Technology Then & Now: 1991 Radio Shack Ad vs Your iPhone

Radio Shack is still around. But what they sell is very different than back in '91. Thanks to a recent blog post over at TrendingBuffalo.com, you can really see how far we've come in tech. Almost all these items you'd have to buy separately back then, are now all found right on the smart phone in your pocket! Not only that but your your phone version does it way better and cheaper than the 1991 solution.

Take for example the VHS Camcorder. Radio Shack was selling that for $800 in 1991. $800!!!! The resolution was standard def AND you had to buy video cassettes to record on that cost $8-15 a pop. Keep in mind whatever you recorded on those cassettes pretty much stayed there. Unlike the memory cards of today where you just download the clips to your computer them use the card again. I know,  I know. You could record over a VHS tape again, but each time you did, the video quality suffered.

If you added all the items up in this ad that your iPhone can do, you would have spent a little over $3000 back then. All the sudden that pricey $400 iPhone 5S seems like a REALLY good deal! Also keep in mind the Tandy 1000 computer pictured in the ad below for $1600  is only a 286-based processor with only a 20MB hard drive. (Yes, that's MEGABYTE, not GIGABYTE, kids.)

Check out the ad after the break and give your iPhone a hug.

"Behind the gifs": The Backstories Exposed!

Animated gifs. Hours of laughs, seconds at a time. But what happened right before those funny moments capured in their 256-color animated form? Well thanks to a reddit thread, the behind-the-scenes stories are finally exposed! Below are three examples of what you can find there.   Disclaimer: some of the Reddit posts fall on the inappropriate side.

I have assigned  my students the task of exposing the backstory of their favorite gifs using the Pixton comic creation software. My hope is that their final products will look even better than many on the reddit thread. I'll be posting some of my favorites they come up with in an upcoming ShimaTech post.

In the meantime, enjoy these samples after the break... 

Lord of the Rings: "Honest" Videos… [Spoilers]

  It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson. What's not to love? Epic storytelling (adapted from Tolkien's books), great characters, excellent acting, huge battles, jaw-dropping special effects. Most would agree, but…it's just so loooooong. Not that I'm complaining. Who can get mad at 9 hours of awesome? And it's still shorter than a season of Doctor Who!

The LOTR films recently were bought to my attention again while grading one of my students' blog posts.  This student would probably say she's hardly a geek, but that she still enjoys these films demonstrates that the LOTR films have a huge drawing power. But does it really? I'm curious, about how many females actually enjoy watching these films? There isn't a lot of comedy. The romantic subplot is pretty…well…sub. Okay yes, I'm stereotyping female film tastes, I know! But c'mon... What was the last film series that brought females out in droves? Oh yes…Twilight. And now, the Hunger Games. Well, I guess if you could sit through THOSE films, you can sit through anything…  But I digress.