Further Reading
Consumer and household tech obviously looks quite different today than it did years ago—there’s a significant analog and digital divide, for one thing. Among other things, bridging that gap makes integrating the latest tech with tech from a few decades back a real challenge.
Facebook user Thomas Martin Lewins V proved that last point by getting a modern Apple TV box to work with his gigantic, archaic console television and by integrating analog speakers, radios, and record players throughout his house with Amazon Alexa. He posted a couple of videos online as proof, which Boing Boing picked up recently.
First up: the Apple TV setup. This allows him to view Netflix and Hulu shows on that old TV. Here’s what he wrote to introduce the clip:
Best Buy said it couldn’t be done. The Internet said it was impossible. Eat my ass Best Buy, eat my ass Internet.
HDMI to rca, rca to vcr, vcr to coaxial, coaxial to antenna.
After months of pulling my hair out and eating it. I present to you.
Vintage Apple TV.
And here’s the clip:
That comment is a little dramatic, sure, but it’s still neat to see the aforementioned gap bridged this way. We never would have said it was impossible, but it must have been a pain. The Alexa video the same person uploaded is arguably more impressive, as it brings together a whole household of devices very much not designed to work with Alexa. Here’s what he wrote about it:
Might have went a little overboard on this one,
The police were called to my house twice for noise complaints. (worth it)
I present to you,
Vintage Alexa.
And the video:
While we certainly don’t advocate disturbing neighbors and generating noise complaints, this was fun to see. The only question is whether integrating Alexa with your vinyl record player defeats the entire appeal of using that record player. You can be the just of that for yourself, but this guy didn’t seem to think so.
