Old Tech thread

[dask]

 

[Dave]

Talking of old tech - the car is a long-gone marque called, believe it or not, a Goggomobil

I've never heard of that before, but my mother did have a NSU Typ 110 for a period, and it was one of the first cars that I drove as a learner driver. Better known for manufacturing motorbikes, NSU cars were known for their unreliability. I think rather than unreliable, they were just difficult to find anyone in the UK to repair them when they did break, and they all had unusual engineering in their clutch and suspensions. The Typ 110 also had the engine at the rear of the car.

But your point about driving speeds in London (or any city with old street layouts) is one that puzzles me. Where are all the small cars (and vans) in London that you see in other European cities with tiny medieval cobbled streets? We do have many cities and towns just like that in the UK, and it would make sense for deliveries to be made that way. Instead, the street is invariably blocked by some artic delivering to a local supermarket, while a line of SUVs, that take up the entire width of the alleyway, are stuck trying to get past, with pedestrians risking life and limb to get by.

 

[Ursa major]

the car is a long-gone marque called, believe it or not, a Goggomobil

...which was, according to Wikipedia, manufactured in the Bavarian town of Dingolfing.

I can't help thinking that the author/s of the articles (on the car and the town) has/have misspelt** the town's name, as it seems far more likely (and far more appropriate) for it to have been called Dungolfing....



** - Given that the town now contains BMW's largest production facility (which produces more than a quarter of a million cars a year, but nothing more "down market" than a 5 series), I suspect bribery and a rewriting of history are involved.

 

[Pyan]

Toyota and Daihatsu made a couple of tiny delivery vans, or Kei trucks: the S-Cargo (geddit?), and the Midget. They were made because Japan had a policy that only allowed delivery vehicles of a certain size and cc into the middle of cities. Very sensible and stylish with it, the S-Cargo especially.

S-Cargo Midget​

 

[farntfar]

Given that the town now contains BMW's largest production facility

DunGolfin' is the town where they used to produce VWs not BMWs.

It's twinned with DunLoveBuggin' in Italy, and DunPandain' in China, where they've recently stopped giving their workers paid holidays.

 

[Vertigo]

Strangely enough it was a post in the "Speculating about the next fifty years" thread that got me thinking about some old tech!

I recently read Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary and, as Weir is want to do, it was liberally scattered with various references to older stuff. There was one that caught my eye in particular and I wonder how many people here remember the reference. A short passage in the book reads: "He led me through a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, until we arrived...." To what is Weir referring and how does it relate to xyzzy?

 

[Pyan]

Sounds like Colossal Cave Adventure...

 

[Vertigo]

Sounds like Colossal Cave Adventure...

It most certainly was! Us nerds were all addicted to it back in the day! Probably the first computer adventure game.

 

[Vladd67]

Rub the lamp
Nothing happens
Strange thing to do with an electric lamp.
A exchange I always remember from that game.

 

[Pyan]

My favourite was Thorin in the Spectrum "Hobbit", who perpetually sat down and started singing about gold...

 

[Vertigo]

There was also a simple text adventure game based on the Hitchhiker's guide which captured the humour brilliantly (I believe Adams assisted with its development). I remember at one point you pick up a Bugblatter Beast of Traal gun and when confronted by said beast and attempt to use the gun you die with the message "I never said it would work!" and, of course, the correct action to take was to cover your head with the towel!

 

[Vince W]

There was also a simple text adventure game based on the Hitchhiker's guide which captured the humour brilliantly (I believe Adams assisted with its development). I remember at one point you pick up a Bugblatter Beast of Traal gun and when confronted by said beast and attempt to use the gun you die with the message "I never said it would work!" and, of course, the correct action to take was to cover your head with the towel!

I have fond memories of many text adventure games. Hitch Hiker's was a favourite. I bashed my head on the table for ages trying to figure out how to get the babel fish. But when I did... no other game has come close to delivering that level of relief and satisfaction.

 

[Vertigo]

I have fond memories of many text adventure games. Hitch Hiker's was a favourite. I bashed my head on the table for ages trying to figure out how to get the babel fish. But when I did... no other game has come close to delivering that level of relief and satisfaction.

Oh Lord I remember that one; the whole office spent ages cracking it! Never did get the T-Shirt though:

 

[Vince W]

Oh Lord I remember that one; the whole office spent ages cracking it! Never did get the T-Shirt though:

Me neither.

 

[dask]

These have been posted before but this one’s pretty cool.

 

[Ursa major]

These have been posted before but this one’s pretty cool.
View attachment 104474

No one was concerned that you could buy a book telling you how to pick pockets, and that the sales of the book were expected to be so high (with 160,000 already sold) that there were machines dedicated to selling them...?!