When the future had moving parts...

A fun video showing how the sci fi of the 70s and 80s was more visibly mechanical as opposed to programmable, and how it took that inspiration from the technology of the day.

youtube.com
u/Zech_Judy — 4 days ago

Are there any citable sources for Cassette Futurism?

I wanted to add Cassette Futurism to the same Wikipedia section that lists Dieselpunk and Raygun Gothic. However my addition was removed for having bad sources.

The first was self published "Costume Research for fictional periods: fantasy and sci fi" by S. Williams. In fairness, it was so self published that I couldn't find it again just now.

The other two were better published, but didn't give any detail about what Cassette Futurism was; they just said that a given piece of media was an example of it.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as\_sdt=0%2C13&q=%22cassette+futurism%22&oq=#d=gs\_qabs&t=1782777180428&u=%23p%3Dp0ikDC5ZjUsJ

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as\_sdt=0%2C13&q=%22cassette+futurism%22&oq=#d=gs\_qabs&t=1782777218482&u=%23p%3DhtX-nalqE0gJ

So, have you seen anything? It can't be a blog or a wiki.

reddit.com
u/Zech_Judy — 6 days ago

Crystal Control Panels: Cassette Futurism or nah

Cassette Futurism is sci fi as it was imagined in the 70s and 80s. One trope that was popular in the 70s was control panels based on moving crystals around (usually glowing). It was seen in Land of the Lost's Sleestak control panels and Superman's kryptonian control panels.

I think it had to do with earlier science fiction associating crystals with psionics (Lensman, etc) and general hippie woo-woo nonsense. Also, sticking a light under some chunks of resin was cheap.

Anyway, I like polls. Do crystals count?

View Poll

reddit.com
u/Zech_Judy — 12 days ago
▲ 71 r/cassettefuturism+1 crossposts

What kind of indicator is this?

I work in an old facility and I see a lot of these. What is this kind of analog indicator called? I searched for rotary drum indicator, cylinder indicator ... nothing.

EDIT: I'm asking about the kind of indicator, not what it is measuring. So, it isn't a circle with a needle whipping back and forth. It looks to be a cylinder that rolls, like The Price is Right. What is that kind of indicator called?

u/Zech_Judy — 26 days ago

Nissan 300 ZX ASMR

A big part of cassette futurism is that technology doesn't just have a **look**. It has a **feel** and a **sound**. If the buttons don't click and thunk, it doesn't count. So. Enjoy.

youtube.com
u/Zech_Judy — 1 month ago
▲ 141 r/ChatGPT

Translating things into Latin is fun. After I figured out the translation (almost went with immoderatus or inregibilis) I thought the Moo Deng "Become Ungovernable" would make a nice mosaic.

u/Zech_Judy — 2 months ago