Shameless self promotion is not normally our bag, but our new viral featuring Pat Sharp fighting a giant mullet did kind of inspire this week’s post, so it seemed only fair to mention it upfront.

Despite the kiddie’s TV legend having a seriously bad hair day, many of the YouTube comments are focussed around how (ahem) sharp Pat still looks. Which got us thinking…

Traditionally viewed as the decade that fashion forgot, the 80s is like so hot right now. Films, music, art and clothing, all seem to have an 80s twist, but is there any technology from that period that’s still relevant (and still works) today?

A very brief, and some might say lazy, Google search revealed the following:

1. The International Space Station relies on 80s technology
Amazing, but true: ‘the most complex scientific and technological endeavour ever undertaken’ relies on Intel chips from the mid 80s. My toaster is more powerful.

2. The Walkman is way cool
Big, yes. Clunky, yes. Brilliant, yes! Not content with sowing the seeds of the iPod revolution, even modern kids love it – sort of.

3. It’s a laptop. You know, for kids.
It may resemble Kryten from Red Dwarf’s much-ridiculed square head, but the VTech Precomputer 1000 helped a generation become computer (well Basic) literate and paved the way for affordable, portable solutions like the One Laptop Per Child’s XO.

And that’s just the tip of the dung pile. What else would you add to the list?

And, what, if any, of the many new technologies developed in the last few years will be relevant 30 years from now?

Tom Hurrell still wishes he was Tom Hanks in Big.

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1. david sloly says:

   20 January, 2010 at 11:10 am

   I spoke to Pat on the phone last week and he said that he had never had so many people contact him. They all wanted to know if the attack really happened. He actually sounded quite chuffed!

   Reply
2. Bruce says:

   21 January, 2010 at 9:55 am

   I’m sure the mullet is ready for a long overdue comeback. Or maybe we should revive ‘the undercut’ in preparation for the 90s coming back into vogue?

   Reply
3. Adrian Langford says:

   3 February, 2010 at 8:18 pm

   May be so obvious it’s overlooked, but the UK’s first cellular mobile call was made in 1984 (by Ronald Reagan no less). Yes it was analogue then (provided eavesdroppers with a field day), and the phones were chunky, and some were so big you had to drive them around in a car,and (gasp) the first ones didn’t have a choice of ringtone, but the basic principle’s the same.

   Reply