Consumer Reports Releases Vintage Photos


Consumer Reports has just released this photoset of vintage photos of consumer product tests. It includes photos of conventional products like the one above (a portable hair dryer), but also some interesting tech that never took off, like a motorized scour pad and a record player for cars. The products depicted in the set are all from before the 1970s (and remember, a few machines from back then were able to do some pretty impressive things), so whether you’re into old tech for its own sake or you’re just looking for photography of really old tv consoles, get a look.

[via Laughing Squid]

10 thoughts on “Consumer Reports Releases Vintage Photos

  1. What is it with trolls on this site?? If they are not happy with an article do they always have to comment to state this? Does it really take that much to just scroll past the link on the homepage, rather than visit it then complain? Personally, while i dont see this as a hack, i am still quite interested to see these pictures. Hack a day’s not getting lame, just some of the folk that read it are!

  2. although I too, am interested in seeing pictures of old tech, I do not want to see them here. This site is supposed to be, according to the title, one hack, per day. This is not a hack, and thus, should not be here. I use an RSS reader to let me know if/when there is an update here, and all I can see is a title, until I click on it, therefore, I do not have the capability in my current usage habit, to “scroll past”. In posting a comment to the end that I do not like what is being posted, I hope to get the attention of the HaD controllers, and get them to return to one hack per day.

  3. I’m not trying to be reactionary, I can see why a publication changes. But that does not mean I have to like the change, and have to keep shut about it. Hackaday is deviating from what it was (and what I liked it for) for the past years. It has become “yet another more or less hacking related news reposter”, and if it stays that way it will go off my RSS reader in a week.

    And, just for the record: Consumer Reports started to publish those vintage photos back in 1998. Happy 10th anniversary to this “news”!

  4. I used to like this site because it was very selective about what made it to the readers eyes. It used to be that only the finest, most interesting hacks would be featured on the page, however, that no longer seems to be the case. I realize that it is very difficult to find new and unique hacks every day, but I personally would prefer NO updates to the “hacks” which have been posted lately. This used to be a quality site dedicated to hardware hacks, but it seems that now it’s turning into just another gizmodo or makezine. I spend a lot more time over at hackedgadgets.com now.

  5. I’ve been a reader of hack a day for years. While this is certainly not a hack, it’s an interesting link. I see hack a day as a collection of links that “hackers” will find interesting. For those of us that don’t have all day to surf its brilliant to come home and check this kind of thing out.

    For those that can’t bear these sorts of hacks, stick to http://www.hackaday.com/category/daily/

    I really don’t see why more content is damaging, when the traditional stuff is still available and easy to access.

    It really surprises me that people are so adverse to change, especially those from presumably technical backgrounds.

  6. What’s the legal status of these photos? Does “just released” mean that they’ve become public domain recently? I notice that some pages are from 2006. Alas, the pictures have ©opyright notices.

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