Roberta X was talking about the big shift to exclusively HDTV, and I had a horrible realization: when that happens, my Panasonic TR-005 Orbitel (space-eggy Jetson TV) will no longer work.
I reserve the right to whine.
For many years I had no tv at all, and then once I was in a junk store with me ma and little Sis, and Sissy and I near had fisticuffs over who was going to get the little $25 cutie-pie of a tv. In the end, I trumped her, saying I, after all, actually needed a tv. Plus it went with my boomerang mid-century modern sofa.
Someone has one for sale on ebay, and they have this picture on the ad of the tv with some other mod pieces. The problem I have is with that ugly-assed chair. I hate to invoke such beastly imagery, but that chair looks like a maxi-pad. Or a commode. In a not-good way. Yuck.
Nas.
Tay. 
What were they thinking?
22 comments:
I agree with you about the chair.Yuck! But oh, what a cute tv. Can't you buy one of those converters and still use it?
I say with no reservation nor irony: That is the sexiest little teevee ever invented.
I was gonna say that they will probably sell some kind of modulator or adapter thingey for older teevees, but it would just be criminal to take the rabbit ears away.
Ugh......Maybe you need to do Ugly Furniture Sundays. That chair wins.
I have a feeling a cold cat would not even jump on it.
pdb makes a good point. Aesthetically the rabbit ears are part of the package. Like mag wheels on a hot rod.
Depending on the connectivity on the back (does it have a cable jack?), you might still be able to get away with leaving the antennas and running a box of some sort. Good thing is you can always hide the box and run the necessary wiring to the TV's location.
tweaker
lainy - I spose, if the converters will work with a really OLD set - this tv is 37 years old.
pdb - It IS a darling thing. I love the rabbit ears, too.
xavier- Yeah, Ugly Furniture Sundays - a brilliant ideer! Indeed, a cold cat would find no comfort there.
speakertweaker - I quite agree - the rabbit ears rock. There is no cable jack. Yeah, Remotely storing ugly control boxes is always desireable.
I love your style, phlegmmy!
It looks like a children's car seat, without the safety...
:( about your tv.
I'm getting rid of cable, again.
Haven't turned on the set in weeks.
Your similes are disgustingly accurate. I'll work hard to get them out of my head.
HA! It does look like a maxi-pad, combined with a phone receiver, which is a disturbing thought. LOVE the tv though!
As speakertweaker says, just get one of the set top boxes that converts digital to analog, like a cable or satellite box and you can watch it till it breaks. And the gummint is issuing certificates to anyone that needs a magic box to keep watching their old low tech tv box. Go here to apply for the coupon https://www.dtv2009.gov/
And Dish has announced they will sell a converter for $39.99. The coupon is worth $40 so there you go.
And FCC requires all digital, not all HDTV.
And the gummint is issuing certificates to anyone...
Am I the only person who finds it objectionable that the gub'mint is subsidizing teevee addiction? This "free money" shite is getting out of hand... Imagine: "free" certificates for one of those new-fangled horseless carriages, now that your buggy whip is out of style...
That said: NICE teevee! Very Jetson-like!
Years ago I had kitchen counters in pink boomerang Formica - very "Pee-wee's Playhouse". And a Philco Futura TV.
wait a second - does that chair open up? It seems to have a little indentation in front, where you'd be able to pull up the lid... and the lid looks like a toilet seat. Yes, I do believe it does open up like a clamshell! And it's round on the bottom, does it weeble-wobble too?
I you truly want to hang on to the little TV, go here and read how:
http://tv.about.com/od/hdtv/a/DTVboxprogram.htm
I grew up with the Jetsens. I went to a house at Disneyland in Orange County in First Grade in the 60's that had that TV.
That is the coolest TV on the planet. Makes flatscreens look like SPAM.
I'm a GS-14. . someone should listen to me. . keep the bloody signals so people can watch their cool TV's.
Like the old one I have in the bedroom to watch History Channel.
You made me blow Diet Dr. Pepper out of my nose with the very astute chair description. You're right, the TV is postively fab. I believe if you use satellite it will still work. That's way too cool to get rid of.
Cool TV and furniture. Reminds me of the woddy allen movie "sleeper"
A converter should work but you will need an additional small adapter to convert the rabbit ear screws to a cable TV jack.
Guess I'm too practical. I would gut that chair and sell the shell to someone with a Volkswagen camper who needs a roof top carrier (or a porta crapper).
christina - yeah, it kind of does, in an eggy sort of way. Yeah, I know what you mean - as time passes I watch it less and less. I realized this past Wednesday I hadn't watched my favorite (or any other) show in 3 weeks, and it was the finale, too, so that's sort of a statement. Have pared way down on TV, catching more live acts and getting a life for a change. Cut out the cable and spend the money on concerts, I say.
g bro - my apologies
barbara - yeah, it do (it has wings!) The tv rocks!
myron - oh, dun, digital/HDTV - it's all geek to me, but I still might get them straight in me head one of these days..
buck - aw shit, honey - the gubmint subsidizing addictions is nothing new - what's one more? It's a very cool set - will try to get a photo of it working sometime so you can see it in action. BTW - that's a photo I found on the web, my actual Orbitel has a cracked bezel, which the one in the photo does not
turk - wow- sounds like my dream kitchen - I love that kind of stuff - such a lovely little timecapsule from a hopeful, space-centric moment of human design history
breda - yuppers - the back of the chair is hinged. yup, tres tres terlit-esque. I'll bet if you push it hard enough, it will fall over. (that's Teslicle's Deviant, by the way - if you push something hard enough, it will fall over)
mushy - THANKS!
lin - There was so much cool mid-century modern design on the West coast. My band stayed at the Anaheim Galaxy Motel in 1981 when we went to DIsneyland, and I fell in lurve with the lingering details of the atomic 50s/60s. Great stuff.
kvegas911 - send me a cleaning bill for having your monitor laundered. Sorry 'bout that. I thought that description might be too disturbing, but I decided to pull out all the stops. Yeah, I may get a converter just for this one, because it's such a deliciouslittle novelty.
lin - my vote goes with porta-crapper. however, that chair is very distinctive and muy muy collectible - probably fetches in the thousands range, when you can find one. Still, it's a crappy relic, imho.
Yep, I sure know what you mean about collectible value - nice work if you can get it. We consigned an Eames and two Wassilys to a much-pimped moderne auction in prep for moving and got squat for them. Later learned that this toney auctioneer was infamous for handing off treasures to his good friends. Or ... why I love people like I do now.
lin - to be sure - the "professionals" in the marketplace are versed on the ins and outs of getting top quality for bottom prices, then selling for the utmost the market will allow. It's all about positioning, I suppose. Still, it's a crappy pill to swallow.
What an excellent idea for a kewl Atomic Mo'dern porta-pottie!!
The little square ones from Wal-Mart looks so dowdy, and this one with a round bottom could so easily be knocked around and splash its contents all over!
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