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The Seiko TV watch

sabukaru.online

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Re: The Seiko TV watch

#111

Post by cromka »

gryson wrote: post #104
masswerk wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This assumes that this was intended as a truly practical item. However, this is a product of a watch manufacturer. Its usefulness is also defined in social terms. It's an expensive novelty item, a status symbol, a conversation piece, an icebreaker, etc, then it's also a practical item. This one doesn't achieve these social functions by mechanical complications, a multitude of jewels or fine engravings by monk-like ar…

Yes. It's interesting to see so many replies in this thread completely missing the aspects you describe and only focusing on the practical usage of the watch. I'll also add that bubble-era Japan was full of novelty electronics like this. Companies were investing heavily in R&D, and even if sales weren't great, these kinds of items boosted prestige and reputations for being cutting edge.

Not to mention these creates surely incorporated some R&D inventions that were then used in different, more popular and profitable products.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#112

Post by suction »

kalleboo wrote: post #97
suction wrote: post #79

This feels like discovering a time capsule which holds the early signs of why Japanese women aren't interested in Japanese men anymore.

The statistics actually show the opposite - Japanese women are still interested in men, it's the men who aren't interested in women

True, but it's important to understand what type of men Japanese women are still interested in.

The number of Japanese men who'd wear a Seiko TV watch (or show whatever modern day equivalent signifier of inceldom) has grown significantly bigger than the number of Japanese men who display the traits that Japanese women would like to see in a partner.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#113

Post by dhosek »

eternalban wrote: post #70
Stratoscope wrote: post #14

Try this exercise: Hold your arm so a watch strapped on top of your wrist would be facing toward your eyes for easy viewing of its display. If you have a smartwatch, or any kind of watch, you do this many times a day. Now hold your arm in that position for 30 or 60 minutes to watch an entire TV show. You can take a break during the commercials. Enjoying that? Probably not. With a [smart]watch, you only glance at it a…

> Now hold your arm in that position for 30 or 60 minutes to watch an entire TV show. You can take a break during the commercials. It could work for porn.

But since this was getting OTA signals, is there anywhere in the world where porn was broadcast (unscrambled)?

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#114

Post by thfuran »

masswerk wrote: post #54
masswerk wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This assumes that this was intended as a truly practical item. However, this is a product of a watch manufacturer. Its usefulness is also defined in social terms. It's an expensive novelty item, a status symbol, a conversation piece, an icebreaker, etc, then it's also a practical item. This one doesn't achieve these social functions by mechanical complications, a multitude of jewels or fine engravings by monk-like ar…

Just imagine what kind of statements this products allows its owner to make: You have made your fortune, as may be clearly seen by the fact that you could obtain this product. (That is, it was affordable to the middle classes, but who knows, this must have been as expensive as it is futuristic!) You are aware of and interested in modern developments, which probably relates to how you made your fortune. You're not som…

You get all that? All I get is "feckless blowhard".

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#115

Post by dhosek »

Stratoscope wrote: post #85
systemvoltage wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing applies to touch screen laptops. No one ever uses it.

You would be surprised. I have a neighbor who only uses the touchscreen on their ThinkPad, except when they have to type something. The other day I stopped by to help them troubleshoot a problem, and they had to do a password reset. They touched the Old Password field on the screen and typed in their old password on the keyboard. They touched New Password on the screen and typed in the new one. Of course then they ha…

My wife was a devotee of the touch screens on her Windows laptops (she had an HP and a Surface), although now she seems to use her iPad (with smart keyboard) exclusively except with rare sessions at her desk to use the laptop.

She always tends to tap the screen when she uses one of my Macs. It was fascinating during the early days of the pandemic seeing my kids (who were in kindergarten at the time) adapt more easily to trackpad+keyboard on the Mac vs touchscreen on iPad than she did.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#116

Post by dhosek »

spacemanmatt wrote: post #90
Stratoscope wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would be surprised. I have a neighbor who only uses the touchscreen on their ThinkPad, except when they have to type something. The other day I stopped by to help them troubleshoot a problem, and they had to do a password reset. They touched the Old Password field on the screen and typed in their old password on the keyboard. They touched New Password on the screen and typed in the new one. Of course then they ha…

That reminds me what a revolution it was when "point and click" became a thing.

I remember being at a college computer lab and watching someone trying to use the mouse on the Mac while holding it suspended in air. It made Scotty's mouse moment in Star Trek IV completely understandable.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#117

Post by filmgirlcw »

My dad was a huge fan of Sony’s Watchman series of portable TVs. He had 2 or 3 different models. In the 1990s, I would steal them when I’d go on school trips in elementary school so I wouldn’t miss my TV shows. The limitation of antenna stuff made it less than ideal in a moving vehicle, but being able to watch Melrose Place on a bus in third grade instead of Homeward Bound or The Sandlot was pretty dope.

Which is all to say, very young filmgirl would have loved this shit.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#118

Post by masswerk »

wolframhempel wrote: post #87
masswerk wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just imagine what kind of statements this products allows its owner to make: You have made your fortune, as may be clearly seen by the fact that you could obtain this product. (That is, it was affordable to the middle classes, but who knows, this must have been as expensive as it is futuristic!) You are aware of and interested in modern developments, which probably relates to how you made your fortune. You're not som…

Exactly. This watch was the Bored Ape NFT profile picture of its time. It shows you're rich and you're with / ahead of the current times. And in comparison to a bored ape, it cost less, could be taken to parties and other in-person social functions and you could even sneakily follow sports events during boring meetings.

I think, it's important to note that consumer goods in the 1980s were very much culture building (in the sense of terms like "nation building"). They allowed consumers to express themselves, to align themselves along a certain set of values, to show off, to organize in recognizable cultural tribes, they provided identity, etc. In a sense, 1980s tech was what the FB profile became to the internet generation. (I personally enjoy this cultural aspect.)

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#119

Post by eddieroger »

gwbas1c wrote: post #34

I don't get it. If I still have to carry around a walkman-like thing, why bother with the watch? Why not put the screen on the walkman-like thing, and eliminate the wire through my sleeve?

For the flex, as they say. Because Seiko figured out how to make a small, wrist-bound TV. It could only hold the screen (not speakers, or a headphone barrel, or even the antenna assembly), so that's what they put on the wrist and moved the rest away. Also, there's an aspect of 80s opulence at play with this. So they did it because they could using the best of what they had at the time.

Re: The Seiko TV watch

#120

Post by crims0n »

shahbaby wrote: post #24

I went from a fitback back to a simple casio gshock and it was one of the better decisions I made this year. Now I don't need to worry about charging my watch every week nor do I have to think about finicky software. The best tools are the ones that do their job so well you rarely have to think about them.

IMO the wristwatch was perfected for the average user in 1989 with the Casio F-91W. Ten dollars, ten year battery, does time and date to a reasonable accuracy, has an alarm, a stopwatch, and a light - for ten dollars. That value is insane.
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