I recently stayed at a rental property that had this (actual photo):
I tried to get it working but none of the remote panels worked. They were all disconnected somehow (owner probably cut the wires to prevent shenanigans by guests cranking the volume then leaving it like that). The CD player worked (central panel only) but oddly, it couldn't pick up any FM stations. It would tune to them ("scan" feature worked) but they only ever produced static. I suspect the capacitors used in the amplification circuit dried out or something got corroded after being in a "regular ocean salt spray" area (it was on a beach) for such a long time 🤷
That’s pretty cool! Friend of mine rented a house that had a working home intercom system, and the radio actually worked and played through the house. I’ve never seen one with a CD Player built in tho!
My home came with one of those. I ripped it out and replaced it with a touchscreen powered by a pi running custom html for a lcars interface for home security and music. I never got around to re wiring the intercom part. It's on my list.
This is one of the sickest synthesizers of the 1990s g-funk era. It produced the high-pitched portamento sound that provided iconic hooks for many of the tracks on Dr Dre’s 1993 album The Chronic.
Wow! This brings back memories... It was a Soul Crusher: A primitive technology used to commune with the dead over long distances. I'll explain...
These devices used the "Afterlife Toll" (AT) command set, invented by someone named "Hayes" which I believe was just a nickname or mistranslation of Hades. With the correct invocation, you could whisper into the great beyond. Here's an example:
ATDT 6665551234
Translated: "Afterlife Toll, Death Touch ". After this invocation, the user would hear the pleasant sound of souls being crushed in order to make the afterlife connection.
Of course—due to the popularity of such devices—crushing souls over long distances could get expensive so a number of Incorporeal Service Providers (ISP) sprang up to make it cheaper and easier than ever to crush souls from anywhere.
Cool fact: This is where the term, "soul crushing machines" comes from! These days, soul crushing is fully automated and far beyond the measure of Beings Per Seance (BPS). Nearly every computer is shipped with an ethernet connection and practically everyone is walking around with devices that can commune over WIFI (Wailing Incorporeal Fidelity).
In fact, our Incorporeal Technology (IT) is so advanced, you can have a soul crushing experience from anywhere in the world at all hours of the day, every day!
It's a device from the 90s that played specialize erotica tapes that had an extra channel which synchronized to an electric pocket pussy (not pictured) over 3.5mm cable.
My very first computer was a TRS 80 model 100. I broke that thing so many times, my parents broke down and bought a used TRS 80 Model II. I wish I still had it...
The first in a range of devices in Bill Gates private museum specifically designed to operate the permanently installed gonad stimulator built into his body.
The best wrong answer. It was close and then totally missed.
Fun fact - 53333 is an actual perfect, noise-free connection speed. And I've had it once, back in the day (on a then-new company called Sprint's fiber optic phone line). It was glorious.
Not necessarily! This particular phone had a feature that let you set shortcut numbers. It was an advanced form of the "long press a single number to dial a particular contact" feature that came before it. So you could go into your contacts and—via a series of absurdly complicated menus for such a simple device—you could set "7752" as the shortcut number to dial say, your bank of fax machines that somehow deliver the equivalent of 100Base-T Ethernet speeds.
"Tell me how old you are without telling me how old you are" 😢
Remote control for the US Robotic Soccer Sports Team.
(I used to have shelves of those wired into Portmasters when starting my ISP. After replacing the analog modems with pri digital modems we took the shelving outside and gave it the Office Space treatment.)
It's a rare Transformer you could only get by sending in 12 UPC codes from 2600 Magazine.
The alt form represents an answering machine, and the robot form is just a telephone pole with arms and legs, a nod to Soundwave's other alt form: a street light.
A machine that emits a continuous humming sound because it was poorly and cheaply engineered and made in China. Mike Lazaridis could explain it better and fix it.
132 Comments
Zachariah@lemmy.world · 129 pts · 122d
HornedMeatBeast@lemmy.world · 59 pts · 122d
It lets you hear a computer scream.
jobbies@lemmy.zip · 32 pts · 122d
I said WRONG answers
HornedMeatBeast@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 122d
Fine, a Millennial detector.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 122d
It was a scream of pleasure
IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 48 pts · 122d
The most nostalgic chiptune generator you'll ever hear.
db2@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 122d
OP specifically said wrong answers though.
smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works · 26 pts · 122d
It's a telemarketing prevention device. Hook it up to your phone line, and the number of telemarketing calls would drop instantly.
anomnom@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 122d
They’d be interrupting the gifs loading constantly!
blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 26 pts · 122d
A CD/Blu-ray rewinder.
Not DVDs though, they were self rewinding
bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 122d
DVD+R are self rewinding, the DVD-R are not.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 18 pts · 122d
A picture
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social · 10 pts · 122d
I’m not sure if I should upvote or downvote.
This is supposed to be wrong answers but…
ultrahamster64@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
It's obviously wrong because it's not a picture, it's the post on lemmy
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social · 3 pts · 122d
Or is it a charge on a magnetic medium somewhere?
It's just all weird when you get down to the science.
cannedtuna@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 122d
Not really what you’re looking for, but it immediately made me think of an intercom device.
riskable@programming.dev · 15 pts · 122d
I recently stayed at a rental property that had this (actual photo):
I tried to get it working but none of the remote panels worked. They were all disconnected somehow (owner probably cut the wires to prevent shenanigans by guests cranking the volume then leaving it like that). The CD player worked (central panel only) but oddly, it couldn't pick up any FM stations. It would tune to them ("scan" feature worked) but they only ever produced static. I suspect the capacitors used in the amplification circuit dried out or something got corroded after being in a "regular ocean salt spray" area (it was on a beach) for such a long time 🤷
cannedtuna@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
That’s pretty cool! Friend of mine rented a house that had a working home intercom system, and the radio actually worked and played through the house. I’ve never seen one with a CD Player built in tho!
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
My home came with one of those. I ripped it out and replaced it with a touchscreen powered by a pi running custom html for a lcars interface for home security and music. I never got around to re wiring the intercom part. It's on my list.
riskable@programming.dev · 2 pts · 121d
Yeah!!! Damned fine use of that wall space and a great demonstration of your hard-won mad skillz 👍
austinfloyd@ttrpg.network · 16 pts · 122d
It's made by US Robotics, so it must be a positronic brain.
empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 122d
Failed download generator
GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE STACY, I WAS ALMOST DONE
neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 12 pts · 122d
This is one of the sickest synthesizers of the 1990s g-funk era. It produced the high-pitched portamento sound that provided iconic hooks for many of the tracks on Dr Dre’s 1993 album The Chronic.
human@slrpnk.net · 11 pts · 122d
db2@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 122d
Fuck Rob Schneider though.
human@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 122d
Agreed
plateee@piefed.social · 10 pts · 122d
Really bad white noise machine.
DJKJuicy@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 122d
Early 90s COVID-19 test.
fuzz00713@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 122d
Pregnancy test for a Cylon
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 121d
That was the keyboard Belgian superband Technotronic used in the 1989 block buster hit Pump up the Jam.
riskable@programming.dev · 7 pts · 122d
Wow! This brings back memories... It was a Soul Crusher: A primitive technology used to commune with the dead over long distances. I'll explain...
These devices used the "Afterlife Toll" (AT) command set, invented by someone named "Hayes" which I believe was just a nickname or mistranslation of Hades. With the correct invocation, you could whisper into the great beyond. Here's an example:
ATDT 6665551234Translated: "Afterlife Toll, Death Touch ". After this invocation, the user would hear the pleasant sound of souls being crushed in order to make the afterlife connection.
Of course—due to the popularity of such devices—crushing souls over long distances could get expensive so a number of Incorporeal Service Providers (ISP) sprang up to make it cheaper and easier than ever to crush souls from anywhere.
Cool fact: This is where the term, "soul crushing machines" comes from! These days, soul crushing is fully automated and far beyond the measure of Beings Per Seance (BPS). Nearly every computer is shipped with an ethernet connection and practically everyone is walking around with devices that can commune over WIFI (Wailing Incorporeal Fidelity).
In fact, our Incorporeal Technology (IT) is so advanced, you can have a soul crushing experience from anywhere in the world at all hours of the day, every day!
stefenauris@pawb.social · 7 pts · 122d
CPAP machine
altphoto@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 122d
That's an albino Atari from 1980.
horn_e4_beaver@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 122d
An infinite box of nude pictures.
jobbies@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
This.
fartographer@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
Answering machine
MehBlah@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
Binary Caller ID
OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
How I met your mother.
then_three_more@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
It's a practical joke device. Using it pisses off your mum and makes her shout "get off that damn computer I want to call your aunt Judith"
bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 122d
Jokes on you my mom never called my aunt Judith
TotallyNotSpezUpload@startrek.website · 5 pts · 122d
db2@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
It's a booster seat for squirrels
Janx@piefed.social · 5 pts · 122d
That is a Speak & Spell. You cast a spell, and it speaks about the impact.
negativenull@piefed.world · 5 pts · 122d
White Noise Machine
fubarx@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 122d
Says so right on the box.
A U.S.-made Robot, designed to play sports.
wildncrazyguy138@fedia.io · 4 pts · 122d
Well it says sportster on it, so whatever it is, it must go really fast!
jobbies@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
You'd be surprised...
AmbientDread@piefed.social · 4 pts · 122d
A magic packet pulse perpetuator and upline / downline pyramid scheme facsimile facilitator aka MPPPUDPSFF
TeddE@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
This box from Pandora once contained all the world's doomscrolling.
NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
It makes fart noises for radio hosts.
MightyPez@fedia.io · 4 pts · 122d
1990's pussy magnet
socsa@piefed.social · 4 pts · 122d
That's violet08
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 121d
Two robots fucking, but you can only hear them.
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 121d
It's a device from the 90s that played specialize erotica tapes that had an extra channel which synchronized to an electric pocket pussy (not pictured) over 3.5mm cable.
Botzo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
ECU chip tuner for early CAN bus vehicles.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
A chip tuner?!? Wow, that's awesome, we don't get to make music in modern cars. Did they have XLR outs or was it just 1/8th inch jack?
riskable@programming.dev · 2 pts · 122d
Like someone else stated, it was an EPIC pussy magnet that demonstrated your car audio prowess. Only a special few knew the secrets...
Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
I actually owned one of those!
It's a cable-tv descrambler.
jobbies@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 122d
Same! First modem we had in 96 ish
Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
The one I bought was a 2400bps unit in 1985. I hooked it up to a local BBS I ran on a TRS-80 Model 1. Fun times. Lol
TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 122d
My very first computer was a TRS 80 model 100. I broke that thing so many times, my parents broke down and bought a used TRS 80 Model II. I wish I still had it...
Bakkoda@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 122d
Phone call from Satan
thorhop@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 121d
The first in a range of devices in Bill Gates private museum specifically designed to operate the permanently installed gonad stimulator built into his body.
The latest one is a keychain.
missandry351@lemmings.world · 4 pts · 121d
A vintage Covid test
Fluffy_Ruffs@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
A pager
Broadfern@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
A deskside air conditioner
Beacon@fedia.io · 3 pts · 122d
US Robotics 55,000 baud modem. Is that wrong enough?
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 3 pts · 122d
The best wrong answer. It was close and then totally missed.
Fun fact - 53333 is an actual perfect, noise-free connection speed. And I've had it once, back in the day (on a then-new company called Sprint's fiber optic phone line). It was glorious.
wolfeh@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 121d
It's a sound effect generator. It only has a few different varieties of SCREEEEREEEECH and some weird telephone tones, though.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 122d
Single-use barbecue grill
They got way better when they figured out how to make them out of metal
9point6@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
Venetian Snares
Denjin@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 122d
It's cake
evening_push579@feddit.nu · 3 pts · 122d
Portable Chat GPT
jobbies@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 122d
Can only be understood by other portable GPTs though
IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 3 pts · 122d
So many things wrong with that though:
riskable@programming.dev · 2 pts · 122d
Not necessarily! This particular phone had a feature that let you set shortcut numbers. It was an advanced form of the "long press a single number to dial a particular contact" feature that came before it. So you could go into your contacts and—via a series of absurdly complicated menus for such a simple device—you could set "7752" as the shortcut number to dial say, your bank of fax machines that somehow deliver the equivalent of 100Base-T Ethernet speeds.
"Tell me how old you are without telling me how old you are" 😢
IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 2 pts · 122d
Excellent catch!
Don't feel bad. I was able to distinguish by ear between a T.38 fax handshake and a V.34+ modem handshake which definitely reveals my oldness 😆
Denjin@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 122d
Share and Enjoy™
RedMari@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 122d
Pregnancy test
kaklerbitmap@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
Digital harmonica. They were huge in the 80s.
Mwa@thelemmy.club · 3 pts · 122d
Robotics's snooping device base.
dukatos@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 122d
It is a theremin!
dwemthy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
It's a YakBak
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
It's an external MIDI board. It has built in speakers, but also stereo out RCA ports in the back so you could hook it to an amp.
TechMoan covered it a couple of years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rObG3GddYGk
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 122d
Remote control for the US Robotic Soccer Sports Team.
(I used to have shelves of those wired into Portmasters when starting my ISP. After replacing the analog modems with pri digital modems we took the shelving outside and gave it the Office Space treatment.)
sixtoe@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 122d
dildo. I'm brave you cowards.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 122d
Robot mobile heater
Toes@ani.social · 2 pts · 122d
angry child simulator - 1999
dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 122d
A horribly designed sex toy.
ICastFist@programming.dev · 2 pts · 122d
It's a midi keyboard for beginners
kungfuratte@feddit.org · 2 pts · 122d
Early 80s robo vacuum.
BonkTheAnnoyed@piefed.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 122d
That's a DEC-talk speech synthesizer right?
ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 122d
Famously used in the song Jesus Freak
parzival@lemmy.org · 2 pts · 122d
Its clearly the never released prototype Atari console
BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
The Noise Thing
DragonAce@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
Speaker Phone
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
Automatic birth control pill dispenser.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 122d
Says right on it, They Robotics
moonshadow@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 122d
That's the internet
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 121d
Asked my partner to look at this without any knowledge of what it is.
They say it's a voice box panel for a robot.
ZombieChicken@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 121d
They specifically asked for wrong answers!
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 121d
It's definitely a wrong answer.
MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io · 2 pts · 122d
It’s an Atari before they paint it and put the cartridge slot in.
bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 122d
This is what a young Atari looks like naturally. Humanity artificially adds the cartridge slot.
BanMe@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
Fast
ShadowRam@fedia.io · 2 pts · 122d
Old TV Remote
early_riser@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
modulator-demodulator
One of the things that got me into ham radio was hearing "old school modem noises" while playing around with an RTL-SDR dongle. Turns out it was APRS.
Tikiporch@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 122d
Seven letter typewriter with remote light switch. Way ahead of its time in some ways. Far behind in others.
titanicx@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 122d
Early day R.O.B.
tumblechinchilla@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 121d
That is a reverse-cyclonic modulation moderator designed to run your washing machine backwards so that cycle time is reduced.
stoy@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 122d
An old Bluetooth module.
The lights tells you if it is connected, at what mode, and if there is data going through it.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 121d
a controller for an automated robotic arm for lab grade chemicals.
hexagonwin@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 122d
a weighing scale
(some gen z actually told me this after seeing the pic.. lolz)
monotremata@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 121d
The song of my people.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 121d
prototype controller for a cam girl fuck machine
Kolanaki@pawb.social · 1 pts · 122d
Answering Machine for robots.
Fontasia@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 122d
The last good product released by Research In Motion
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 122d
It dispenses robotic ticks to confuse and annoy your enemies
JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org · 1 pts · 122d
A white noise machine to fall asleep to.
azvasKvklenko@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 121d
Pregnancy test from 1950's
billwashere@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 121d
World’s worst sleep sound machine.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 122d
Birth control dispenser
bufalo1973@piefed.social · 1 pts · 122d
The unreleased last 8 bit console. Joysticks not included.
j4yc33@piefed.social · 1 pts · 122d
Room dehumidifier. The indicators at the bottom light up to tell you how humid the room is.
noxypaws@pawb.social · 1 pts · 121d
intercom
PodPerson@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 121d
The original synthesizer used to create Funky Town
subterfuge@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 122d
Early iteration of whack-a-mole toy
realitista@lemmus.org · 1 pts · 122d
Answering machine
ikidd@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 121d
90s contraceptive.
Heavybell@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 119d
Commodore 64
Scirocco@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 121d
Is it the smallest Hardly Ableson?
The one that only goes 900 baud?
sleet01@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 121d
It's a rare Transformer you could only get by sending in 12 UPC codes from 2600 Magazine. The alt form represents an answering machine, and the robot form is just a telephone pole with arms and legs, a nod to Soundwave's other alt form: a street light.
Soulphite@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 122d
A machine that emits a continuous humming sound because it was poorly and cheaply engineered and made in China. Mike Lazaridis could explain it better and fix it.
krisevol@lemmy.zip · -3 pts · 122d