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Loading ...Ebay = No more discontinuation
khenry
It’s interesting that MSN’s roll call of redundant technology includes 2 dead games consoles and Sony’s Minidisc. There are the usual suspects we know and laugh at including Sinclair’s C5 (despite the guy’s genius and riches) but ultimately, the smaller the gadget, the more likely you are to find the item, or its spares, on auction site Ebay somewhere around the world.
If it has a hardcore appeal like a dead games console which even a younger sibling had finished with, then it will, curiously, hold its value and become collectible. My new old MD recorder, the MZ-G750, actually arrived yesterday for the handy sum of £31 and sounds just as good without Mega Bass. Since my other one has chalked up its second birthday in my possession and isn’t quite dead yet, I’ll keep the new one at home in lieu of a larger music player for my bedrooms. MD spares are small, light and have therefore (postal strikes notwithstanding) become the sole item you may still want to buy from East Asia when paying in sterling. If I ever wish to discover the delights of HiMD, those decks are also on sale on Ebay for £50-80.
A new Discman would have been just as cheap, but I can’t let go of Minidisc, the format simply works. Similarly, when I wanted a new old gamepad for my Mega Drive, I was able to pick up one from the 90s and a more modern Chinese copy to have two six-button controllers - ideal for Ranger X and Speedball II.
Being a Microsoft website, it’s also a little convenient that the company’s own Xbox isn’t included in the list, since the format was put out to grass in May this year with the final set of ELSPA charts marking its demise on 19 May. The vanilla console lives on as a CD and region 2 DVD player and a homebrew and PVR paradise among the dedicated hardware modding crowd.
Out of all dead/redundant technologies, the humble VCR’s probably too large to really gain much of a following, if the machines haven’t been fly tipped, they’ll probably end up in attics all around the country gathering dust. For the sake of argument, an analog recording format won’t be dead until the signal is completely switched off and there’s nothing more that can be recorded in the old style. It’ll do Freeview, but then you are limited in the old cable and Sky style to one channel which you have to watch. It’s easy to see why twin tuner hard disks recorders have taken over and collapsed in price and Sky users are already well catered for with Virgin Media lining up the V box to carry out many similar functions to Sky Plus.
So, you can buy any technology of any age you like on Ebay…as long as it’s small.
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