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The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology
 
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Citizen Z
Jul 13, 2009

~Hanzo Steel~

Base Emitter posted:

Weren't these absolute positioning devices that you used with something like a Wacom style tablet? You could digitize off an actual drawing...

Yes they are. There's some sort of wire grid embedded in the tablet itself that they use to determine position. They're sort of obsolete, but still used in some situations. I've actually ordered a new one in the last couple of years. The main manufacturer is GTCO-Calcomp, but they used to be made by Lockheed. Calcomp still uses the Lockheed star in their logo. They come in wacom-sized tablets, drafting table sized ones(complete with legs) and roll up mats in a few different sizes. I've seen them used for digitizing maps for oil and gas stuff, and for performing construction takeoffs from plan sheets.

My current employer uses digital takeoffs(You do the takeoff entirely in a program) either using plan sets printed to PDF and set scales, or with some of the newer BIM stuff, directly from the building model. I've had a few people, including some of the younger guys, tell me that using a digitizer is slightly more accurate, though I don't buy it in the case of the BIM stuff.

Interesting tidbit: They do make modern, USB versions but no one loving buys them. Every single one I've ever set up has used a serial interface.

Citizen Z has a new favorite as of 17:13 on Nov 24, 2012

* # ¿ Nov 24, 2012 17:07
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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:51
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Citizen Z
Jul 13, 2009

~Hanzo Steel~

Lowen SoDium posted:

Side Talkin'

Games on SD car that was inserted under the battery, requiring you to take the device apart to change the game (fixed in the second version)

Screen in the portrait orientation

The 2 controller buttons were just part of the dial pad


The idea for a cell phone that was also a handheld gaming system was a a really good one for the time, though it was obsoleted by smartphones. It is pretty obivous that Nokia had no loving clue what they were doing. It would have been a successful idea if Nintendo had put out a GBA or DS cell phone. I was actually expecting Sony-Ericsson to put out a PSP smart phone.

Sony finally came out with an Android based Xperia phone that had a slide out controller that was decent, but it felt like a miss opportunity since the PSP Vita came out not long afterwards and wasn't compatible. Sony could have made the PSP Vita be android based (and even port the Android Dalvik VM to the PS3/4) to allow the same games to be played on their handheld, Game Cellphone, and tv console.

In the end, I don't think handheld gaming cell phones are an obsolete technology as much as I think they are a miss opportunity.

I still have an N-Gage QB key chain strap thing that I got while working for T-Mobile years ago. It was a dumb phone and no one ever tried to push them even with incentives, but the strap thing has served me well for years as a key chain doohickey.

* # ¿ Jan 19, 2014 17:17
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The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology