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#221 | |
Octode
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Wimbledon, London, UK.
Posts: 1,465
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If I remember correctly, the Constellation might have just preceded the introduction of the commercial hovercraft and my mother always referred to Christopher Cockerell's device as a "Hoovercraft", bless her (She's been dead a long time). Colin. |
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#222 | |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,423
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greg. |
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#223 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,219
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My late grandmother had an Electrolux fridge, and I am pretty sure it was an absoption one. It was silent in operation from what I remember (as a fridge without a mechanical compressor would be). I remmeber the tiny icebox inside (that never really got cold enough for frozen food) There was a sort-of cupboard under it which she told me was to house a gas cylinider if it was used that way (although the one she had ran on electricity).
Another (unrelated to fridges, but releated to the Rabbit telephone) failure was Zonephone. From what I remember it was even more limited than Rabbit. If you had the handset you could make an outgoing call if you were close to a base station (installed in public bulidings, etc). But there was no home base station availble so you couldn't use it as a cordless telephone at home. I have one of the base stations for it (obviously I have never powered it up, I have no idea what frequency it would transmit on, or what uses that now), it's quite complex inside. |
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#224 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 875
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dusting' and 'insect spraying' [now where's that DDT .....]!!! ![]()
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Red to red, black to black. Throw the switch and stand well back! |
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#225 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Penrith, Cumbria, UK.
Posts: 3,687
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I seem to remember that when the Sony Walkman was invented, there was a contemporaneous invention called the 'BonePhone' which you wore like a scarf and it transmitted the sound to your ears via bone-conduction. It was meant to compete with the Walkman as a personal music device, but I think it sunk without trace.
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Regds, Russell W. B. G4YLI. |
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#226 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,150
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I also remember the Mercury phoneboxes in our city too, in fact I think that if you look on the pavement you can still see the metal access covers with Mercury stamped on them, although i might be wrong. |
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#227 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
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Some one is (trying to, no planning permission required) erecting new 'phone boxes merrily for the advertising space.
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#228 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Daylesford, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 675
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The Kenroy Auto-Caddy, chrome version. I used this for a while, but the chrome started to wear off and I didn't want to spoil it. I had an aunt who used one for years; because loose tea is cheaper, the Auto-Caddy has a very slight advantage over tea bags if you use a pot. Like many kitchen gimmicks it's of limited use, but I wouldn't count as a failure if it made some quick money for the promoter.
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The Waves That Rule Britannia Last edited by suebutcher; 19th Jun 2017 at 3:17 am. |
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#229 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,203
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Not exactly a failure as they were produced and sold by the millions for roughly 7 years (going through some 54 revisions - obviously there was still some need for improvement) and generally provided good service, especially the later revisions. One of their strongest points was that they were very slim, because of their integrated lift mechanism.
Grundig U loader VHS mechanisms on the other hand.... Very bulky and unreliable. They switched to Panasonic G decks before they gained use of the turbo deck through their joint venture with Philips. Last edited by Maarten; 19th Jun 2017 at 4:21 am. |
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#230 | |
Hexode
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 340
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#231 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 875
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Then again .... "we wuz poor" !!! ![]() ![]()
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Red to red, black to black. Throw the switch and stand well back! |
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#232 |
Hexode
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire, UK.
Posts: 469
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The Hoover Constellation was marvellous. My dad inherited one from his mother in 1977 or thereabouts and it was in use well into the 2000's as a secondary Hoover for things like cleaning stairs or wood/metal shavings in the garage. It would glide across floors and carpets almost as nicely as a modern compact vacuum cleaner and had great suction. And yes, the exit hole could be used as a blower.
In 2001 I actually managed to get genuine Hoover spare parts to replace the handle which had broken in the 80s. Certainly not a failure and I wouldn't be surprised if they get relaunched as "retro" |
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#233 |
Hexode
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire, UK.
Posts: 469
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In fact it looks like Hoover relaunched the constellation relatively recently....but stopped production again
https://www.amazon.com/Hoover-S3341-...ct_top?ie=UTF8 Stateside there was a similar Maytag Satellite too. |
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#234 | |
Hexode
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire, UK.
Posts: 469
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The Betamax camcorder never made it to the market, I believe. But was similarly hobbled. |
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#235 |
Hexode
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Luton, Bedfordshire, UK.
Posts: 469
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The Mavica camera was OK for what it was. We used one at the school where I work in the late 90s to about 2003. It shot at 1024x768 which was fine for school newsletters and the website. I would imagine journalists getting a quick shot for their paper were happy with it too.
The disc drive ran at about 4x the speed of a PC's floppy drive and it seemed fast at the time. But tech was indeed moving quickly and solid state storage was about to take over. But even there we had XD cards, CF (now only for pros) and smart media...all gone now but successful for a time. But for a time it was successful and must have been sold for a few years. I saw posts about gas fridges...these are still sold for people to use on boats, caravans and motorhomes. Some are dual powered, electric or gas. |
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#236 |
Heptode
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 998
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Trio TR2400 handheld 2m rig. I remember selling them when they came out...horrible things, too big, failed a lot, almost instantly obsolete. Ive never seen one since about 1981 or 2 I think...even collectors shun them
D |
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#237 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK.
Posts: 8,935
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I had a TR2400 and I loved it.Sold it last year for around £100 with original box and gun hide case.
Admit I had the black death on the lcd screen but at the time I renewed it easy enough with care.
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G8JET BVWS Archivist and Member V.M.A.R.S |
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#238 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,901
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No, no, no. How can you put one of those in, if no-one's suggested the Liner-2?
David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
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#239 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 16,536
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Got you on 2m SSB, though...... ![]()
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....__________ ....|____||__|__\_____ .=.| _---\__|__|_---_|. .........O..Chris....O |
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#240 |
Nonode
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 2,181
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Perhaps another candidate would have been the fax division of Amstrad, developed on the lines of Sinclair computers. First we had the static problem, where the only cure ( at first ) was to take backup cells out. Then came other problems and finally a voltage problem caused by our old friend- poor quality capacitor.
Perhaps it wasn't a failure, but rather a push to get a not ready product onto the market, before a competitor got in there. Remember, Sir Clive was honest on his computers- 128 was the memory you got, to use. |
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