Yeah They Still Work, Part 2: Double Dribble

This is a continuation of a series involving my old gadgets that are still ticking. Please check out my previous post on Minidiscs.

Before I got my Gameboy via the Sunshine Sales Club in late 1989, my portable gaming needs were served by Tiger Electronics. There were enough beeps and hoops from these machines to keep me entertained. They were usually based off of full fledged arcade and NES games such as ... Double Dribble.

When you turn on the game, you don't get the "Dubble Dibble" voice from the NES version. Voices are a far cry away, as the technology behind Tiger games is even more basic than the Atari 2600 from the late 70s / early 80s (my first game system). The gaming experience consists of a screen with a few predetermined sections that light up in response to player movement on the control pad and one, huge button. The sections are pre-drawn player graphics for the offense and defense. There are only two sounds - a "tick" for moving / dribbling / shooting, and a referee type whistle for scoring.

The game is tough. The CPU will immediately steal the movie if you stay still for a second. You have to consistently move and hope that the random number generator blesses you and counts your shot as good. It makes for a intense game that surprisingly makes me feel like I'm competing in an actual sport.

IIt kept my 9 year old mind occupied. And it was fun. Definitely my favorite of my Tiger games, besting others that have log since died like Double Dragon, Karnov, and Altered Beast. Those games proved to be too ambitious for a Tiger handheld. Simple sports games work best.

And it still works!

(VIDEO) Yeah They Still Work, Part 1: Minidisc

This is a video follow up to my post about my Minidisc player, which still works!

Yeah They Still Work, Part 1: Minidisc

I'm starting a new series on some of my old gadgets that still work and are used as primary devices, standby replacements, or just once in a while reminiscing.

Background

Sony Minidisc players. Does anyone even remember them? They were quite popular in Japan but failed to make an impact in the US. The convenience of the hardware was outweighed by total misunderstanding of software and user experience.

I was introduced to the minidisc in college, before CD burners were commonplace. Even if you access to one, CD players had their typical problems of scratching and skipping. Overall, CDs lacked the durability of cassette tapes.

Hardware

The Minidsic solved this by offering a medium that was as durable as a cassette tape but offered the enough space for a few albums. In addition, the overall minidic player was smaller than a cassette tape, and this significantly smaller than a Walkman or CD player. I quickly made minidisc for my favorite artists, and loved being able to carry around 4-5 albums on a single minidisc.

Another great hardware feature was the remote that connected to the headphone wire. All the controls were available on my hand while the device was in my pocket. It even had some features that the current Apple headphones don't have - shuffle and repeat. Using the remote, you could also access the FM radio and listen to whatever trash is spewing on the waves.

Battery life is decent - can almost get a full day off one AA battery. No plug in charging here - just bring some batteries (regular or rechargeable) and you're good to go!

Software

Unfortunately, Sony completely screwed up the software. First of all, all songs needed to be converted to the proprietary audio format ATRAC for the device. This took forever, and could only be done on Sony's horrible software that constantly crashed. Because of this, I didn't freely edit my minidiscs as I originally planned. Once I made a compilation, it didn't change.

How Is it Now?

The minidisc player has become a viable option during my iPod / iPhone time when I've broken or lost my apple device. When I use it, I never feel like I'm using an ancient device - it still feels good and gives decent sound quality.

Technology vs Music

NPR recently allowed anyone to stream a full copy of the Roots “Udun” album a week or so before release. Being a huge a Roots fan, I plugged in my ear buds and listened intently over the work computer and felt underwhelmed. I listened to the stream again over the iPod and it didn’t change my opinion. It wasn’t a bad album, but definitely seemed too avant grade and lacked the overall feeling that I’d expect from a Roots album.  While I appreciated what they were trying to do, the tracks felt stale.

When the album officially launched on Dec 6th, I played it while driving to work. Driving with the music surrounding me at an extremely loud level enabled me to appreciate what the Roots accomplished on this record. This a concert. A concerto of the desperado. This is a live show with a concept dictating not only the song sequencing, but the up and down emotions of each song. And it’s something that you can’t feel when you’re listening over a computer and on a portable device. You need to FEEL it.

The next time that you get a new album (am I the only one that still does?), make sure that you listen to it in an environment that immerses you in the moment. Yes, this usually means ditching your iOS and android devices – don’t be ashamed!  As much as your overpriced Beats by Dre headphones with the sound turned up to 11 may achieve the same effect of a car stereo, you just may wander into the street into the path of a crazy Black man in a Honda Civic.

Old School Tech: Historypin

Historypin is a great website that uses Google Maps to show how places have been viewed at different times throughout history. An iPhone app allows you to see historical pictures from around you.  One of the coolest features is that you can overlay any older pictures with the newer Google Streetview pictures  of a given area.

 http://www.historypin.com/