1980's

 

There's something about the 1980's living room that I'll always love: The classic comfy couch, usually a pull-out hide-a-bed, and sometimes it could be a sectional. 

Everyone had a 26 inch CRT TV set, VCR or Betamax, and a home  hifi stereo.

If you were rich, a Sony system was usually found in your home. Mine was Lloyds. It was a budget brand that offered lots of value for your money.  Chrome and big knobs were the de-facto standard for electronics in that era.

Whether you had cable TV or not, depended on where you lived. Cities had cable, while rural areas used over-the-air antennas. But what was nice about the 1980's was need to have a physical telephone. In order to reach out to people, it was far easier to use the standard phone which was hard-wired or wireless to your home. 

Then we had video rental stores. 

Back then, you had 2 choices: Betamax or VHS. I was always a fan of VHS, but admired the higher-resolution of Betamax. The Betamax machines (especially Sony) were far more expensive than VHS equivalents. Back in the early 1990's, I had a stereo VHS player with an entry-level Pioneer receiver/amplifier and cd-player. 

Back then, hearing things broadcast in stereo was kind of a big deal. And so, when TV shows started to air, they began to flaunt the word STERO. The sound was phenomenal compared to the standard mono broadcast audio quality. 

The music was perfect. Concerts were reasonably priced, and you didn't have to worry about being cheated by scalpers. Even their prices back then were reasonable!

I often see old equipment at Value Village, but rarely do I pick anything up. You quickly start to turn from a collector to a hoarder if you're not careful.

Technology can be addictive, no matter how old it is.

More to come.