. I was in the US, but I think Ealing was a British company.

    • @Alpha8713
      @Alpha8713 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      We had these, too. They were developed by Technicolor (a US company) and called the "Magi-Cartridge." There are 8mm and super-8mm versions of it, and the cartridges are (smartly) designed to not fit the wrong type of projector.

  • @jeffh8803
    @jeffh8803 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    Hey Techmoan, you're a genuine historian and archivist dealing with this stuff. I can only imagine there are hundreds of historical business presentations that would be lost forever without people digitizing them

  • @deeiks12
    @deeiks12 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I love the aesthetics of the graphic design for the post office slides. looks awesome.

    • @NatureOkie
      @NatureOkie ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I like the idea of Aerogramme.
      I often sent a bi-fold post card here in USA, you write one half fold it over, and they reply back, with the other, Pre-stamped postcard Attached. (Businesses could print the pre-addressed return, so they didn't send the reply card to Aunty Matilda, instead.😂

  • @CarlRhoades
    @CarlRhoades ปีที่แล้ว +100

    I remember these in school here in Colorado... It was used for supplemental content alongside the VHS tapes for Voyage of the Mimi. Never thought something would bring that back to my mind from 1985!

    • @herbiehusker1889
      @herbiehusker1889 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Voyage of the Mimi, lol. Did you also see Tomes & Talismans?

    • @CarlRhoades
      @CarlRhoades ปีที่แล้ว

      @@herbiehusker1889 Nope. Read the plot on the Wikipedia page, I'd definitely remember that one, even all these years later! XD

    • @herbiehusker1889
      @herbiehusker1889 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @Ikadzuchi too bad. It was good, just like Voyage of the Mimi.

    • @AlfredRusselWallace
      @AlfredRusselWallace ปีที่แล้ว +3

      VOYAGE OF THE MIMI HOLY SHIT MY BRAIN

    • @TheBrokenTech
      @TheBrokenTech ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Wow.. You were in a fancy school system. We had regular film projectors and a compact cassette tape to accompany them and person (usually a student) would have to manually advance the projector every time the tape would BEEP...
      Then again, we also had Betamax players, so maybe my school system just made bad financial decisions. 😆

  • @MikeGervasi
    @MikeGervasi ปีที่แล้ว +43

    On films that have "Cyan Fade" you can put a blue gel filter in front of the lens of the projector and it will somewhat restore the colors.

    • @grinningtiki220
      @grinningtiki220 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Sounds a lot safer than my idea of submerging the film in a diluted blue permeant marker and alcohol solution.
      Come to think of it I have no idea what alcohol would do to the film itself.

    • @marcusdamberger
      @marcusdamberger ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I've often wondered how old films are restored when they look like that with the cyan and yellow fade and not much of those colors left. Somehow they must do a digital version of adding the blue gel; but turned way up with digital tools. Amazing, how much full range color they can get back from old faded color film.

    • @davidbono9359
      @davidbono9359 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Or send it over to Fran Blanche 😉- she's made color-corrected video transfers from several 70's era NASA films.

    • @kbhasi
      @kbhasi ปีที่แล้ว +1

      From what I heard (I may be wrong), it was a result of films using "Eastmancolor" for their colour layers which (IIRC) was cheaper than the "Technicolor" system but the cyan and yellow pigments would fade out over time.

    • @smartrain1
      @smartrain1 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@marcusdamberger When films are restored they go from the original negatives rather than faded prints, only using those when the original neg materials are lost. Even so, using digital tools quite a lot of colour can be drawn out of faded film, depending on how faded it has become of course.

  • @Syd_Layne
    @Syd_Layne ปีที่แล้ว +2

    1:31 "...at one of the elbows of the zig-zag..."
    Whenever I've been in a ziz-zag queue, I've wondered about the proper name for the 180° turns at the ends. "Elbows" - another mystery solved. Watching Matt's videos, every day is a schoolday...

  • @JimsEquipmentShed
    @JimsEquipmentShed ปีที่แล้ว +24

    The archived material actually looked quite good. It’s nice that it used projector styled metal belts instead of the rubber ones. Those seem to last forever.

  • @DirtyHairy1
    @DirtyHairy1 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    "To buy what you want" - Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast album? Hell yes!

  • @graverboi13
    @graverboi13 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    As a music producer, I am constantly sampling the beautiful, vintage speech bits you play. As an audio engineer, I appreciate the wild variety of audio sources, mic angles, and occasional wobble, because there's no end of fun in resampling them later.
    Also, as an American, I had to go back and listen to you say "tutor" several times before realized that you weren't saying it wrong the first time, I was just hearing it correctly. Thanks for another gem!

    • @alittlebitintellectual7361
      @alittlebitintellectual7361 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ive heard sampling of vintage speech bits more and more in the music i hear.
      Is there a word for this practice?

    • @KahlessTheUnforgettable
      @KahlessTheUnforgettable 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@alittlebitintellectual7361Laziness.

  • @chickenpollo1013
    @chickenpollo1013 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    8-track carts were used until the mid 2000s on Japanese buses and trains in a similar way. The "TAPE CONDUCTOR" the bus driver would press a cue button and the bus stop would be announced. Narration on one track and tones on the other, but at half speed. I have some that are dated 2005 and 2006. I repurposed some of them into custom quadraphonic tapes of new surround mixes. I always enjoy your videos, thanks.

  • @mikeselectricstuff
    @mikeselectricstuff ปีที่แล้ว +3

    If you want 60Hz in the UK, many AC power-banks, e.g. Bluettti can be set to 50 or 60Hz output. No need to import from US.

  • @羽衣甘藍奧頓
    @羽衣甘藍奧頓 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I love your channel so much Techmoan. I grew up in the 70's/80's. and your channel warms my heart with nostalgia and technical retro knowlege. Thank you.

    • @duskonanyavarld1786
      @duskonanyavarld1786 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I also like his channel but I am younger and also a Swede, I like to learn about retro tech. Technoman have a wonderful voice.

    • @sakurojason
      @sakurojason ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It’s interesting how his latest videos already feel nostalgic to me. I’ve been watching this channel for a few years now and on each video, the outro makes me tear up in nostalgia…

  • @jrchannel7405
    @jrchannel7405 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love that little "swoosh" sound between slides, it adds some character and also brings nac your attention because you know that every time you hear it there's something new at the screen to look at

  • @Gappasaurus
    @Gappasaurus ปีที่แล้ว +14

    There used to be something like the Showman 16 rear-projection unit set up at our local hardware store (Rickel Home Center in NJ) when i was a kid in the ’70s that constantly looped a demonstration of some cleaning product. I’ve long since forgotten the name of the product, but the guy in the video repeats several times “Remember, it’s the _foam_ that does the work!”, and i HAVE remembered, to this very day 😆 Wish i could find that video somewhere, but haven’t been able to so far… though Mat unearthing things in the same family gives me hope 😋

    • @warphammer
      @warphammer ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I wonder if it was for Dow Bathroom Cleaner both because it made a big deal of the 'scrubbing bubbles' and also because you could see Dow Roofing made several of the cartridges in the first ebay auction.

  • @SeanBZA
    @SeanBZA ปีที่แล้ว +116

    I would say that these probably were turned off by the staff, because they likely complained to the union that they were very likely to go postal, with this repeating 24 times a day being deemed to be torture. By me the post office only had large LED displays, often only showing vounters in use, and wrong, plus the most common thing shown on them was the "Welcome to Polycomp, the date is xx/xx/xxxx, the time is yy:yy:yy, the temperature is 56C, data corrupted" as there was little chance that anybody there actually knew how to program them, and more importantly, nobody would have either the wired keyboard or IR transmitter that you needed to program them. The later ones used a Palm Pilot and software to build up the display on the Palm, and then send to the display using the IR port.

    • @Rick_Todd
      @Rick_Todd ปีที่แล้ว +6

      More likely the staff just turned the sound off or down to a low volume.

    • @MeriaDuck
      @MeriaDuck ปีที่แล้ว +12

      That 'welcome to polycomp.... Data corrupted ' message would not be misplaced in a dystopian game 😂
      And I was thinking too that waiting in line with these blaring is bad enough, one wouldn't want to be the employee working there...

    • @kenbarlow5373
      @kenbarlow5373 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      ​@@Rick_Todd
      I was thinking that! In fact I'm sure that the one in our city post office didn't have any narration so likely the staff had turned it down or even snipped the speaker wires so no one could turn it up again!

    • @miaugato93
      @miaugato93 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I used to love those LED displays, there were even large ones on the streets, amazing how they're now delightfully obsolete

    • @niclaskarlin
      @niclaskarlin ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@Rick_Todd Or someone using a screwdriver on the speaker.

  • @samsoulee
    @samsoulee ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Old school piracy stories are always awesome, a guy was telling how they released amiga/atari st games back in the 90s, it's so interesting. (I think it was on the retrocave youtube chanel) reusing old stamps, sending letters with a fake adress but the good return adress and so on ... lots of fun.

    • @meetoo594
      @meetoo594 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That brings back memories of reusing stamps by sticking tape over them so the recipient could gently peel it off and remove the inked postal stamp thingy. Did this many times when posting pirated Amiga games to other users who did the same. Suprised the post office never got wind of the trick but I guess as it was all automated it wasnt worth the expense and hassle of checking for clear tape.

    • @owensmith7530
      @owensmith7530 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@meetoo594 That sort of trick is why the new stamps all have a unique barcode, each code can only be used once.

  • @PolyesterMoustache
    @PolyesterMoustache ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember reading that 8 track tapes were used for continuous playback in malls well into the 90's before being supplanted by internet radio. They were also used for event recording on trains (similar to a black box in a plane) even more recent than that from what I've heard

  • @camelcitycalamity
    @camelcitycalamity ปีที่แล้ว +7

    This is a very timely video! I just found one of these systems in the woods inside an old van. Next to it was Taco Bell training media. I had never seen or heard of this even though I grew up in the 80s. Thanks for showing how it worked!

  • @grahampaulkendrick7845
    @grahampaulkendrick7845 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Fascinating and very nostalgic. 🙂

  • @samwalker4438
    @samwalker4438 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Seeing this in the 70s/80s on a back projection screen must have looked pretty amazing, so much higher res/quality than a VHS!

  • @tapestapes0
    @tapestapes0 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Matt is a national treasure at this point

  • @KenoshaHistoryCenter
    @KenoshaHistoryCenter ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The Kenosha History Center, a museum in Kenosha WI, received a donation of a large collection of these and two players. Ours are American Motors training material. Unfortunately, the 8 Track player component of the players need new belts and we don't have much free time to spend replacing them. They instantly reminded me of automated slideshows with sound in school in the 1980s.

    • @warphammer
      @warphammer ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh wow, that'd be great to see. Belts are the bane of this stuff.

  • @QuanticChaos1000
    @QuanticChaos1000 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    10:47 "But did you know that ℌ𝔈ℜ𝔈 at your local post office..."

    • @AtheistOrphan
      @AtheistOrphan ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah, weird pronunciation of ‘here’.

  • @58Brando
    @58Brando ปีที่แล้ว +26

    I remember being subjected to one of those in a post office.

    • @EvenTheDogAgrees
      @EvenTheDogAgrees ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I'm so sorry for you. I hope you're doing alright now. 😉

    • @58Brando
      @58Brando ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@EvenTheDogAgrees I recovered.

    • @2760ade
      @2760ade ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@58Brando I didn't. I still have nightmares!!🤣

  • @panpaletkalg2550
    @panpaletkalg2550 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i like the little "swoosh" sound when the slide is changing, it's like Robocop walking in the distance

  • @alistentcanada
    @alistentcanada ปีที่แล้ว +1

    LMFAO at the quick flash of N'Sync, a little sneaky clip.. Too funny.. What's amazing, I actually found one of these at the Thrift Shop yesterday.. I was trying to figure it out then magically this video happens. I found a rear projection unit.

  • @VidweII
    @VidweII ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Not often I see my tiny Kansas hometown mentioned in a Techmoan vid - 7:38.
    Not to mention the fact my father knew and worked for Bill Lear in the 70s before moving over to Beechcraft, later Raytheon.

  • @mattierenton701
    @mattierenton701 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    In sync... loved that... how many either missed (or saw that ) bravo Matt

  • @andreweve8914
    @andreweve8914 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you so much for what you do, by documenting this, you keep a record of this for future generations!

  • @CrewJackets
    @CrewJackets ปีที่แล้ว

    I love your channel. You always manage to find and explain fascinating media formats. And many that I never knew existed! And you always make it very entertaining. Thank you for your work.

  • @jonathannocon
    @jonathannocon ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I’ve never seen these thing here downunder which is surprising to me since we tend to get gizmos of all sorts in the later years of it’s production as per usual. I mean it’s still like that today tbh, especially electronic devices like this.
    Interesting device, vnoicely done & ty Mat👌🏼

  • @TSGEnt
    @TSGEnt ปีที่แล้ว +5

    2:46 Wow, even helped with arithmatic. How nice of them.
    Btw, Sir, you are brilliant. Over the years, being from the US, I've just delt with 50cycle stuff and digitized it, then sped it up. The thought never crossed my mind to simply pick up a battery backup source from the UK running at 50Hz in use that as my Hz converter. Thank you!
    10:58 That recording sounded a lot like David Niven!
    Thoroughly enjoyed this . Thank you.

    • @jonc4403
      @jonc4403 ปีที่แล้ว

      It's going to be cheaper to pick up a 12V power supply and UK inverter if you don't actually need the battery.

    • @TSGEnt
      @TSGEnt ปีที่แล้ว

      @@jonc4403 Indeed. Very good point.

  • @TonyBanks21
    @TonyBanks21 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you so much for your dedication,in showing how these obscure products work-I am a huge fan of your channel !!

  • @richardthunderbay8364
    @richardthunderbay8364 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I really enjoyed this one. I'm amazed that you keep on finding these new/old AV formats to present.

  • @silarge
    @silarge ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Great video as always Matt.
    Seeing stamps for TV License and Road Tax brought back memories of my parents buying these each month before direct debits took over.

    • @Tommy-he7dx
      @Tommy-he7dx ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I had the same Flashback when a saw those stamps :)

    • @AtheistOrphan
      @AtheistOrphan ปีที่แล้ว

      I’d forgotten about those!

    • @nwr99nwr99
      @nwr99nwr99 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Ten stamps for £1.30! We're not far off £1.30 per stamp these days

    • @hjalfi
      @hjalfi ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@nwr99nwr99 Factoring in inflation, that £0.13 should now be only be £0.52, so the real price of the stamp has doubled --- most likely due to the increasing cost of delivery by humans.

  • @DeathMetalDerf
    @DeathMetalDerf ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Every time I watch a Tech Moan video, I feel like I've learned something I'd never have had the chance to know about. Thank you!!

  • @GYTCommnts
    @GYTCommnts ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The quality and content of this episode is astounding! Incredible work! 🍻💪

  • @davida1hiwaaynet
    @davida1hiwaaynet ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Love the nostalgia. Thank you for showing these old formats. This is fascinating.

  • @Seiskid
    @Seiskid ปีที่แล้ว +5

    What a charming little story about a format I would otherwise not have noticed. Enjoyed this episode.

  • @AtomicShrimp
    @AtomicShrimp ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I remain amazed that you continue finding more formats to show to us. I was thinking that you were going to fix the speed issue by recording it and speeding it up in post, but I suppose running the machine at the wrong speed for an extended period might damage the media or the machine itself

  • @SharpAssKnittingNeedles
    @SharpAssKnittingNeedles ปีที่แล้ว

    What a cool object, both the cartridge and the unit you got to display them! Such ingenuity! And your video of the slides looks great! Feel like I'm there enjoying these silly promotional things and training videos with you 😄

  • @macgvrs
    @macgvrs ปีที่แล้ว

    You always find such unique things. Quite often these are things I have never seen. Thanks for sharing them.

  • @keithmockett3810
    @keithmockett3810 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Fascinating! I am only too aware of the "colour-fade" problem on 16mm as my business includes selling 16mm movies! I really enjoy the way you appreciate technology in the context of the times! Best regards Keith

    • @bagofnails6692
      @bagofnails6692 ปีที่แล้ว

      Am I correct in thinking that they still used potato starch to help fix the colours during thar era ?

    • @NatureOkie
      @NatureOkie ปีที่แล้ว +3

      •Kodachrome (K-14?)never fades...alas, it was expensive, multistep process involving harsh chemicals. Only Kodak, and Life Magazine knew the process.
      •Kodak's E-6 Ektachrome was quick, (relatively) safe and could even be processed by amateurs, in their home darkroom.
      •I was a US Navy photographer, and we had to send our archival Kodachrome to KODAK, but, shot routine short shelf life projects on E-6 slides.

    • @ThommyofThenn
      @ThommyofThenn ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bagofnails6692 that would be really cool.

  • @ociemitchell
    @ociemitchell ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I remember using something like this in the late 70s in school, but it used a separate compact audio cassette and a film reel. And the tone to switch slides was mixed with the normal audio. This actually looks a lot more advanced in some ways.

  • @zh84
    @zh84 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is my favourite kind of content from you: an in-depth analysis of some highly obscure audio-visual device. I had no idea these things existed. Thank you.

  • @kikujirob1ll
    @kikujirob1ll ปีที่แล้ว

    Absolutely hands down the best channel on TH-cam. Bravo!

  • @TruckCentral
    @TruckCentral ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Just here for the Nsync reference…

  • @newenglisharchitecture1012
    @newenglisharchitecture1012 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I've been watching your videos for a good number of years now, and I just wanted to say thank you for all the content you've made. Informative and very funny. It's brought me happiness.

  • @Caratcho
    @Caratcho ปีที่แล้ว

    One of the greatest videos so far Mat, keep up the good work, greetings from Chile!

  • @onedeadsaint
    @onedeadsaint ปีที่แล้ว +1

    this feels like a classic techmoan video and it just came out. i don't really know what i mean by that; it's more of a feeling.😀

  • @Rockythefishman
    @Rockythefishman ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Some really interesting stuff. I am sure I remember these from the post office in the late 80s. They were always too loud and the staff could not turn them down

  • @Nielk1
    @Nielk1 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    It's amazing you found a cartage explaining what/why the system was.

  • @JCWise-sf9ww
    @JCWise-sf9ww ปีที่แล้ว

    Matt, I like your videos very much. You come up with many devices we have never been made aware of otherwise, thank you for all your efforts.

  • @beez1717
    @beez1717 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I absolutely love the sound the machine makes when awitching slides. It hits that geeky love for quiet electronics noises.

  • @TheWayabo
    @TheWayabo ปีที่แล้ว +3

    "Even a ferret can use it", best ad campaign ever lol

  • @Thermalions
    @Thermalions ปีที่แล้ว +4

    It wouldn't surprise me if the post office staff just subconsciously tuned it out after a while. I worked in a bank which had a very loud ATM in it's front wall with it's back exposed in the customer area inside. Customers would comment on how horrendous it must be hearing that beeping all day for every key press on the machine. But no, the staff didn't even notice it after a day or two working there. It's amazing what the brain can filter out.

    • @3rdalbum
      @3rdalbum ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Worked in retail with a digital display that loudly played advertisements for LG. Can confirm, you do mostly tune them out, although one of the ads always broke through that mental filter. Was glad when we finally stopped selling LG products, lol

  • @BreakIntoProgram
    @BreakIntoProgram ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember those! What a blast from the past!! As ever, great video, thanks!

  • @roppa789
    @roppa789 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant half hour. Thanks Matt

  • @darrenjackson9646
    @darrenjackson9646 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Wow, Bell County High School, in Bell County, Kentucky, used these for sex Ed and home ec classes until mid 2014 when they finally got the big upgrade to that sort of curriculum in the form of, wait for it, a commercial laser disk player and a set of laser disks. What a time to be alive when I got to watch a “modern and very well funded school system” move from 1970s technology to 1980s technology, in the 21st century.

    • @darrenjackson9646
      @darrenjackson9646 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Philby Iasgair no they don’t still make them lmao, there’s just a ton of shitty vendors holding small southern American schools in a chokehold only selling refurbished, out of date stuff.

    • @meatpockets
      @meatpockets ปีที่แล้ว

      I seem to remember something like this in sex ed in the mid 90s. It was pretty outdated and kept on taking about venereal diseases instead of STDs. :D

    • @eDoc2020
      @eDoc2020 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      LD is also 1970s technology. I can't imagine why a vendor would be selling such an old system less than 10 years ago. DVDs would do the same thing but would cost the vendor less to procure. My best guess is it's something where only one specific video is approved which was only released on one format yet they still care about its copyright.

    • @weird-guy
      @weird-guy ปีที่แล้ว

      Damm! The oldest tech I used in school was those old projects that you put a transparent paper and shows on the don’t what is the name.
      Also still used 90/2000 laptops that sucked until we got upgrades in 2009 and the government started giving free laptops as part technology program.

    • @FrankVannier
      @FrankVannier ปีที่แล้ว

      Wow, that's just like the Simpsons episode from 1998 where the computer lab is upgraded to Commodore PET styled "Coleco" brand computers, haha. Ah, America and our educational priorities, ha. 😂

  • @KrzysztofC-1
    @KrzysztofC-1 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I'll be back for this at lunch time.

  • @han5vk
    @han5vk ปีที่แล้ว

    It's been a while since I watched one of your videos. I forgot how soothing your voice and presentation were. Even if one does not care too much about the subject matter, your videos are well worth watching.

  • @Wolfie_Rankin
    @Wolfie_Rankin 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    When I was a kid, the teachers at our Primary School took us to the library and sat us down in front of one of these and played "Little Black Sambo" on it. We all applauded when it finished, kids tended to do that after movies back then.

  • @GregBadabinski
    @GregBadabinski ปีที่แล้ว +9

    This is just like those damn gas pumps that blast commercials at you through their tinny, awful speakers.

    • @Techmoan
      @Techmoan  ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I’ve yet to encounter one of those in the U.K.
      I suspect it’s only a matter of time.

    • @christianjmoss
      @christianjmoss ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@Techmoan Yeak they have started rolling these out at petrol stations in Australia, sadly it's just a matter of time :(

    • @geirmyrvagnes8718
      @geirmyrvagnes8718 ปีที่แล้ว

      Petrol/gasoline and diesel fuel is going out of style as well, but we will probably get something similarly awful at car chargers.

    • @GoldenCroc
      @GoldenCroc ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Techmoan I have seen one of those, but I dont remember where... maybe it was in Denmark? Walls are closing in....

    • @woodhonky3890
      @woodhonky3890 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I have heard there is a mute button on those. Next time I go I'm going to try to find it.

  • @Absolotle
    @Absolotle ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I've never seen it and I still got nostalgic vibes.

  • @GregProbert1971
    @GregProbert1971 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Would love to hear more about those mail order Hong Kong films from the 80's you used to buy. I used to get mine from a company called Shaolin Video around that time.

  • @garethfairclough8715
    @garethfairclough8715 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My dad used to work for a company that put these in. Opto electronics, as I recall, and they worked back in the 70s and 80s. They were based in Cardiff, iirc, They also did very early work on "video walls" and did some of (if not the) the very first VHS player/TV combi units. We actually still have ours, which dad may or may not have borrowed from the business when it went bust under a very nasty cloud.

  • @billrtomison4440
    @billrtomison4440 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I think our veterinarian had one of the suitcase viewers in his office. Don’t think I ever used it though!
    Fascinating stuff, Mat! ❤️

  • @RobTheSquire
    @RobTheSquire ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I remember stamps being nearly that cheap, i'm not sure if I remember if we had one of those machines in my local post office.

  • @Robslondon
    @Robslondon ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Fantastic video. I remember seeing such slideshows whilst queuing at the Post Office well!

  • @fensoxx
    @fensoxx ปีที่แล้ว

    That was a great great video and why I love your work so much. Pretty cool.

  • @igorszamaszow171
    @igorszamaszow171 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Funny enough, databits has just recently released a video about a rather similar proto-power-point thing

    • @FenixQubes
      @FenixQubes ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's what I was thinking, what a coincidence

  • @Shermanbay
    @Shermanbay ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Really smart way to solve the 50/60 hz problem, Matt! I would have liked to see more about the film advance mechanism. How did it align each slide and prevent or fix misalignment? Was it a sprocket or pinch roller design?

  • @Stuart_Cox1969
    @Stuart_Cox1969 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice one, thank you for all your work.

  • @supralapsarian
    @supralapsarian ปีที่แล้ว

    I must say, I find no fault in your audio or video capture. How fun these presentations are! Thank you for investing the time and effort to preserve them. The LaBelle program (programme 😉) is quite a find!