Essential Retro: The Vintage Technology Guide (Paperback)

~ James B Grahame (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Join retrothing.com author James Grahame as he introduces you to some dazzling devices from years past. You’ll encounter hundreds of vintage and neo-retro cameras, audio components, televisions, computers, video games, vehicles, toys, electronic musical instruments and mechanical gadgets. This is a fantastic opportunity to revisit a bygone age of elegant mechanics and hand-drawn design.

Many brilliant old machines are hidden away in attics and garages throughout the world – forgotten movie cameras lie on dusty shelves beside obsolete computers and clever mechanical toys, all crying out to be rediscovered and brought back to life. The wonderful contraptions on these pages will capture your imagination and encourage you to explore the world of classic technology.

About the Author

James Grahame is CEO of Reflex ASI, a consumer electronics company. His obsession with classic gizmos led him to start retrothing.com, a successful web site dedicated to vintage gadgetry. He is also on the editorial staff of small format, a European magazine focused on small format moviemaking. James lives in Western Canada with his wife and young son.

He encourages you to visit retrothing.com for a glimpse of even more classic gadgetry and vintage technology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Sputnik Books (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0973683813
• ISBN-13: 978-0973683813
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #740,418 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointing Pics, February 15, 2006

By	Phillip Turnbull - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The text of this book lives up to high quality of the blog from which it originated but... the picture quality is poor. They're all grainy black and white. I expected, at least, crisp images, no matter how small, but instead these are all low resolution. It definitely detracts from the impact. Quite dissapointing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Retro Rocks!!!, November 28, 2006

By	Henning Edelboe Mortensen (Regina, Sk, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book offers a unique look at some old technology that was once
on the cutting edge. It's organized into ten broad chapters that
introduce things like vintage hi-fi audio, microcomputers (mostly
machines from the late seventies and early eighties), eight bit video
game systems and even a section full of 8mm movie cameras. Strangely,
there is no mention of pinball.

There are a few hundred Black & White photographs splashed throughout
the text and the quality of the images is respectable (this copy is
marked as "2nd Sputnik books edition" on the title page and I suspect
the reviewer who complained about grainy pictures had an early
printing). A fun look at desirable gadgets from not so long ago that
now sell for almost nothing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to start collecting old gear, January 9, 2006

By	Ben Spence "Ben" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I've been reading the author's website for a few months and bought this book as soon as I heard about it. I like that instead of it being a history book he gives hints about where to get the stuff he mentions. I wish there were more large pictures and they were all in color, but there's so much here that it's hard to complain too much.