Star Trek Retro
The Casio Databank In Modern Society
‘You know those sweet wrist communicators that do all kinds of neat stuff you see on Johnny Quest and stuff like that? They actually have those! Sort of. And they’ve been around since the ’80s. The Casio Databank, for example, which is still popular to this day, was able to store a good deal of information decades before PDAs and smartphones were everywhere. They’ve even got versions of these things that can be used as a universal remote control for cable boxes, TVs, all that stuff. That’s insane. They’ve been reintroduced to the market as a part of the retro chic wave in popular culture, though with some new features and today’s modern flamboyant array of fluorescent neon colors.
When they first reared their ugly heads, PDAs were much less sufficient because they cost about three or four pounds of solid gold which gave companies like Casio the upper hand. They further made watches more appealing as a fashion accessory by making them in different shiny colors, which obviously made them better. These watches were very innovative and advanced during the 80s, which isn’t saying much, but this was less than a decade since watchmakers started going digital. Casio was one of the first on that scene too, with the Casiotron which came out in 1974.
Casio has been making crazy stuff like this forever. They started off making cigarette lighters that were built into a ring. For your finger. You know how Japan has a huge thing for weird little gadgets and gizmos and sometimes even doodads. So it’s no surprise that when Casio went into making wristwatches, they went completely Q branch on them. Before that, watches were considered gimmicky little trinkets in Japan (unless of course they shot out laser beams or something), until Casio started to mess around with them. As far back as 1957 they produced the first ever compact all-electric calculator. Then they invented the first graphing calculator, the first digital camera with an LCD screen, and probably the twist off bottle cap.
Okay, so maybe they aren’t cool enough to make an appearance on Star Trek just yet, but those Casio Databanks are still impressive from a technological perspective. The universal remote version alone is unique among watches, at least outside of gadget-loving Japan! And considering the tiny amount of physical space they have to cram all those electronics into, it’s surprising what they can accomplish.
About the Author
Article by Paul wise. When it comes to
Casio Databank
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Star Trek DS9 Harbinger 1/3 (retro DOS game, 1996)
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