For the techncially minded, the Lynx used a 65C02 CPU, which was part of the 6502 8-bit family. But it also used a 16-bit graphics chip to achieve all the scaling and sprite effects – a stand out amongst other competing products.

The Lynx could run by batteries or mains, and had the ability for headphones to be connected also. There were two slidewheels, one for screen contrast and and the other for volume.

A large number of games were released for the Lynx – 120 in fact, and they came in the form of slim ROM cards that made them fairly easy to store. They featured a lip on the top so you could remove them from the back of the unit easier once finished playing that game.

With a backlit display, the console featured a switchable right-handed/left-handed configuration, and the ability to network with up to 17 other units via its “ComLynx” system which in essence was a proprietry cable that Atari produced to phuscially link multiple units together. The best mutiplayer game was undeniably Slimeworld. Here’s a peek of the gameplay:

In the same year, Nintendo released the (monochromatic) Game Boy, and gradually they gained the market share of the console world (why I dont know – IMO the Lynx was better).

In 1990, Atari released version two of the Lynx. It was a bulkier unit, and what I noticed is that the volume could not go as loud as version 1. However, it had a clearer screen and a power save feature if you were running off batteries.

Incoming search terms:

• atari lynx

For people that weren’t lucky(?) enough to experience the size of mobile phones in the 80s (I’ll leave the exorbitant running costs for another post), the mobilephone massif has created a cover/case for your iPhone. It’s not truely comparable to the bricks of yesteryear, but it’s the closest you will get to one (that actually still works).

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Live TV demonstrated the unit to show how even scratched discs could still play and being digital, the quality of the sound would never diminish – something laughable today but at the time it was a big selling point.

Even though it was sold as portable, the D50 (which was the first model) required the purchase of a battery pack that attached to the back of the unit which added to the sized and weight. If you didn’t use the battery pack, power was supplied by a conventional plug pack transformer.

The original discman did not like getting knocked or bumped. It was a bit sensitive and it wasn’t the type of thing you could go running with.

I still have my original D50 and after all the years it works flawlessly. Typical Sony quality! Below is a pic of my discman:

I’m sure how many different models of the discman were released, but a few years later the D121 was release. This was a much slimmer unit with additional playing functions and bass boost. Going down the ‘real’ portability path, the D121 ran on a couple of AA batteries with medium to good playing time. It also had technology in it to handle bumps and did it quite well. I found the CD rarely stopped/jumped if I knocked the unit.

I also still have my D121 and shown below is a photo of it. Again, still working as good as the day I bought it.

It is no coincidence that I post about the Discman this week. Sony has announced that Walkman will be officially retired. The last Walkmans were shipped out of Japan in April and once that batch sells out, that’s it.

Even though the Walkman was originally released in the late 70s, it was the 80s that they became popular – for many years even after the Discman was released.

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In the meantime, if anyone would like to design me a new theme for the site, please leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

My only requirements are for a three column layout, and some space to put advertising and adsense (I need to pay for my webhosting :- ). Oh and of course, I need a 80′s feel to the layout ……

If I like it and end up using it, I will let the lucky person have some (permanent) aknowledgement and advertising space on my site.

I do, and of course it was the Space Shuttle. It seemed a big deal then (and it was). But I was only reminded today listening to the radio when it actually was…………….

The space shuttle Columbia launched on April 12, 1981 which happened to be the 20th anniversary of human spaceflight, and returned on April 14, 1981, after orbiting the Earth 36 times.

Another space shuttle to fly in the 80s was Challenger, whose maiden flight was on April 4, 1983.

It completed nine missions before breaking apart 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission on January 28, 1986, resulting in the death of all seven crew members.

The accident led to a two-and-a-half year grounding of the shuttle fleet, with missions resuming in 1988 with the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (whose first mission was actually in 1984).

Bit of trivia – Discovery was the shuttle that launched the Hubble Space Telescope.

Incoming search terms:

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Yeah it looks ugly, but this 8 bit (yes that’s right) computer was capable of so many things. Essentially it was a gaming computer, but there were are few non gaming titles released.

When it was first released, games came out on cassette tape, and load times were horrendous by today’s standards, Then, as the C64 became more popular, the 1541 floppy disk drive was more affordable. According to Wikipedia, over 10000 titles were released for the C64. The computer had advanced graphics and sound (for the time), and the limits of the processor was pushed by many a software writer.

Commodore Business Machines also brought out the SX-64 – a portable(?) version of the C64. It was a very heavy machine, but boasted a built in 5 inch monitor.

Here is a youtube video of the TV ad, aired in Australia, to promote the C64 (which I remember very well):

The C64 is still very popular, with an abundance of information out there on the net. Just Google it and see how many matches you get ….

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