When it comes to vintage electronics and consoles, TV's, micros, etc. there are those models who's design remains a timeless thing of beauty, a style all it's own the perfectly fit it's time but still "fits" and looks good today as a stylish and beautiful object as well. Then there are those electronic contraptions that seemed like "the wave of the future" at the time, but when you see them now, you know the exact era they are from and they look strange and out of place unless surrounded by contemporaries of design and even then, definitely a retro experience with no denying it's from and would only look natural in it's time. Not to say they aren't still things of beauty in their own way, but there is no denying when they are from if you came across the machine for the first time today. For today, I am speaking specifically of early to mid 80's micros. For me, the most timeless micro is of course still the Atari 1200XL from 1982 and peripherals. And for me, the most timebound micro that looks like it belongs and only belongs in the early 80's year it was brought out, 1981; The Sharp MZ-80B. So what micros, or any type of electronics do you think are the most timeless looking, and the most timebound looking?
Great topic Matt. Totally agree with you on the 1200XL (and the 800XL) I think the original IBM PC XT is 100% 1970's with the moulded and rounded look to its case and monitor. Memotech MTX always striked me as being ahead of it's time in its industrial look. And we can't forget Andy's lovechild, the Oric Atmos which is still as cool looking today as the day it was launched.
Yes, totally agree with the Oric Atmos, especially when the entire system is matching the way I like them to be! I would find a way to buy it if I saw everything pictured here come up for auction! I guess I'd still need a tape deck though, I don't see it in the picture... I also agree with early IBM machines as being timebound. Below are some images of a Japanese system that is both timebound and absolutely beautiful still too.
Very nice, although I think the tape deck and counter do date it somewhat. Really like the colour scheme though. That Atmos setup looks superb, especially the CRT
"I agree, I'm not sure if you caught the I thought it "timebound" not "timeless" or not though with your response. Harking back to my first post where I said that though some machines are timebound, they are still beautiful to look at.
Yep, sorry Matt. I did misread and totally agree. I also liked the Coleco Adam and just realised that Sharp machine looks a bit similar...
I definitely love the look of the Coleco Adam too, ahead of it's time in the "PC" look with box and separate keyboard, like that Sharp machine, but now it definitely looks timebound and yet, as you say, it's another beauty even if it's not a timeless design. When I was looking for a C64 as a second vintage micro, and found pricing ridiculous (considering the millions and millions still out there, yet selling for high prices like rarer micros) I was seriously considering pulling the trigger on a Coleco Adam. Two auctions, one for the complete computer less the needed printer (powers everything if you didn't know) and another for just the printer in working order which between the two were far less than complete systems. I would be fixing and upgrading an Adam right now if I hadn't gotten the great deal offered to me for a non-working Coco 2. Which I don't regret and it turned out to be a perfectly working one in pretty much mint conditions, so I save a couple hundred dollars over what they sell for normally. And I was still looking for a real deal on either a C64 or Adam as my third micro, when I posted my blog for my Bally Arcade restoration and got to know a couple of the "leaders" of the Bally Astrocade community and discovered it could be upgraded to a full Z80 computer with impressive custom chips in it's own rite. So it has become my third. I don't know if I'll get a fourth or fifth or not, certainly not for a few years at this point, and when I get more room at any rate. Besides, the Z80 Bally computer, with upgraded memory and keyboard actually is really no worse off with it's small libarary of software to the Z80 Coleco Adam, and both have an active scene now with homebrew and upgrades.
